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Government Proposes To Solve
Problem of Porteadores Through Regulation
In an effort to avoid another protest by the
porteadores - the informal taxi operators -
the government has announced that it will
allow them to work by way of regulations
governed by the Ministerio de Obras Públicas
y Transportes (MOPT). The porteadores doubt
that this will happen within the time frame
established last Wednesday by both sides.
The situation with the porteadores is a long
standing issue as the government has failed
to provide a viable solution that the
porteadores and the formal taxi operators
can live with.
The week before last porteadores took to the
streets to pressure the government and
legislature to eliminate the word "persons"
from the Codigo de Comercio (Commerical
Code) that would effectively eliminate the "porteo",
or the informal operation of taxis to carry
persons.
During the early hours of the protest, some
of the porteadores taking part in the
protest clasehd with police, who responded
with force and tear gas in an attempt to
clear the blockade of the Zapote rotonda and
surrounding area.
According to some of the leaders
representing the porteadores in the
negotiations, they see the proposal of the
MOPT regulating their existence as a
misgiving.
The porteadores argue that even though the
government issues a regulation, the porteo
will be still be illegal if the legislators
pass the commercial bill without any
changes.
The porteadores have given the government
until this coming Wednesday to present a
viable solution, otherwise they will take to
the streets again.
On the other side of the coin are the formal
or licensed taxis, who for the most part are
pushing for the elimination of the porteo
for once and for all, eliminating the
competition.
The taxi drivers union has also threatened
to take their action to the streets if the
porteadores are allowed to continue to
operate.
However, not much will happen in the coming
week, as the country gets into vacation mode
with the start of the Semana Santa (Holy
Week) holidays that officially start on
Monday, March 28, but really starts on
Friday, March 26.
It is expected that both the porteadores and
the taxis will step up their pressure
against the government to get a resolution
before the current government passes the
buck to the next on May 8th.
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