Protesters clash with police in Ecuador amid nationwide strike over fuel prices

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Crowds protesting a spike in fuel prices spilled into the streets of Ecuador’s capital of Quito Sunday, burning tires, blocking roads and facing off against police officers who responded with volleys of tear gas.

It was the latest confrontation in a series of nationwide demonstrations testing President Daniel Noboa.

Protesters on Sunday whistled and chanted “Noboa out, out!” as they marched from southern Quito toward a park further north. Before they could reach the plaza, police officers on motorbikes dispersed the rally, firing tear gas into the crowd. No injuries were immediately reported.

Ecuador’s largest Indigenous organization called the strikes 21 days ago in response to the removal of a fuel subsidy that raised the price of diesel from $1.80 per gallon to $2.80.

The protests have frequently turned violent, with one civilian reported killed so far, dozens injured and over a hundred arrested in clashes with police.

Noboa has imposed a state of emergency in 10 provinces, restricting public gatherings in Quito and other areas. Last week, protesters attacked Noboa’s motorcade with rocks in a major escalation.

As the protests have been largely concentrated in the country’s northern provinces, Sunday’s rally in Quito put authorities on high alert. Thousands of police in riot gear streamed into the capital in recent days.

The latest demonstration coincided with the Day of Interculturality and Plurinationality, Ecuador’s replacement for Columbus Day that recognizes its Indigenous population rather than the Italian explorer’s arrival in the Americas in 1492.

The hike in fuel prices particularly affects Indigenous people who work in Ecuador’s crucial agricultural, fishing and transport sectors.

President Noboa argues that the government needed to slash the $1.1 billion subsidy to shore up the country’s finances and combat rampant fuel smuggling across Ecuador’s borders into Colombia and Peru.

But the measures drew widespread anger.

“The different social sectors, Indigenous movement, workers, youth, neighborhoods of Quito, peoples of Ecuador, we are rising up against the neoliberal and hunger-inducing policies of the dictator Noboa,” Nelson Erazo, a union leader at Sunday’s rally, told The Associated Press, referring to the government’s subsidy removal and Noboa’s other recent cost-cutting measures, like dismissal of thousands of public workers.

Noboa has toured several restive regions and provided bonuses to cash-strapped farmers and public transport workers. But he has refused to negotiate with the Indigenous federation.