Protesters bunker down in Quito as public anger over austerity rages on

Record ID: 1436386

  • Title: Protesters bunker down in Quito as public anger over austerity rages on
  • Date: 12th October 2019
  • Summary: QUITO, ECUADOR (OCTOBER 12, 2019) (REUTERS) PROTESTER CROUCHING BEHIND MAKESHIFT BARRICADE, FIRE AT BARRICADE PROTESTER WITH MAKESHIFT SHIELD PROTESTERS GATHERED BEHIND BARRICADE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS HOLDING UP MAKESHIFT SHIELDS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ANONYMOUS PROTESTER, SAYING: "We will fight on until he (President Lenin Moreno) leaves. This is a government that is damned, that is inept, that's attacking the people, we are not armed. Look at how we are. This is the damned government of Lenin Moreno. Down with Lenin Moreno. Down with Lenin Moreno." / CROWD CHANTING "DOWN" PROTESTERS GATHERED BEHIND BARRICADE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS GATHERING OBJECTS ON STREET TO SET UP BARRICADES PROTESTERS OUT ON STREET PROTESTERS GATHERED BEHIND BARRICADE ELDERLY PROTESTER CHANTING "MURDERER" IN REFERENCE TO THE PRESIDENT VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS OUT ON STREET AMIDST SMOKE FROM TEAR GAS, SOUNDBITES FROM TEAR GAS CANISTERS BEING FIRED PROTESTERS MOVING OBJECTS TO BARRICADE THEY ARE SETTING UP
  • Embargoed: 26th October 2019 19:05
  • Keywords: Ecuador protesters Quito President Lenin Moreno
  • Location: QUITO, ECUADOR
  • City: QUITO, ECUADOR
  • Country: Ecuador
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B0SKSAV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Protesters bunkered down for violent protests in the Ecuadoran capital of Quito on Saturday (October 12), creating makeshift shields and barricades as public anger over austerity measures boil over.
    President Lenin Moreno has repeatedly refused to overturn a law that ended a four-decade old fuel subsidy last week, describing it as a key part of his efforts to reduce the country's fiscal deficit after he signed a $4.2 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
    But opponents say higher fuel prices have pushed up the cost of many consumer goods, hitting indigenous and poor people the hardest.
    The unrest has led Moreno's government to flee the capital for a safer city on the coast and curbed nearly 900,000 barrels of crude production in the OPEC-member nation.
    Protesters accuse the government of using heavy-handed tactics to quell criticism.
    By Friday (October 11), at least four protesters have died and hundreds have been wounded and arrested.
    (Production: Alberto Fajardo, Cristina Munoz)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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