- Title: "IMF, Lenin Moreno are killing the people of Ecuador" - indigenous leader
- Date: 11th October 2019
- Summary: QUITO, ECUADOR (OCTOBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS, PROTESTERS AND POLICE CLASHING OUTSIDE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BUILDING / FACE-COVERED PROTESTERS SHIELDING FROM TEAR GAS BEHIND MAKESHIFT SHIELDS VARIOUS, PROTESTERS THROWING TEAR GAS BACK TO POLICE USING MAKESHIFT BAZOOKA, GROUPING BEHIND MAKESHIFT SHIELD (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATION OF INDIGENOUS NATIONALITIES OF ECUADOR (CONAIE), LUIS VARGAS, SAYING: "We are (not) going (to stop) until we reach our goal. Until we reach our goal. And our goal is the immediate repeal of decree 883. But right now we are being repressed. They are killing us with these weapons. Here they are, 12 caliber. These have a 30 to 60 meter reach. These are not rubber bullets, these are real bullets, bullets that kill people. They are killing people, they are killing the people of Ecuador. Lenin Moreno is killing the people of Ecuador by implementing orders from the IMF (International Monetary Fund). The IMF is killing the indigenous people of Ecuador and the world." VARGAS AND OTHER PROTESTERS GATHERED, TALKING VARIOUS, PROTESTERS CHARGING AGAINST RETREATING RIOT POLICE ON HORSES PEOPLE LOOKING ON FROM A WINDOW VARIOUS, RIOT POLICE HUDDLED BEHIND SHIELDS ADVANCING TEAR GAS FILLING UP THE AIR, PROTESTERS FLEEING SCENE
- Embargoed: 25th October 2019 19:18
- Keywords: Ecuador crisis protests violence fuel austerity measures
- Location: QUITO, ECUADOR
- City: QUITO, ECUADOR
- Country: Ecuador
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0NNGW7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Indigenous protesters held a pitched tear gas battle with Ecuadorean police on Friday (October 11) as anti-austerity protests continue to rock President Lenin Moreno's government.
The unrest is the latest flashpoint in Latin America over unpopular structural economic reforms. Argentine President Mauricio Macri was trounced in an August primary vote amid stiff opposition to an IMF deal he signed last year.
Since last week, security forces in Ecuador have turned tear gas and water cannons on protesters who have set up burning barricades and hurled stones at police lines.
Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo apologised after police fired tear gas in safe areas for protesters. She said authorities have faced extreme violence from some, including about 600 people whom she said swarmed a military barracks late on Wednesday, wounding several military officers.
The unrest has already slashed the Andean nation's oil production by 520,000 barrels and forced the government to relocate to the coastal city of Guayaquil.
More than 900 people have been arrested, though most have been released due to lack of evidence, according to the office of the ombudsman, a state institution that monitors conflicts.
More than 500 have been wounded, it said.
The Red Cross in Ecuador said the violence was so bad it had depleted its blood bank. It called on Twitter for donations.
(Production: Herbert Villarraga, Cristina Munoz) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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