Quito: Crowds protesting a spike in fuel prices spilt into the streets of Ecuador’s capital of Quito Sunday, burning tyres, blocking roads and facing off against police officers who responded with volleys of tear gas. It was the latest confrontation in a series of nationwide demonstrations testing President Daniel Noboa.
Ecuador’s largest Indigenous organisation called the strikes 21 days ago in response to the removal of a fuel subsidy that raised the price of diesel from USD 1.80 per gallon to USD 2.80.
The protests have frequently turned violent, with one civilian reported killed so far, dozens injured and over a hundred arrested in clashes with police. Noboa has imposed a state of emergency in 10 provinces, restricting public gatherings in Quito and other areas. Last week, protesters attacked Noboa’s motorcade with rocks in a major escalation.
As the protests have been largely concentrated in the country’s northern provinces, Sunday’s rally in Quito put authorities on high alert. Thousands of police in riot gear streamed into the capital in recent days.
The latest demonstration also coincided with the Day of Interculturality and Plurinationality, Ecuador’s replacement for Columbus Day that recognises its Indigenous population rather than the Italian explorer’s arrival in the Americas in 1492.
The hike in fuel prices particularly affects Indigenous people who work in Ecuador’s crucial agricultural, fishing and transport sectors. President Noboa argued that the government needed to slash the USD 1.1 billion subsidy to shore up the country’s finances and combat rampant fuel smuggling across Ecuador’s borders into Colombia and Peru.
Protesters on Sunday whistled and chanted “Noboa out, out!”.