Ecuador orders army onto streets to enforce curfew
14 October, 2019
Ecuador’s army took to the streets Saturday after President Lenin Moreno ordered the first 24-hour curfew in decades in response to a day of attacks on government buildings and media offices.
By Saturday night soldiers had retaken control of the park and streets leading to the National Assembly and the national comptroller’s office, which had been broken into by protesters who lit fires inside the building.
Moreno said the military would enforce the round-the-clock curfew in Quito and around critical infrastructure like power stations and hospitals in response to the day’s violence. It was the first such action imposed since a series of coups in the 1960s and ‘70s.
Late Saturday night, Moreno announced some possible concessions in an economic package that was opposed by many Ecuadorians. But he didn’t retract his decision to remove fuel subsidies, a step that triggered the nationwide protests and clashes.
Moreno said his government would address some concerns of protesters, studying ways to ensure resources reach rural areas and offering compensation for those who lost earnings because of the recent upheaval.
For many in Ecuador, which had become one of the safest and most stable countries in the region, the violence that roiled the capital was a terrifying shock.
“Quito had a very hard day, of much tension and fear for its citizens,” Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo said.”What we saw today we haven’t seen before.”
About two hours after the comptroller’s office was attacked, a group of several dozen masked men swarmed the offices of the private Teleamazonas television station in northern Quito, set fires on the grounds and tried to break into the building where about 20 employees were trapped.
The offices of the newspaper El Comercio in southern Quito were also attacked, with the building’s security guards were seized and briefly bound before police arrived and drove off the assailants. Police also halted the attack on Teleamazonas.
Following hours of chaos, Moreno appeared on national television alongside his vice president and defense minister to announce that he was ordering people indoors and the army onto the streets.
Moreno said the masked protesters had nothing to do with the thousands of indigenous Ecuadorians who have protested for nearly a week over a sudden rise in fuel prices as part of an International Monetary Fund-backed austerity package.
He blamed the violence on drug traffickers, organized crime and followers of former President Rafael Correa, who has denied allegations he is trying to topple Moreno’s government.
“I have ordered the Armed Forces Joint Command to immediately undertake all the necessary measures and operations,” Moreno said. “We are going to restore order in all of Ecuador.”
Moreno served Correa as vice president before he became president and the two men went through a bitter split as Moreno pushed to curb public debt amassed on Correa’s watch.Speech
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