- Title: Indigenous protesters hold police captive in wake of killing in Ecuador
- Date: 10th October 2019
- Summary: QUITO, ECUADOR (OCTOBER 10, 2019) (REUTERS) GROUPS OF POLICE UNITS WHO ARE REPORTEDLY BEING HELD BY INDIGENOUS PROTESTERS BEING STRIPPED OF SECURITY GEAR
- Embargoed: 24th October 2019 19:57
- Keywords: Ecuador Ecuador unrest Ecuador anti-austerity measures police held captive
- Location: QUITO, ECUADOR
- City: QUITO, ECUADOR
- Country: Ecuador
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0IOB47
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: At least one indigenous protester was killed in unrest in Ecuador's capital Quito amid protests against President Lenin Moreno's austerity measures that reached an eighth day on Thursday (October 10).
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, authorities said.
According to a government official, indigenous protesters were holding at least six police officers as hostages.
"At this time, there are Ecuadorean citizens who are being held against their will in the Palace of Culture. Six police officers are being held and 27 journalists from different media outlets have not been allowed to leave at their will," Secretary of the Presidency Jose Agusto Briones said.
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 (IMF).
Conaie, which has mobilized several thousand members to Quito, blamed the "disproportionate and brutal repression" carried out by the government 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 across the country.
Graffiti criticizing Moreno and the IMF covered walls of buildings in Quito, as shopkeepers cleaned up streets littered with rocks and burned debris.
Moreno has refused to repeal the subsidy cut and said he would not step down. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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