Ecuador Refuses to End State of Emergency; 18 Police Missing After Attack
June 22, 2022
Agence France-Presse
June 22, 2022
Agence France-Presse
Demonstrators clash with riot police in the El Arbolito park area in Quito, June 22, 2022, on the 10th consecutive day of Indigenous-led protests against the Ecuadorean government.
QUITO, ECUADOR —
Ecuador on Wednesday refused to end its state of emergency and said 18 police officers were missing following an attack by Indigenous protesters on a police station in the eastern Amazon region.
Two people have died in the 10-day protest in which the government has declared an emergency in six of Ecuador's 24 departments following violent clashes between protesters and security forces.
Around 90 civilians and 100 members of the security forces have been injured in clashes, while the interior minister said 18 officers were missing following the attack in the Amazonian city of Puyo.
Another six officers were seriously injured and three more were detained by the protesters, said Patricio Carrillo.
A protester also died in the attack in Puyo, a five-hour drive south of Quito, the government said Tuesday night.
"The mob began setting fires with police still inside patrol cars, began looting, burning public-private facilities such as the Guayaquil Bank, Red Cross, until they ended up torching the police facilities in the center of the city," said Carrillo.
Conditions for dialogue
President Guillermo Lasso has proposed dialogue with the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), which called the protests, in a bid to end the escalating violence.
But CONAIE leader Leonidas Iza said talks were conditioned on the state of emergency being repealed and the "demilitarization" of a public park in Quito that is a traditional rallying point for Indigenous people but is currently under the control of security forces.
"We cannot lift the state of exception because that would leave the capital defenseless, and we already know what happened in October 2019, and we will not allow that," Minister of Government Francisco Jimenez told the Teleamazonas channel.
QUITO, ECUADOR —
Ecuador on Wednesday refused to end its state of emergency and said 18 police officers were missing following an attack by Indigenous protesters on a police station in the eastern Amazon region.
Two people have died in the 10-day protest in which the government has declared an emergency in six of Ecuador's 24 departments following violent clashes between protesters and security forces.
Around 90 civilians and 100 members of the security forces have been injured in clashes, while the interior minister said 18 officers were missing following the attack in the Amazonian city of Puyo.
Another six officers were seriously injured and three more were detained by the protesters, said Patricio Carrillo.
A protester also died in the attack in Puyo, a five-hour drive south of Quito, the government said Tuesday night.
"The mob began setting fires with police still inside patrol cars, began looting, burning public-private facilities such as the Guayaquil Bank, Red Cross, until they ended up torching the police facilities in the center of the city," said Carrillo.
Conditions for dialogue
President Guillermo Lasso has proposed dialogue with the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), which called the protests, in a bid to end the escalating violence.
But CONAIE leader Leonidas Iza said talks were conditioned on the state of emergency being repealed and the "demilitarization" of a public park in Quito that is a traditional rallying point for Indigenous people but is currently under the control of security forces.
"We cannot lift the state of exception because that would leave the capital defenseless, and we already know what happened in October 2019, and we will not allow that," Minister of Government Francisco Jimenez told the Teleamazonas channel.
Police confront demonstrators during clashes in the El Arbolito park area in Quito, June 22, 2022, on the 10th consecutive day of Indigenous-led protests against the Ecuadorean government.
CONAIE led two weeks of nationwide protests in 2019 in which 11 people died and more than 1,000 were injured, also generating losses of $800 million.
In the capital, Quito, Indigenous protesters occupied congress, torched the comptroller's office, and damaged public and private property.
'Sit down and talk'
The capital is again the epicenter of the protests.
CONAIE, which has mobilized at least 10,000 people in Quito, hundreds of whom have clashed with security forces in recent days, want the government to lower fuel prices.
"It is not the time to put more conditions, to make more demands. It is the moment to sit down and talk," said Jimenez.
"Unfortunately, there has been accidental loss of life, according to the information we have, and we cannot keep waiting."
An Indigenous protester died after he was "hit in the face, apparently with a tear gas bomb," on Tuesday following the "confrontation" with security forces in Puyo, a lawyer for the Alliance of Human Rights Organizations told AFP.
The police said "it was presumed that the person died as a result of handling an explosive device."
Murder probe
Another protester died on Monday after falling into a ravine outside Quito, with police claiming that, too, was an accident.
However, the public prosecutor's office has opened a murder investigation.
The alliance said 90 people had been injured and 87 arrested since protests began on June 13.
Police said 101 officers and military personnel had been injured, with another 27 temporarily detained by protesters.
It said 80 civilians had been arrested.
Quito was relatively calm on Wednesday morning.
CONAIE led two weeks of nationwide protests in 2019 in which 11 people died and more than 1,000 were injured, also generating losses of $800 million.
In the capital, Quito, Indigenous protesters occupied congress, torched the comptroller's office, and damaged public and private property.
'Sit down and talk'
The capital is again the epicenter of the protests.
CONAIE, which has mobilized at least 10,000 people in Quito, hundreds of whom have clashed with security forces in recent days, want the government to lower fuel prices.
"It is not the time to put more conditions, to make more demands. It is the moment to sit down and talk," said Jimenez.
"Unfortunately, there has been accidental loss of life, according to the information we have, and we cannot keep waiting."
An Indigenous protester died after he was "hit in the face, apparently with a tear gas bomb," on Tuesday following the "confrontation" with security forces in Puyo, a lawyer for the Alliance of Human Rights Organizations told AFP.
The police said "it was presumed that the person died as a result of handling an explosive device."
Murder probe
Another protester died on Monday after falling into a ravine outside Quito, with police claiming that, too, was an accident.
However, the public prosecutor's office has opened a murder investigation.
The alliance said 90 people had been injured and 87 arrested since protests began on June 13.
Police said 101 officers and military personnel had been injured, with another 27 temporarily detained by protesters.
It said 80 civilians had been arrested.
Quito was relatively calm on Wednesday morning.
Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of Ecuadorans taking part in a ninth day of Indigenous-led fuel price protests the military described as a "grave threat."
Wed, 22 June 2022
Thousands of indigenous protesters have marched peacefully through Ecuador's capital Quito to demand President Guillermo Lasso address price rises which have ignited 10 days of demonstrations across the country.
Disquiet over costs for fuel, food and other basics has exploded into sometimes-violent protests in several cities, led largely by major indigenous groups who travelled to the capital to make their views heard.
The demonstrations - longer-lasting and larger than marches over fuel prices in October last year - are testing Lasso's ability to restart the country's economy and kick-start employment.
Lasso has an adversarial relationship with the national assembly, where lawmakers have blocked his proposals, and he has struggled to contain rising violence he blames on drug gangs.
Indigenous groups are demanding a fuel price cut, a halt to expanding oil and mining and more time for farmer loan repayments.
"Everything is expensive, we can't take it anymore," said Jose Guaraca, who joined the protest after travelling from the indigenous city of Guamote in a truck to Quito to demand lower fuel prices and better income for farmers.
Protesters marched down Quito's major roads on Wednesday afternoon carrying Ecuadorean flags and chanting anti-government slogans. Some indigenous marchers carried spears.
A protester throws a tear gas canister fired by security personnel after Ecuador's armed forces warned they would not allow ongoing protests against President Guillermo Lasso's economic policies to damage the country's democracy, in Quito, Ecuador June 21, 2022. REUTERS/Santiago
Security forces were deployed around the government palace.
Demonstrations, led primarily by indigenous organization CONAIE, began last week with peaceful road blocks but levels of violence have escalated in some areas, prompting conservative ex-banker Lasso to decree a state of exception in six provinces.
Violent clashes between soldiers and demonstrators armed with guns, spears and explosives took place on Tuesday night in Puyo, an Amazonian city, but the government has restored order, it said on Tuesday afternoon.
Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo earlier said public safety could not be guaranteed after attacks on police in Puyo.
"We've always had our door open to dialogue, we've only said that talks can't make a mockery of the Ecuadorean people," CONAIE president Leonidas Iza told protesters, in a video the organisation published on Twitter.
Protesters march to demand President Guillermo Lasso address price increases for fuel, food and other basics which have ignited 10 days of demonstrations across the country, in Quito, Ecuador June 22, 2022. REUTERS/Santiago Arcos
Lasso reiterated a call for dialogue early on Wednesday.
One protester died amid the incidents in Puyo and six police officers were seriously injured, while 18 are missing, the government said.
The protester was killed after being struck in the head by a police tear gas canister, according to human rights groups.
Another protester was killed last week after falling into a ravine and the health ministry has said two people died in ambulances delayed by road blockades.
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