QUITO —
Violent clashes between Indigenous protesters and police broke out for a second
straight day in
Ecuador’s capital on Friday, as the country’s president accused
demonstrators of attempting a coup.
اضافة اعلان
Nearly two weeks
into protests that have left six people dead and dozens injured, thousands of
demonstrators angry at rising fuel prices threw rocks and Molotov cocktails and
shot off fireworks near the congress building in Quito.
Security forces
repelled protesters with tear gas, and clashes eventually stopped late in the
evening, according to AFP reporters on the scene.
“The real intention
of these violent people is to stage a coup,” President
Guillermo Lasso said in
a speech earlier Friday in which he again offered dialogue to end the protests.
An estimated 14,000
protesters are taking part in a nationwide show of discontent against rising
hardship in an economy dealt a serious blow by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of the ire is
concentrated in the capital Quito, where some 10,000 people, most from other
parts of the country, have gathered.
Both sides accused
each other of intransigence on Friday, as the protests entered their 12th day.
“They have unmasked
themselves. They don’t want to negotiate. They don’t want to come to an
agreement. ... They don’t want peace. Until now, the only thing they have
demonstrated is that they want violence,” minister of government Francisco
Jimenez told broadcaster FM Mundo.
Six of the
country’s 24 provinces are under a state of emergency and a night-time curfew
is in place in Quito.
Protesters are
demanding a cut in already subsidized fuel prices, which have risen sharply in
recent months, as well as jobs, food price controls, and more public spending
on healthcare and education.
Poorest ‘suffer the most’
But the action has been
costly, with losses of some $50 million per day to the economy, and production
of fuel — Ecuador’s biggest export — halved, according to the energy ministry.
On Thursday, protesters won a limited concession
from President Guillermo Lasso who granted them access, “for the sake of
dialogue and peace,” to a cultural center emblematic of the Indigenous struggle
that had been commandeered by police.
Hours later, however, a group of protesters headed
for
Congress, where police fired tear gas in response to a barrage of rocks,
fireworks and Molotov cocktails.
Three people died in confrontations on Thursday,
bringing the toll to six since the movement started on June 13 on the
initiative of the powerful
Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie).
Conaie leader Leonidas Iza told AFP the revolt would
continue “until we have results. We can no longer hold back the anger of the
people.”
People were desperate, said Iza.
“We expected the president to answer the central
questions of the crisis, the poverty our people are experiencing. The economic
question is one of despair, which is why we are here,” he said.
“There is a lot of poverty, the increase in the
price of fuel has increased all the prices, and we, the poorest, are the ones
who suffer the most.”
Conaie is credited with bringing down three
presidents between 1997 and 2005.
Its most recent mobilization has brought Quito to a
standstill, and many shop owners and workers in the capital do not look kindly
on what they see as an invasion, flying white anti-protest flags.
“The class struggle has deepened,” said Iza in
response.
No talks have been scheduled between the government
and Conaie.
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