Ecuadorian government abandons capital amid ‘attempted Coup’
Earlier this week, the president of the country of Ecuador announced that government operations were being temporarily moved from the capital, Quito, to the southern port city of Guayaquil, in response to days of protests and rioting.
Protests began last week over a move by President Lenín Moreno to end fuel subsidies, part of an unpopular package of austerity measures being taken to reduce the Ecuadorian national deficit. The government claims these subsidies cost over one billion US dollars to maintain per year, and they were lifted as part of a $4.2 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Prices of diesel fuel doubled overnight as a result of the move, which led to truck and taxi drivers taking to the streets, setting up roadblocks that have shut down roads around the country.
Indigenous protestors have gone further than that, with seven thousand marching on the capital and forcing their way into the office of the comptroller general.
Ecuador’s state-run oil company, Petroamazonas, suspended operations at three oil fields after protestors apparently seized control of the facilities. A dairy company warehouse and several rose farms were also destroyed, according to the government.
Ecuador has a history of indigenous protests toppling the government, including three different occasions prior to the election of leftist Rafael Correa. Correa was a one-time mentor to current president Moreno, and during his terms had established the oil subsidies Moreno has now overturned, as well as rejecting the influence of the IMF and defaulting on the country’s debt.
Moreno was elected as part of Correa’s party, the PAIS Alliance, on a center-left platform, but has since moved to the right and broken with Correa’s policies, igniting a public feud which now extends to Moreno accusing Correa of backing a coup.
Correa, who now resides in Belgium with his Belgian wife, had recently traveled to Caracas, Venezuela and met with long-time ally Nicolas Maduro. Moreno has declared the current wave of protests to be part of a plan orchestrated by Correa and Maduro to topple his neoliberal government.
Rioters in Quito did at one point vandalize the parliament assembly building, which the Ecuadorian congress called an attempt to take over the seat of parliament.
Lending his voice to Moreno’s claims is Juan Guiado, the Venezuelan congressman who has been recognized by some countries as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela, and Maduro’s chief rival.
In a tweet, Guaido accused Maduro’s accomplices of funding protests to destabilize Ecuador.
