Three weeks of protests have been abruptly halted on Friday after the government of Ecuador and Indigenous leaders of the demonstrations reached an agreement. 

The deal was signed Thursday and meets the demands of the demonstrators, led by the CONAIE Indigenous organization, who asked for a decrease in the price of fuel and a reduction to increasingly high costs of living.

The total price cut of 15 cents on both gasoline and diesel fuels will cost some $340 million a year, the finance ministry said.Ecuador’s Government Minister Francisco Jimemez and Leonidas Iza, leader of CONAIE, met on Thursday to sign the deal.

“We have achieved the supreme value to which we all aspire: peace in our country,” Ecuador’s President Lasso said in a Tweet  that celebrated the end of the protests, where eight people died and much of the country was brought to a standstill.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.