Ecuador’s president orders the army onto the streets of the capital.

Troops to enforce curfew imposed in response to protests

QUITO, Ecuador — President Lenín Moreno ordered the army onto the streets of Ecuador’s capital Saturday after a week and a half of protests over fuel prices devolved into violent incidents, with masked protesters attacking a television station, a newspaper and the national auditor’s office.

Moreno said the military-enforced curfew would begin at 3 p.m. local time in response to violence in areas previously untouched by the protests. Around 1 p.m., masked protesters broke into the national auditor’s office and set it ablaze, sending black smoke billowing across the central Quito park and cultural complex that have been the epicenter of the protests.

About two hours later, a group of several dozen masked men swarmed the offices of the private Teleamazonas television station in northern Quito, set fires on the grounds and tried to break into the building where about 20 employees were trapped.

“They’re trying to enter the station, trying to break down the doors, we’re asking for help but the police aren’t coming,” one employee told The Associated Press by telephone on condition of anonymity because he was afraid of retaliation.

A journalist with the newspaper El Comercio told the AP that the paper’s offices in southern Quito were also under attack. The building’s security guards were seized and tied up and attackers were trying to break into offices where journalists were hiding, the journalist said.

Moreno appeared on national television alongside his vice president and defense minister to announce that he was ordering people indoors and the army onto the streets.

He blamed the violence on drug traffickers, organized crime and followers of former President Rafael Correa, who has denied allegations he is attempting to topple the Moreno government.

Moreno said the masked protesters had nothing to do with the thousands of indigenous Ecuadorians who have protested for nearly a week over a sudden rise in fuel prices as part of an International Monetary Fund-backed austerity package.

“I have ordered the Armed Forces Joint Command to immediately undertake all the necessary measures and operations,” Moreno said. “We are going to restore order in all of Ecuador.”

The violence, curfew and military deployment came shortly after the announcement of a possible softening of Ecuador’s 10-day standoff. Indigenous leaders of the fuel price protests that have paralyzed Ecuador’s economy for days said early Saturday afternoon that they were willing to negotiate.

The indigenous leaders distanced themselves from the violent gangs, calling them instigators unconnected to the native groups’ cause.