More indigenous people join protests
Hundreds more indigenous protesters have poured into Ecuador’s capital from the country’s Amazon region, increasing the pressure on President Lenin Moreno amid protests against fuel price hikes that have produced dramatic images of paraded police captives and violent clashes.
Thousands of indigenous protesters have occupied the government’s House of Culture and nearby universities in Quito, sometimes joined by union members and students, in demonstrations that forced Moreno to move government operations from the capital to the port of Guayaquil.
Ecuador’s president has said he will not back down on the International Monetary Fund-backed austerity measures because of the urgent need to stabilise the country’s economy and deal with a debt he says he inherited from the previous administration.
On arriving at the House of Culture, Amazonian indigenous leader Marlon Vargas said: ‘‘We have taken over the (state) institutions as well as oil wells, and have said there will be nothing for Guayaquil or Quito.’’
A three-day national holiday in Ecuador began yesterday, with bus companies warning of possible road blockages by protesters.
On Friday, anti-government protesters forced captured police officers to carry a coffin containing the body of an indigenous activist during a memorial service. The man is said to have been killed during the clashes.
Earlier, one of eight captive officers was forced to drape a national flag on his shoulders and wear a hat used by some indigenous people. The officers appeared to be unharmed, and were later released.
The protests have seen looting, vandalism, clashes with security forces, the blocking of highways, and disruptions of Ecuador’s vital oil industry.
Moreno does not appear to be in immediate danger of being ousted, but his political stature has been badly shaken. He has received statements of support from the Organisation of American States and individual Latin American countries.
The government seems to have been taken aback by the ferocity of the unrest, undermining its credibility among indigenous groups and others who have long felt marginalised in the nation of 17 million people.
An indigenous leader and four other protesters have died since last week, according to the public defender’s office, which monitors human rights.