Violent protests against the economic policies of Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso have paralyzed the country’s capital and other regions, but the government on Wednesday rejected its conditions for dialogue.
Quito is experiencing food and fuel shortages after 10 days of protests in which protesters have sometimes clashed with police. After officials rejected the terms of the negotiations, the U.S. government issued an instant advice to travelers to reconsider visiting the country due to “civil unrest and crime.”
Demonstrations led mainly by the indigenous organization Conaie began on June 14 to demand that gasoline prices be reduced by 45 cents a gallon to $ 2.10, agricultural product price controls and a larger budget. for education. Protests began with peaceful roadblocks, but levels of violence have risen in parts of the country, including the capital, Quito, prompting former Conservative banker Lasso to declare a state of emergency in six provinces.
Indigenous leader Leonidas Iza on Tuesday demanded, among other things, that the government remove the emergency decree and withdraw the military and police presence in places where protesters have gathered in Quito.
But the government minister said on Wednesday that the government could not lift the state of emergency because it would leave “the capital defenseless.”
“It’s not the time to put more conditions, it’s not the time to demand more demands, it’s the time to sit down and talk, we are on the 10th day of the strike,” Francisco Jimenez told a television station. “And we can’t keep waiting, the capital can’t keep waiting, the country can’t keep waiting.”
The protests, which are tougher and bigger than the fuel price marches in October last year, are testing Lasso’s ability to restart the country’s economy and boost employment.
Lasso has a confrontational relationship with the national assembly, where lawmakers have blocked his proposals, and has struggled to contain the escalating violence blamed on drug gangs.
Protesters armed with handguns, ancestral spears and explosives clashed with soldiers in the town of Puyo, Pastaza province, on Tuesday night, Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo said.
Protesters burned a police station and patrol cars, attempted to loot a bank and attacked civilians, Carrillo told reporters, blaming radical groups for the incidents.
“Right now we cannot guarantee public safety in Puyo: they have burned all the police infrastructure and the entrance to the city is under siege,” he said.
Leaders of Amazonian indigenous communities said in a statement that they rejected vandalism in Puyo and accused security forces of worsening violence in the city.
One protester was killed in the incident and six policemen were seriously injured, while 18 are missing, the government said.
The protester was killed after being hit in the head by a tear gas canister from police, according to human rights groups.