Hundreds Arrested in Ecuador Unrest

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/04/world/americas/hundreds-arrested-in-ecuador-unrest.html

Version 0 of 1.

QUITO, Ecuador — Angry demonstrations over Ecuador’s elimination of fuel subsidies widened on Friday, paralyzing much of the country for the second consecutive day as protesters in the capital clashed with riot police officers who used tear gas and armored cars to disperse them. Hundreds of people were reported arrested.

The mayhem in Ecuador, a country with a history of political convulsions and economic crises, represents the biggest challenge to President Lenín Moreno since he took office in a 2017 election after a decade in power by Rafael Correa, a former ally. The end of Mr. Correa’s tenure was punctuated by accusations of corruption involving public infrastructure projects and a swelling of the country’s foreign debt.

Mr. Moreno decreed a 60-day state of emergency on Thursday, when the fuel subsidies repeal took effect, as strikes and violent protests by transport workers and others made much of Ecuador come to a standstill.

The president, now an adversary of Mr. Correa’s, vowed there would be no turning back on ending the fuel subsidies. “Under no circumstances will we change the measure,” he said.

Ecuadoreans had grown accustomed to the fuel subsidies, which had been in effect for 40 years, but Mr. Moreno said they cost the government $1.3 billion annually. Their elimination is an important component of an austerity plan required under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to help Ecuador stabilize its finances.

Students nationwide were ordered to stay at home, and shops and stores closed in fear of riots. But thousands of protesters, including students, teachers, indigenous leaders and others angered over Mr. Moreno’s austerity policies marched toward the presidential palace in Quito, which was heavily protected by riot police, and clashes erupted. The smell of tear gas wafted through the city.

Mr. Moreno flew to the coastal city of Guayaquil, where the protests had escalated into looting and the pillaging of home appliance stores.

“We will prevent those who sacked the country from doing it in others ways,” he told reporters.

The minister of government, María Paula Romo, said at a news conference on Friday that at least 350 people had been arrested over two days of unrest. They included leaders of indigenous organizations that had blocked public roads.

Most of those arrested, Ms. Romo said, were accused of vandalism — nearly half of them in Guayaquil.

The government reported that 28 police officers had been injured in the clashes, but there were also accusations that the police had attacked journalists covering the protests. A cameraman from a local TV station was rammed by a taxi during a live broadcast.

The protests are the largest since 2015, when demonstrations against Mr. Correa included hundreds of strikes. About 12,000 police officers were summoned to Quito to protect the presidential palace.