Ecuador | They held Nelson Castro and the TN team at an Indigenous Congress: "They forced us to pass what they wanted"

The TN team experienced a complicated situation while it was covering an assembly of indigenous organizations against the economic adjustment ordered by the Lenin Moreno government in an amphitheater located in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito . Before the eventual arrival of the police on the spot, one of the leaders raised their voice and ordered that the press could not leave the congress. The journalists were two hours withheld Against his will.

"Nobody leaves here before showing what the natives have to say"said one of the speakers, who was exhibiting in front of a crowd gathered at the House of Culture. During the meeting, protesters exposed weapons and motorcycles of the security forces and showed the 8 policemen that they had kidnapped. They said that they will apply "indigenous justice". "They are held hostage in response to the deaths in the crackdown on Wednesday's protests," Castro said. The correspondent.

"The Ecuadorian press has a different point of view on what is happening and the protesters are criticizing it.That is why one of the congress leaders spoke and said: We have information that cars are coming from so we will tell the press that it will stay here. Nobody can leave", said the journalist, in dialogue with TN.

Due to a transmission problem, the TN team explained to the protesters that they could not show what was happening and let them leave after two hours. Since then, they have been closely followed by two Aboriginal peoples who are watching them in the hotel where they are staying. "They are behind us all the time because they do not want us to leave the area," he said. TN.com.ar the producer Maximiliano Heiderscheid.

The same situation is repeated in the rest of the reporters who were also part of the indigenous assembly. "Ecuadorian citizens are being kidnapped at the House of Culture: six policemen have been arrested and 27 journalists from different media they were not allowed to leave as it is their will", said Secretary General José Augusto Briones, on national radio and television this afternoon.

The President of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), Jaime Vargas, has asked the Ecuadorian authorities to deliver the indigenous people who died during the demonstrations. According to the ombudsman's office, at least five people died during this week of demonstrations, although the government did not confirm this balance of victims.

The epidemic in Ecuador began on the 1st of this month, when Lenin Moreno, under an agreement with the IMF, removed a fuel subsidy, which had an impact on the prices of the drug. Gasoline with the highest consumption of the country. The force of the demonstrations has forced the government to impose the state of emergency and to move the seat of executive power to Guayaquil, about 400 kilometers south of Quito.