A humanitarian convoy headed by Ecuador’s President, Daniel Noboa, was attacked Sunday night by protestors in Cotacachi, Imbabura province. A spokeswoman representing the Noboa government also confirmed that 17 soldiers were taken hostage during the melee.
The convoy, carrying members of the Ecuadorian government and diplomats from the UN and EU, was delivering food and aid to affected communities overwhelmed by widespread disturbances by indigenous groups, protesting the government’s plans to eliminate a diesel subsidy used by Ecuador’s marginalized indigenous populations.
Demonstrations have continued for more than a week, where protestors have clashed with police in the northern highland provinces of Tungurahua and Pichincha.
Unrest was sparked when the government announced $1.1 billion in cuts of the subsidy, saying that the plan would free up funds to allocate towards social programs.
However, indigenous groups argue that the subsidy is used to alleviate transportation costs and subsidize farming operations for the country’s rural indigenous populations.
The government issued a statement condemning the assault on the presidential convoy, saying that 350 people ambushed the operation with rocks, fireworks, and Molotov cocktails.
President Noboa posted on X a photo of a shattered window of a vehicle part of the convoy, writing, “They resist Ecuador’s progress and chose violence… Ecuador cannot go backward.”
Several foreign diplomats were also among those attached to the convoy, including a Vatican diplomat and Italy’s Ambassador to Quito, Giovanni Davoli, who issued a statement that “strongly condemns this terrorist act directed against Ecuador’s head of state”.
The nation’s military also denounced the attacks, accusing protestors of being led by “terrorist groups”.
Noboa claimed shortly after widespread demonstrations erupted a week ago that the unrest had been spurred by the Venezuelan-linked criminal drug organization, Tren de Aragua.
The military also confirmed that 12 of its soldiers were injured in the convoy attack, with 17 others taken hostage by the protesters.
The 17 service members taken hostage by the indigenous group were ultimately released in the early morning hours of Wednesday, the 1st of October.
The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) stated that one of its members, Efrain Fuerez, was shot and killed by troops during the demonstrations, saying that his body was “riddled” with bullets, and accusing soldiers of carrying out a “state crime, perpetrated under the orders of Daniel Noboa”.
Ecuador’s prosecutor’s office said that it will conduct an investigation into the “alleged death” of the indigenous person.
