Ecuadoran police on Sunday requisitioned an indigenous cultural center in Quito to use as a base for monitoring anti-government protests by indigenous people, the institution said.
“The national police notified [us of] the requisition of the place, under the state of emergency,” the House of Ecuadorian Culture said.
Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso on Friday declared a state of emergency in three provinces, including the capital, Quito, in a bid to end the sometimes violent demonstrations.
Photo: AP
The state of emergency empowers Lasso to mobilize the armed forces to maintain order, suspend civil rights and declare curfews.
The powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), which has been credited with helping topple three presidents from 1997 to 2005, called the protests to demand cheaper fuel and food price controls.
The indigenous community represents more than 1 million of Ecuador’s 17.7 million inhabitants, and their protest has been joined by students, workers and others.
The demonstrations have blocked roads across the country, including highways leading into Quito.
Oil producer Ecuador has been hit by rising inflation, unemployment and poverty exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fuel prices have risen sharply since 2020, almost doubling for diesel from US$1 to US$1.90 per gallon and rising from US$1.75 to US$2.55 for gasoline.
The requisition of the House of Ecuadorian Culture — home to theaters, cinemas, a museum and a library — came on the eve of the arrival of more indigenous protesters in the capital, where a seven-hour nighttime curfew is in effect.
The center sheltered thousands of indigenous people in October 2019 during violent demonstrations against rising fuel prices that left 11 dead and more than 1,000 injured.
“National police and soldiers entered” the building and “hundreds of armed elements besieged it,” the House of Culture said in a statement.
“Joy has died tonight, the House of Culture has fallen into the hands of police terror, we live in a dictatorship,” House of Culture president Fernando Ceron wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
He also posted a copy of the police requsition order.
Talks President Lasso have failed to end the demonstrations.
Clashes with security forces during the protests over the past week have left at least 83 people injured, and 40 have been arrested.
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