Producers from Cayambe and Pedro Moncayo had problems moving the trucks with flowers and sending them to the Mariscal Sucre airport.
The protests led by peasants and indigenous people on October 26 and 27 wreaked havoc on the export of flowers, especially in Cayambe and Pedro Moncayo, north of Pichincha. Roadblocks cantons and connect them with Quito made it difficult, and in some cases even impossible, the movement of trucks that they had to take the flowers to the Mariscal Sucre International Airport.
Due to obstacles, approximately half of the scheduled shipments abroad could not be fulfilled. In a normal situation, the floriculture sector exports around $ 3 million every day; In other words, in two days, exports represent $ 6 million in income. But the mobilizations against the Government caused that each day about $ 1.5 million were lost, lamented Guillermo Bustamante, president of the board of the National Association of Producers and Exporters of Flowers of Ecuador (Expoflores).
“You have to take into account that of the dollars that enter the country from exports between 55 and 60% return to the field in the form of wages to support workers’ families. This is put at risk when the protests deprive us of the right to mobilize, ”said Bustamante.
Felled trees, mounds of dirt, large stones, vehicles or burnt tires were used by protesters to interrupt the passage of the tracks in the two cantons that concentrate the highest flower production. Of the 4,900 hectares cultivated in the country, in First there are 1,060 hectares and Pedro Moncayo 1,400 altogether they represent 60% of the national production, according to data from Expoflores.
The consequences of the demonstrations not only harmed the large farms -which have 20, 30 hectares of crops or more- but also the floriculturists who produced in reduced land from half a hectare onwards.
In some cases, small producers They manage to export on their own, but in others they have to do it through collection centers, where merchandise from several people is gathered and then shipped in various shipments.
“Small producers were the most affected, they couldn’t move their flower to a processing center. (The protests) were an unnecessary blow to an industry that had already been kicking, ”said Klaus Graetzer, representative of Ecuagarden and president of the Tabacundo Floriculturists Association.
The trucks that managed to reach the airport had the support of the armed forces to break through the road barricades or take alternate routes. The most complicated thing was trying to circulate inside Cayambe and Pedro Moncayo.
A farm received threats of the protesters on the first day of protests. Workers were warned by a group of people not to report to work on October 27, otherwise they would be hurt. Fortunately, this was not fulfilled, Graetzer said, recalling that in the October 2019 strike, some farms were attacked for not stopping its operations.
The recent demonstrations were called by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) to demand that the government lower fuel prices to $ 2.10 a gallon for extra and $ 1.55 for diesel. During the day of protests there were clashes with the police.
Diego Ucros, manager of Emihana and vice president of the Cayambe flower growers nucleus, mentioned that several farms in the Guachalá sector, as well as those located in Otavalo, in Imbabura, found it impossible to move their flowers.
“Something important in Ecuadorian floriculture is that we export to the whole world. (Due to protests) now there is an affectation of restlessness. We are just getting out of the COVID-19 issues and we could not export quietly, “said Ucros.
The flower industry generates around 110,000 direct jobs. The flower is the fourth largest non-oil export product in the country. The last few years have been difficult: $ 40 million were lost due to the October 2019 strike and due to the crisis of the pandemic, the sector had a drop of 6% in 2020.
Spilt milk
Milk producers were also affected. It is estimated that in Cayambe around 200,000 liters of milk were lost, due to not being able to reach its destination. There was even a situation where some protesters forced to spill the liquid, said Rodrigo Gómez de la Torre, president of the Chamber of Agriculture of the First Zone.
Proof of this is a video that Gómez received from one of the injured producers, who to avoid problems he had to empty the tanks full of milk that he was transporting in his truck.
“The most unfortunate thing was having seen commoners prevent carriers of milk, from the same communes, to be able to reach the dairy processing plants, ”said the Chamber spokesperson.
The president of the Chamber of Agriculture and representatives of the floricultural sector are waiting for what happens after the national holiday, which ends on November 6, since the Conaie and other organizations that also promoted the mobilizations, such as the Frente Unitario de Trabajadores (WAS) and the National Union of Educators (A), They promised to analyze new actions to continue the opposition to the Government. The producers hope that the demonstrations and road closures will not be repeated. (I)
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