After the curfew, tension rises in Ecuador

The joint command of the Ecuadorian armed forces extended the restriction of mobility throughout the country to 24 hours, as announced by the Ecuadorian army.

The measure will come into effect from 3 pm on Saturday and will remain in effect for the next 30 days, in which uniformed persons will be able to apply control measures at any time of the day.

Prior to this decision, the traffic restriction covered the hours from 8:00 pm to 5:00 am

The crisis that threatens Ecuador on the verge of collapse for nine days now seemed to find hope of departure with the acceptance by indigenous organizations of the dialogue proposed by President Lenin. Moreno, but in a few hours this light began to fade. with the curfew and militarization decree of the capital, Quito, signed by the president.

Moreno had proposed in a video posted on his Twitter account a direct dialogue with the indigenous organizations that were running the protests initiated on Oct. 3 against the economic adjustment decided by the government under a credit agreement with the government. International Monetary Fund (IMF). , whose nerve was the elimination of the state fuel subsidy.

After spending hours lobbying and rejecting as "false" a note from the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) who had agreed to participate in this dialogue, in the early hours of the year. Afternoon today, this indigenous power plant said that it accepted the proposed dialogue. by Moreno

Despite the fact that he initially refused to discuss whether the government would replenish fuel subsidies, the main demand for demonstrations, when internal clashes began to emerge, Conaie announced in a statement that he opened a direct dialogue with the president. .

The change of position of the main federation of indigenous peoples of Ecuador comes after "a process of consultation of communities, organizations, peoples, nationalities and social organizations", said a statement uploaded on the website and on the account Twitter of Conaie.

Conaie had also initially demanded the resignation of the Minister of Government (Interior), María Paula Romo, and the Minister of Defense, Oswaldo Jarrín, responsible for the repression of demonstrations.

Now, however, the indigenous movement seems willing to discuss the repeal of Decree 833 but also its "revision", although it has made it clear that it would not speak "of any kind." compensation ", whereas nothing is mentioned concerning the ministers. .

In any case, the indigenous leader Yaku Pérez told Telam that for this dialogue to take place, which still has no day or time, the government "must necessarily at least suspend the lifting of subsidies, failing which agreement.

The leader, who is the prefect of Azuay province in southern Ecuador, said the fact that Moreno's proposal was accepted does not mean that blockades will be lifted on the main roads leading to the main cities. from the country.

In the midst of this fragile scenario of setting up a bargaining table, Lenin Moreno added a new disruptive element by announcing this afternoon the "curfew" and "militarization" in the metropolitan district of Quito to help security forces crack down Saturday's protests against cuts to fuel subsidies.

"I have organized the curfew and militarization of the metropolitan district of Quito and its valleys.The government will begin to rule at 3 pm (17 in Argentina) .This will facilitate the action of the police force against the intolerable excesses of violence, "said the president A message through social networks.

At the same time, the Ministry of the Government issued another message in which it asked the citizens to "go home" and added, in an almost military tone, that "this measure will be in effect until further notice. the official channels ".

From this measure, movement in the streets under conditions of militarization will only be allowed with a secure pass.

Moreno's decision is based on the resurgence of demonstrations of the indigenous movement, which took this Saturday and paralyzed the city of Quito.

The most important point of these demonstrations was the taking of the headquarters of the Comptroller General of the State of Ecuador in Quito, where they caused material damage and caused a start of fire, have reported the local media.

According to this scenario, Professor Ramiro Aguilar interpreted that Quito's "curfew" could justify a scenario of "selective detention".

"The curfew is meant to sharpen the crackdown," Aguilar told EFE. He recalled that this decision extended a previous measure restricting the mobility of people in the country at night, between ten and five in the morning in certain areas adjacent to public institutions or others considered strategic.

"Now it 's general" and not just a restriction to some spaces, but throughout the city and in the surrounding valleys of the capital, added the lawyer and academic, who recalled that this was the first time in the history of Quito that He dictates a measure of this nature and magnitude.

Ecuador has been experiencing a serious wave of protests over the past ten days following a decree signed by the president in which the gas subsidy was removed as part of a series of adjustments related to a credit agreement of 4, $ 2 billion with the IMF.

The position of Argentina

Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie said today that the Argentine government "supports the institutionalism represented by President Lenín Moreno in Ecuador", consulted on the resurgence of the demonstrations of the indigenous movement, which took Saturday and paralyzed the city of Quito.

He also said that the governments of the region supported Moreno and asked "that there be a process of dialogue to find solutions, while removing the factors of agitation such as the agitators of the correismo (making reference to former President Rafael Correa) funded by Madurismo "(by Nicolás Maduro) of Venezuela.

S addressing the radio, Miter explained: "We are aware that in the internal situation of Ecuador, there has been a combination of factors: first, a great activism on the part of supporters of the Former president Correa, who are trying to avoid any investigative action that has executed the Ecuadorian justice, which concerns Correa and also the former vice president. "

"This activism," he added, "has been combined with the actions of people who, backed by Venezuela, with information from other countries in the region, are funding social upheaval."