This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/09/ecuador-strike-lenin-moreno-latest

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Ecuador paralyzed by national strike as Moreno refuses to step down Ecuador paralyzed by national strike as Moreno refuses to step down
(about 7 hours later)
Ecuador has been paralyzed by a national strike as the president, Lenín Moreno, refused to step down or overturn austerity measures that have triggered the worst unrest in a decade. Indigenous protesters have clashed again with riot police in Ecuador’s captial as thousands of people joined anti-government rallies and marches calling for the repeal of austerity measures which have sparked the worst political unrest in a decade.
Streets were empty of traffic and businesses were closed from early in Quito and other cities during the shutdown, in Latin America’s latest flare-up over unpopular structural reforms. Hooded youths threw stones and burned tires as police fired tear gas around the empty parliament building which had been sealed off. Demonstrators also tried unsuccessfully to storm barricades around the presidential palace, which the president, Lenín Moreno, left on Monday, moving his government to the port city of Guayaquil.
Security forces fired teargas to break up hundreds of protesters marching near the presidential palace in downtown Quito, the highland capital. Other groups including labour unions and indigenous federations marched, for the most part peacefully, on the first day of a national strike which leaders say will not end until the government repeals a decree scrapping fuel subsidies which caused the price of petrol to spike by a third and the cost of diesel to more than double.
Violent demonstrations erupted in the Andean nation of 17 million people a week ago when Moreno cut fuel subsidies as part of a package of measures in line with a $4.2bn International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan. Moreno’s government lifted the petrol and diesel subsidies last Tuesday as part of a $4.2bn loan deal with the International Monetary Fund reached last year that hinges on belt-tightening reforms. According to the government the payments had cost the country close to $1.4bn (£1.1bn) annually, according to official sources.
Outside Quito’s parliament building, thousands of indigenous Ecuadoreans camped out on the grass, many of them carrying sticks. Through loudspeakers, leaders of different indigenous groups addressed the crowd.
“What the government has done is reward the big banks, the capitalists, and punish poor Ecuadorians,” said Mesías Tatamuez, head of the Workers’ United Front umbrella union.“What the government has done is reward the big banks, the capitalists, and punish poor Ecuadorians,” said Mesías Tatamuez, head of the Workers’ United Front umbrella union.
The main indigenous group Conaie, which has mobilized about 6,000 members to Quito from outlying areas, said Moreno’s government was behaving like a “military dictatorship” by declaring a state of emergency and setting an overnight curfew. Indigenous protests have played a central role in toppling a string of Ecuador’s presidents, including Abdalá Bucaram in 1997, Jamil Mahuad in 2000 and Lucio Gutiérrez in 2005.
Protesters again barricaded roads on Wednesday morning with debris, while security forces themselves blocked a major bridge in the coastal city of Guayaquil to thwart demonstrations. Jaime Vargas, the leader of the Ecuador’s indigenous confederation Conaie, said there would be no dialogue until the government rolled back its order ending the subsidies.
Moreno, 66, who succeeded the leftist leader Rafael Correa in 2017, has relocated his government to Guayaquil where there has been less unrest than in Quito. “If it is repealed the people will then decide if we will talk or not, but we are angry because we have several injured, several detained and several dead, and this will not stand.”
He has defied calls to quit. Across the country, two people have died in the unrest, dozens more have been injured and more than 570 have been detained, according to official sources.
“I don’t see why I should if I’m making the right decisions,” Moreno said late on Tuesday, arguing that Ecuador’s large debt and fiscal deficit necessitated belt-tightening reforms. One demonstrator who wanted to remain anonymous said she had been among more than 100 protesters held by police in the basement of the parliament after a foiled attempt by protesters to take over the building on Monday.
For days, protesters have been marching and barricading roads with burning tires. Masked youths have hurled stones at security forces, who have responded with teargas and water cannons. “They treated us badly, they insulted us. There are children and young people who are suffering terribly, young people who are being subjugated,” she said.
“Our flag is red, like the blood of the working class!” chanted marchers in downtown Quito, where anti-Moreno and anti-IMF graffiti covered walls. Amnesty International called on the Ecuadorean government to end to “the heavy-handed repression of demonstrations, including mass detentions”.
“Moreno out!” and “Police murderers!” some shouted. “The state of emergency cannot be an excuse to violently repress people’s discontent over economic measures that may put their rights at risk,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.
Authorities have arrested nearly 700 people in a week of unrest, and dozens of police officers have been injured. Ecuador’s defence minister, Oswaldo Jarrín, said the army was seeking to “restore, order, peace and tranquility” on Wednesday as widespread protests took place across the country.
Moreno has accused his former friend, mentor and boss Correa of seeking a coup with the help of his fellow socialist President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Moreno, 66, has accused political opponents of orchestrating an attempted coup and claimed associates of his predecessor Rafael Correa – a former ally turned bitter enemy – were infiltrating the protests and stoking unrest.
Moreno served as Correa’s vice-president during his decade-long rule, but broke with him after winning election and moved economic policies to the right. “They are sectors who are taking advantage of the situation to generate an atmosphere of chaos in Ecuador, very different behaviour from a country which has seen other social protests,” María Paula Romo, the interior minister, said on Wednesday.
From Belgium where he lives, Correa has been applauding the demonstrators but scoffed at accusations of seeking a coup. Maduro, himself immersed in economic crisis in Venezuela, also denied involvement in Ecuador. Correa, who governed Ecuador for a decade, has brushed off the claim he was behind the protest but called for Moreno to step down and for new elections in which he might consider being a candidate.
Moreno has support from the business elite and the military appears to remain loyal, but his popularity is less than half of what it was two years ago and Ecuadoreans are mindful that indigenous protests helped topple three presidents before Correa. Protest leader Lourdes Tibán, a former parliamentarian, said the violence had been caused by “infiltrators who want to show that the indigenous activists are criminals and thieves who causes damage – but that’s not true”.
“I feel betrayed by Moreno,” said printer and father of eight Luis Calvopina, 53. “I don’t want him to quit, but I do want him to reverse this stupidity that he has done.” She said the vast majority of protesters were marching because the fuel price hike had inflated food and transport prices and the indigenous people were the hardest hit.
“Rafael Correa does not have the moral authority to praise this protest when he criminalised social protest for us,” she said.
Street vendor Carmen Jaque, 50, who had marched to the capital from the Andean province of Chimborazo, said: “We, the people, are marching here, not infiltrators. We’re the ones feeling the price rises.”
Moreno was elected in 2017 as the candidate for Correa’s centre-left party but has since moved to the right. Though he enjoys the support of business and the military, Moreno’s popularity has sunk to under 30%, compared with 70% in 2017.
EcuadorEcuador
ProtestProtest
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
AmericasAmericas
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content