QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Nearly three weeks of striking bus drivers and roadblocks by angry farmers in response to the government’s increase of diesel fuel costs have put Ecuador President Daniel Noboa in one of the tensest moments of his presidency.
With no signs of dialogue after 18 days, one protester has been killed, numerous protesters and authorities injured, and more than 100 people arrested.
Even though the demonstrations called for by Ecuador’s largest Indigenous organization are supposed to be nationwide, the most acute impact has been in the northern part of the country, especially Imbabura province, where Noboa won in April’s election with 52% of the vote.
On one side is “a president who assumes that after winning the elections he has all of the power at his disposal, who has a