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Empresas y finanzas

Colombia truckers agree to end strike over fuel


    BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government reached an agreement with truck drivers to end their strike that threatened to slow coffee shipments from the world's No. 3 exporter, authorities said on Saturday.

    The Colombian Truck Drivers' Association, which represents about 150,000 members, went on strike 10 days ago to demand the government of President Alvaro Uribe lower fuel prices and enforce freight prices among other demands.

    The Transport Ministry and the truck owners agreed to a seven-point deal to end the strike, including help negotiating debt payments and tougher controls on irregularities affecting truckers, the presidential office said in a statement.

    Coffee exporters in Colombia, the top producer of high-quality arabica beans, had warned the strike could affect supplies, which had already been reduced by bad weather and a program to replace old coffee plants with new ones.

    Last year, the trucking association went on strike for two weeks in a protest that slowed coffee shipments to a main Pacific port. The government recently reduced fuel costs to better reflect the fall in global oil prices.

    (Reporting by Patrick Markey; Editing by Peter Cooney)