The year 2006 was marked by the continuity of economic growth, the increasing concentration of power within the federal Executive Branch, and by the territorialization and factionalism of the main national political parties. During this year, economic, political, and social tensions emerged; all of which prompted the national government to introduce modifications in: the functioning of the micro-economy, the configuration of political alliances to prepare for the 2007 general elections, and in foreign policy. These new policies in turn, led to changes in the patterns of social organization and protest, thus breaking
with the trends observed in previous years.