MEDIATOR SOUGHT AS GOVERNMENT FLEES CAPITAL

QUITO/GUAYAQUIL Ecuador’s government sought foreign mediation via the United Nations or the Catholic Church on Tuesday, after almost a week of anti-austerity protests that have forced the government to move from the capital and brought hundreds of arrests.

Thousands of Indigenous demonstrators have converged on the highland capital, Quito, and were planning to march near the heavily guarded presidential palace on Tuesday.

Facing the biggest challenge to his two-and-a-halfyear rule, President Lenin Moreno has declared a state of emergency and relocated government operations to the coastal city of Guayaquil.

“The only response is dialogue and firmness at the same time,” presidency secretary Juan Roldan told local radio, saying authorities were open to receiving help from the UN, Catholic Church or university rectors.

Officials say the number of arrests has risen to 570.

Protests erupted last Thursday when the government cut fuel subsidies as part of a package of economic reforms, in keeping with a US$4.2 billion IMF loan.