Ecuador says an aid convoy carrying President Daniel Noboa and foreign diplomats was attacked in Imbabura province on Sunday during protests over fuel prices.
The unrest, now in its eighth day, turned deadly at the weekend. It began after the government said it would end a subsidy on diesel to reduce public spending, curb fuel smuggling and free up funds for social programs. In Imbabura, dozens of demonstrators have blocked roads and clashed with security forces.
The government said Monday that about 350 people ambushed the convoy on Sunday with fireworks, molotov cocktails and rocks as it was driving to the area to deliver humanitarian aid.
Approximately 50 soldiers guarding the vehicles attempted to repel the attackers, presidential spokesperson Carolina Jaramillo said, without specifying whether anyone was injured.
The presidency said the convoy was also carrying dignitaries including Vatican diplomat Andrés Carrascosa, European Union Ambassador Jekaterina Dorodnova and Italian Ambassador Giovanni Davoli.
Italy’s embassy in Ecuador said its ambassador was not harmed in the attack, which it described as a “terrorist act” directed against the Ecuadorian head of state.
CNN has reached out to the diplomatic missions of the EU and the Vatican for more information.
A convoy carrying humanitarian aid led by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa was attacked on Sunday night upon entering Imbabura province, the government said. – Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa/X
Noboa posted images Monday on X showing several cars with broken and cracked windows. He claimed that the attackers were trying to resist Ecuador’s progress with violence. “We continue: Ecuador cannot go backward,” he said.
The presidency has blamed Sunday’s attack on “terrorist groups” it says have infiltrated the demonstrations.
Protests turn deadly
Officials said another attack on a separate humanitarian convoy this past weekend killed least one person and injured nine soldiers. An additional 17 military personnel were kidnapped, the presidency claimed.
The Indigenous confederation CONAIE, which is leading the protests, has rejected the government’s claims. It said the person who died on Sunday was an Indigenous man who was shot by members of the armed forces. It has called on the government to end what it considers repression against its community. Indigenous leaders have accused the government of violent suppression of protests and allowing unchecked mining and oil drilling on ancestral lands. The government has suggested that the protesters were to blame.
“I think it’s quite clear that the violent actions — in this case instigated by Marlon Vargas, the CONAIE leader, who just a few weeks ago, less than a week ago, was calling for protests and criminal acts such as taking over oil wells — can ultimately lead to such a tragic outcome as the loss of human life,” spokesperson Jaramillo said Monday.
The Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office said it would investigate the matter.
“The preliminary investigation will be carried out — based on international protocols — by its Specialized Unit for the Investigation of the Unlawful Use of Force, in order to guarantee the objectivity of the process,” the office said.
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