Berliner Boersenzeitung - Three dead after fresh Ecuador protest clashes, despite govt concession

EUR -
AED 4.301653
AFN 80.810371
ALL 98.156133
AMD 449.212222
ANG 2.096133
AOA 1073.959355
ARS 1538.611839
AUD 1.786896
AWG 2.109856
AZN 1.994786
BAM 1.956186
BBD 2.366096
BDT 142.388096
BGN 1.955445
BHD 0.441531
BIF 3460.795803
BMD 1.171166
BND 1.499951
BOB 8.097667
BRL 6.313734
BSD 1.171896
BTN 102.478096
BWP 15.639752
BYN 3.874849
BYR 22954.855412
BZD 2.353985
CAD 1.610617
CDF 3384.670175
CHF 0.942748
CLF 0.028455
CLP 1116.26144
CNY 8.402589
CNH 8.409488
COP 4712.186773
CRC 592.699238
CUC 1.171166
CUP 31.035901
CVE 110.733703
CZK 24.45723
DJF 208.139599
DKK 7.462811
DOP 72.202721
DZD 151.697179
EGP 56.58864
ERN 17.567491
ETB 164.198763
FJD 2.631318
FKP 0.867055
GBP 0.862183
GEL 3.156286
GGP 0.867055
GHS 12.326563
GIP 0.867055
GMD 84.916515
GNF 10159.865787
GTQ 8.988505
GYD 245.170003
HKD 9.192623
HNL 30.860583
HRK 7.534348
HTG 153.395684
HUF 395.231074
IDR 18874.512746
ILS 3.963905
IMP 0.867055
INR 102.419002
IQD 1534.227581
IRR 49335.371881
ISK 143.198666
JEP 0.867055
JMD 187.807058
JOD 0.830376
JPY 172.102691
KES 151.662839
KGS 102.301711
KHR 4692.862913
KMF 492.471336
KPW 1053.976325
KRW 1614.756667
KWD 0.357721
KYD 0.976572
KZT 630.639821
LAK 25297.187569
LBP 104656.22454
LKR 352.589572
LRD 235.988662
LSL 20.518942
LTL 3.45815
LVL 0.708427
LYD 6.353598
MAD 10.536394
MDL 19.564443
MGA 5199.977416
MKD 61.570018
MMK 2458.553162
MNT 4211.970119
MOP 9.474984
MRU 46.776618
MUR 53.206207
MVR 18.026789
MWK 2033.725958
MXN 21.823872
MYR 4.927681
MZN 74.908156
NAD 20.518646
NGN 1795.873693
NIO 43.04038
NOK 11.926043
NPR 163.964753
NZD 1.957293
OMR 0.450322
PAB 1.171841
PEN 4.147128
PGK 4.858589
PHP 66.339586
PKR 330.796412
PLN 4.253384
PYG 8777.732007
QAR 4.263632
RON 5.061542
RSD 117.172793
RUB 93.050709
RWF 1691.163837
SAR 4.394622
SBD 9.631404
SCR 16.612533
SDG 703.284182
SEK 11.170149
SGD 1.498548
SHP 0.920353
SLE 27.1673
SLL 24558.764998
SOS 669.324465
SRD 43.976091
STD 24240.773538
STN 24.945838
SVC 10.254023
SYP 15227.443
SZL 20.518927
THB 37.793787
TJS 10.927383
TMT 4.110793
TND 3.361829
TOP 2.742987
TRY 47.766832
TTD 7.958332
TWD 35.084269
TZS 3050.887872
UAH 48.656601
UGX 4169.698147
USD 1.171166
UYU 46.92926
UZS 14668.854785
VES 156.179681
VND 30789.95657
VUV 140.013004
WST 3.113106
XAF 656.097664
XAG 0.030381
XAU 0.000348
XCD 3.165135
XCG 2.112035
XDR 0.822554
XOF 655.275919
XPF 119.331742
YER 281.401985
ZAR 20.50022
ZMK 10541.897024
ZMW 26.982555
ZWL 377.115004
  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    73.08

    0%

  • CMSD

    0.1500

    23.71

    +0.63%

  • NGG

    0.2500

    70.53

    +0.35%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1000

    14.7

    -0.68%

  • SCS

    0.1700

    16.36

    +1.04%

  • BCC

    3.8900

    88.15

    +4.41%

  • GSK

    0.9100

    39.13

    +2.33%

  • CMSC

    0.0900

    23.17

    +0.39%

  • RIO

    0.4700

    63.57

    +0.74%

  • RELX

    -0.0600

    47.77

    -0.13%

  • AZN

    2.6000

    77.94

    +3.34%

  • BTI

    -0.8100

    57.11

    -1.42%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.4

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.1100

    11.65

    +0.94%

  • BCE

    0.6100

    25.11

    +2.43%

  • BP

    0.2400

    34.31

    +0.7%

Three dead after fresh Ecuador protest clashes, despite govt concession
Three dead after fresh Ecuador protest clashes, despite govt concession / Photo: Rodrigo BUENDIA - AFP

Three dead after fresh Ecuador protest clashes, despite govt concession

Police in Ecuador's capital fired tear gas on Thursday to disperse Indigenous protesters who tried to storm congress, as the country's crippling cost-of-living demonstrations left another three dead, according to a rights group.

Text size:

The latest deaths brought the overall toll from the 11 days of protests to six, according to the Alliance of Human Rights Organizations, which recorded three fatalities between Monday and Wednesday.

Protesters had earlier won a concession from the Ecuadoran government when President Guillermo Lasso, isolating because of a Covid-19 infection, granted them access to a cultural center emblematic of the Indigenous struggle that had been commandeered by police over the weekend.

Later in the day, however, a group of Indigenous protesters led by women headed towards congress, only to be pushed back by police as violent clashes broke out.

Police fired tear gas, while protesters threw rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails.

"This is a very bad sign, given we asked our base to march peacefully," said protest leader Leonidas Iza.

Thursday's clashes, which spread to a neighboring park, left a 39-year-old protester dead by gunfire, according to the Alliance. A young man died nearby, and in Caspigasi, on the outskirts of Quito, an Indigenous community member died during confrontations with the military.

The armed forces said on Thursday that members of the military providing security for a food convoy were "assaulted by a violent group" in Caspigasi, resulting in 17 soldiers being seriously injured.

An estimated 14,000 protesters are taking part in the mass show of discontent, with about 10,000 of them in Quito, which is under a night-time curfew.

Six of the country's 24 provinces are under a state of emergency.

The protesters' demands include 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.

- 'For the sake of dialogue' -

Francisco Jimenez, Ecuador's minister of government, announced the concession granting access to the cultural center earlier Thursday, saying it was made "for the sake of dialogue and peace."

The aim, he said, was "to stop roadblocks, violent demonstrations, and attacks."

The protesters hailed the move.

"It is a triumph of the struggle," Iza proclaimed over a megaphone, advancing on the center with hundreds of others in a jubilant mood.

The Alliance of Human Rights Organizations said a 38-year-old man died on Wednesday in the southern town of Tarqui in clashes between protesters and police, whom it accused of violent tactics.

Dozens of people have also been injured in the countrywide demonstrations, which Indigenous groups have vowed to continue until their demands are met.

The police said the man had died of a medical condition that occurred "in the context of the demonstrations."

Two other people died on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Alliance, which also reported 92 wounded and 94 civilians arrested in 11 days of protests.

Officials say 117 police personnel and soldiers have been injured.

On Wednesday night, about 300 protesters occupied a power plant in southern Ecuador and briefly took its operators hostage, authorities said.

Ecuador, a small South American country riddled with drug trafficking and related violence, has been hard hit by rising inflation, unemployment and poverty -- all exacerbated by the pandemic.

- $50 million daily losses -

The protests, which have involved the burning of tires and tree branches by vocal marchers brandishing sticks, spears and makeshift shields, have paralyzed the capital and severely harmed the economy with barricades on key roads.

The government has rejected demands to lift the state of emergency imposed in response to the sometimes violent demonstrations called by the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie).

"I cry to see so many people mistreated by this... government," protester Cecilia, an 80-year-old who did not give her full name, told AFP as she marched with an Ecuadoran flag and a banner reading: "Lasso, liar."

Conaie led two weeks of protests in 2019 in which 11 people died and more than 1,000 were injured, causing economic losses of about $800 million before the then-president abandoned plans to reduce fuel price subsidies.

Lasso's government has ruled out cutting fuel prices this time, as it would cost the state an unaffordable $1 billion per year.

Conaie -- credited with ending three presidencies between 1997 and 2005 -- insists the state of emergency be lifted before it will negotiate, but the government has said this "would leave the capital defenseless."

It was unclear whether the group was ready to negotiate after Thursday's concession.

Official data showed the economy was losing about $50 million per day due to the protests, not counting production of oil -- the country's main export product -- which has also been affected.

Producers of flowers, another of Ecuador's main exports, have complained their wares are rotting as trucks cannot reach their destinations.

(H.Schneide--BBZ)