Ecuador talks with Indigenous leaders falter after soldier killed by ‘ violent’ protesters

Negotiations to end more than two weeks of disruptive living cost protests by Indigenous Ecuadorans were dealt a blow Tuesday when the killing of a soldier prompted the government to suspend participation.

President Guillermo Lasso, in a brief address to the nation, accused Indigenous leader Leonidas Iza of self- serving politics, and said: “We will not negotiate with those who hold Ecuador hostage.”

Iza’s powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador ( Conaie), in turn, accused the government of “authoritarianism” and said Lasso would bear the consequences for “his hawkish policy.”

The military said a soldier died and five police and seven soldiers were injured in an early- morning attack on a tanker truck escort in the country’s east.

It said a group armed with “spears and guns” attacked uniformed personnel protecting a convoy of tankers headed for the so- called ITT block of oil fields in Orellana province, where more than a billion barrels are stored.

Interior Minister Patricio Carillo expressed condolences to the family of fallen soldier Jose Chimarro in a tweet, and described the attackers as “violent demonstrators.”

A second day of talks with Indigenous representatives scheduled for Tuesday morning failed to get underway as negotiators from the government did not show up.

Mediator Virgilio Saquicela, president of the National Assembly, announced that the government was “not present” as it was “conducting an analysis” of the early- morning events.

Iza referred to a “brutal attack” but said there was no proof protesters were responsible.

“The country has witnessed all the efforts we have made to establish a fruitful and sincere dialogue,” insisted Lasso, a former banker who took office just over a year ago.

“But we will not sit down again to dialogue with Leonidas Iza, who only defends his political interests and not those of his base.”

“Only when there are legitimate representatives of all the peoples and nationalities of Ecuador, who seek real solutions and are open to real and frank dialogue, will we return to the table of dialogue”, Lasso said.

Tuesday’s fatality came on top of five demonstrators dead and hundreds of civilians and security personnel wounded in clashes between the security forces and protesters blockading key roads and disrupting supply lines.