Colombian truckers have agreed to end a a two-week strike early Friday morning after signing an agreement with the government to keep minimum freight rates in place as the truckers had demanded.
Representatives of the Colombian truckers association (ACC), the country’s vice president, and the transport minister spent all day Thursday looking for a compromise that could end the strike and the truckers’ blockade of important roads in the capital Bogota.
According to several media, the government gave in to the truckers’ demand to reverse a recent decree that eliminated a minimum freight rate.
In return, the truckers agreed to take part in a work group that will come up with way to regulate the transport sector.
While in a marathon meeting with the government officials, the truckers were warned by President Juan Manuel Santos earlier in the day that he would end the strike with an “iron fist” if the truckers weren’t able to come to a compromise to end the strike.