Guayaquil, Ecuador

Fleeing the capital: Violent anti-austerity protests have paralyzed Ecuador’s capital, Quito, leading Ecuadorean President Lenín Moreno to move the seat of his government this week to the coastal city of Guayaquil. Moreno announced last week that he was ending fuel subsidies that cost the government some $1.3 billion a year, part of a package of cost-cutting measures needed to secure a $4.2 billion International Monetary Fund loan. Fuel prices quickly spiked, and transportation workers, students, and indigenous groups—already angered by years of economic malaise— took to the streets in fury. Rioters burned military vehicles, fought running battles with police, and vandalized the parliament building in Quito. Without offering proof, Moreno accused his political opponents of whipping up the demonstrations “to destabilize the government and break with order, with democratic order.”