Well, I´ll be trying to get out of town tomorrow and head towards Cuenca. There has been a townwide strike for the last 4 days and no buses are coming into or leaving Baños. Rumor has it that the strike will be over tonight. The problem is that the government has raised certain taxes and the town has not had much Ecuatorian tourism of late due to the activity of the volcano. The Ecuatorians stay away, but the international tourists have still been coming. Being that 90% of the town works in the tourism industry, they have been hit hard. They are asking that the government suspend the tax for the next 5 months. I could have this story all wrong, but this is what I have heard through the grapevine.

The picture is of people congregating to repel the national police force that is rumored to be arriving soon. The national police almost never use real bullets. Instead, they use rubber bullets and tear gas. They tried to break through the strikers in the nearby town of Puyo, but were unsuccessful.

Rainclouds started getting darker and darker, so I left the scene. It started raining shortly after I left, and one of my friends says that the whole crowd dispersed. I don´t know if the National Police ever arrived or not.

Anyways, I´m in no danger. Had no plans of staying when the police arrived. The townspeople have always treated me very kindly, and they want tourists here. This battle is between the national government and the people of Baños.