An indigenous protester died in clashes with law enforcement on Tuesday, the ninth day of demonstrations against the Ecuadoran government, which the military described as a “grave threat.”
The man, a member of the Quichua indigenous group, was participating in a road block in the Amazon town of Puyo, when there was “a confrontation and this person was hit in the face, apparently with a tear gas bomb,” said Lina Maria Espinosa, a lawyer with the Alliance for Human Rights.
Since Monday last week, multiple roads have been barricaded nationwide at a cost of hundreds of millions of US dollars to the economy, in demonstrations over fuel prices called by the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE).
Photo: AFP
Dozens of people — police and the public — have been injured in clashes.
The death of the protester, identified as Byron Guatatoca, 40, came after a young man died overnight when he fell into a ravine “trying to flee from the military” in a protest on the outskirts of Quito, Cayambe Mayor Guillermo Churuchumbi said.
The episode prompted the prosecutors’ office — which was also stoned by protesters and had its glass doors smashed — to open an investigation into possible homicide.
In Quito proper about 500 protesters — among about 10,000 who arrived in the capital from around the country in the past few days — were on Tuesday tear-gassed as they blockaded a street with burning tree branches.
They quickly regrouped to march on the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana — a cultural center traditionally used by indigenous people to launch protests, but requisitioned by police over the weekend to use as a base.
“The objective of today is to retake the Casa de la Cultura,” protester Wilson Mazabanda said before police used spray to break up the group.
Earlier in the day, Ecuadoran Minister of National Defense Luis Lara said Ecuador’s democracy “faces a grave threat from ... people who are preventing the free movement of the majority of Ecuadorans” with widespread blockades.
Flanked by the heads of the army, navy and air force, Lara said the military “will not allow attempts to break the constitutional order or any action against democracy and the laws of the republic.”
Quito Mayor Santiago Guarderas wrote on Twitter that the demonstrations “continue to escalate,” and that the capital’s markets were running out of supplies.
CONAIE — credited with helping topple three presidents between 1997 and 2005 — called for the demonstrations, as Ecuadorans increasingly struggle to make ends meet.
Indigenous people comprise more than 1 million of Ecuador’s 17.7 million inhabitants and wield much political clout, but are disproportionately affected by rising inflation, unemployment and poverty exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thousands of demonstrators — many of them had traveled to Quito on foot or on the backs of trucks — took to the streets wielding sticks, fireworks and makeshift shields made of road signs.
“We are already tired of this government,” university student Mazabanda said of former banker Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso’s one-year-old presidency.
Tito Zamora, a small-scale farmer, added that costs have risen sharply, “but not the price we get for our products.”
Lasso wrote on Twitter that he was ready to participate in “a frank and respectful dialogue process with CONAIE and other civil organizations.”
“It is our duty to reach consensus for the good of the country,” the president said.
Fuel prices have risen sharply since 2020, almost doubling for diesel from US$1 to US$1.90 per gallon (3.79 liters) and rising from US$1.75 to US$2.55 for gasoline.
CONAIE is demanding a price cut to US$1.50 per gallon for diesel and US$2.10 for gasoline.
It also wants jobs and food price controls.
The movement has since been joined by students, workers and other Ecuadorans feeling the economic pinch.
Dozens have been arrested, human rights observers said.
Lasso on Monday extended a state of emergency to cover six of the country’s 24 provinces, with a nighttime curfew in Quito.
Ecuador’s National Assembly on Monday voted in favor of a resolution calling for the government to conduct a “serious, clear and honest” dialogue with protesters, mediated by the UN, the International Red Cross, universities and the Catholic Church.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese