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Ecuador Agrees to Demands Following Protests

After nearly two weeks of chaos in the streets, protesters have signed an agreement with Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno that repeals a hike in gas prices.

Ecuador Agrees to Demands Following Protests
Mounted police advancing on demonstrators protesting the president in Quito, Ecuador. (Dolores Ochoa / AP)
By Carlos Hermosillo

Protest leaders and Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno came to a truce agreement on Sunday. Decree 883, a measure backed by a $4.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), had previously led to a 123% rise in gas prices. This angered citizens and sparked large protests across the country. But now, according to Ecuadorian reports, parties have reached an agreement to modify it and roll back gas prices to previous rates.

Bigger Than Fuel

The current political climate in Ecuador is incredibly divisive. Former president Rafael Correa has called for Moreno to step down, and in turn, Moreno has accused Correa of staging a coup.

Paola Pabon, a province prefect politically aligned with Correa, was temporarily arrested hours after the agreement to modify Decree 883 was made. The government seized several phones, documents, and computers from her property as well. Moreno’s government claims she has been in contact with the Venezuelan state, which has accused Moreno’s government of involvement in its own civil unrest.

Meanwhile, former National Assembly President Gabriela Rivadeneira, who also has connections to Correa, fled to the Mexican embassy in Ecuador.

Correa’s supporters say this is political persecution from Moreno, who is supposedly targeting political opposition.

However, Moreno’s relationship with the IMF, which together with the CIA has historically pressured for neoconservative policies across Latin America, is negatively viewed among a sector of the populace.

11 Days of Protests in Ecuador

Clashes between protesters, the police and the military, escalated violently leading up to the agreement. In less than two weeks, there have been seven deaths and hundreds of injuries as a result.

Snipers armed with less-than-lethal rounds were deployed atop city buildings by the government. Injuries caused by these weapons can still be pretty serious.

The military fires canisters at a playground.

The police and military have been battling viciously over the span of nearly two weeks.

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