BOGOTA: Colombian truckers agreed to halt a two-week strike on Friday after reaching a deal with the government in the world's No. 3 coffee exporter, the country's vice president said.
Tens of thousands of union-organized truck drivers have been on strike since Feb. 3 over a government plan to eliminate minimum freight prices, blockading highways in the capital and other cities and threatening to disrupt exports.
"The national strike has been put to an end," Vice President Angelino Garzon told reporters.
He said the government had agreed to postpone a decree to eliminate minimum freight rates the main reason for the protest.
The government believes freight should be determined by the market, but truckers fear removing the floor on rates could cause prices to fall and reduce their income.
Coffee in Colombia, the world's top exporter of high-quality washed Arabica beans, is transported by road to ports for export and producers said they had started to feel an impact from the strike.
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