- Title: Tense calm settles over Guayaquil after a day of violent protests
- Date: 10th October 2019
- Summary: GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR (OCTOBER 10, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CALM STREETS, CARS DRIVING, PEOPLE WALKING NEWSPAPER VENDOR SETTING UP NEWSPAPER RACK FRONT PAGE OF ECUADOREAN NEWSPAPER GENERAL VIEW OF NEWSPAPER VENDOR SET UP, PEOPLE WALKING ALONG NEWSPAPER FRONT PAGE PEOPLE SITTING IN SQUARE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GUAYAQUIL RESIDENT FRANCISCA ORDONHEZ SAYING: "I think that the time has come for all of this to calm down because most of it has been violence and looting and I don't think that it is fair for all of the people to suffer the consequences of government that is not doing the right thing." GENERAL VIEW OF CHURCH IGUANAS AT THE PARK WOMEN WATCHING THE IGUANAS IN THE PARK IGUANAS IN THE PARK
- Embargoed: 24th October 2019 16:42
- Keywords: Ecuador crisis morning Guayaquil protests
- Location: GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR
- City: GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR
- Country: Ecuador
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0INVBB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:At tense calm settled over Guayaquil on Thursday (October 10) after a day of violent protests against President Lenin Moreno's austerity measures.
At least one indigenous protester was killed in unrest in Ecuador's capital Quito amid protests that were expected to continue for an eighth day.
The death could exacerbate a conflict that has already slashed the Andean nation's oil production and forced the government to relocate to a coastal city. More than 700 people have been arrested and more than 400 wounded, according to authorities.
The office of Ecuador's ombudsman, which monitors conflicts, said one protester was killed due to brain trauma on Wednesday. It added that it was investigating reports by indigenous group Conaie that other protesters also died during a police crackdown on Wednesday.
The government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The protests first erupted in the Andean nation of 17 million people a week ago when Moreno cut fuel subsidies as part of a package of measures in line with a $4.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Conaie, which has mobilized several thousand members to Quito, blamed the "disproportionate and brutal repression" and said it was coordinating with other organizations to ensure there was no impunity.
Indigenous protesters, many of whom have walked from surrounding provinces to Quito, started to regroup near a park as police guarded government buildings early on Thursday.
However, there appeared to be fewer protesters than on Wednesday, when workers' unions and other social organizations joined the protest in a national strike that shuttered shops in Quito and other cities.
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