ECUADOR INDUSTRY AND TRADE MINISTER RESIGNS
Ecuador's Minister for Industry and Trade
resigned today, but denied he was responding to recent protests
against a new austerity program that went into effect after a
devastating earthquake.
    Xavier Neira, an economist, told reporters he was stepping
down for personal reasons and would return to his private
business as a foreign trade consultant.
    He defended government austerity measures adopted last
Friday as a "necessary antidote" to the losses from the March
five quake which cost an estimated one billion dlrs in damage
and left 1,000 people dead or missing.
     Ecuadoran unions have called for a general strike next
Wednesday to press for a suspension of the belt-tightening
measures, which include a rise in gasoline prices of up to 80
pct, budget cuts of up 10 pct and a government hiring freeze.
    Ecuador, a member of the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC), has been forced to halt shipments
of crude, its main export, for about five months until it
repairs a pipeline that ruptured as a result of the quake.
 Reuter
