By Alexandra Valencia
QUITO (Reuters) -Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa escaped injury after his car was attacked by a crowd throwing rocks on Tuesday, in what a top minister said was an assassination attempt that had left signs of bullet damage on the vehicle.
Environment and Energy Minister Ines Manzano, who filed a formal report of an assassination attempt on the president, said five people were detained after Noboa’s motorcade surrounded by around 500 protesters throwing stones.
Noboa’s office said those arrested would be processed under charges of terrorism and attempted assassination. Reuters could not independently verify whether a bullet was fired at the president’s car during the protest, which was over the president’s removal of fuel subsidies last month.
Speaking afterwards at a student event in Cuenca, some 77 km (48 miles) south of where the attack took place, Noboa said his government would not tolerate such actions.
“Do not follow the bad example of those who wanted to stop us from attending this event with you and who tried to attack us,” he said. “Such attacks will not be accepted in the new Ecuador and the law applies to everyone.”
“Shooting at the president’s car, throwing stones, damaging state property – that’s just criminal,” said Manzano, after reporting the attack to prosecutors. “We will not allow this.”
The national Indigenous federation CONAIE, however, said orchestrated violence had broken out against people who mobilized for Noboa’s arrival, saying elderly women were among those attacked in a “brutal police and military action.”
“At least five of us have been arbitrarily detained,” it said in a post on X, which included a video of a woman in traditional dress being marched off by four police officers in body armor, their faces covered by black bandanas.
PROTESTS AGAINST DECREE
CONAIE launched strike action 16 days ago, organizing marches and blockading some roads, in a protest against the government ending diesel subsidies. Critics say further dialogue is needed and that the measure will increase the cost of living particularly for small-scale farmers and Indigenous communities.
Noboa signed the executive decree eliminating subsidies in mid-September, and his government declared emergency measures in several provinces to maintain order.
The government has defended ending the subsidy, which it said will free up some $1.1 billion a year that it has already begun to redistribute in compensation payments to small-scale farmers and people working in the transport sector.
Noboa, who was reelected in April, has frequently granted emergency powers to armed forces and police as part of his tough-on-crime approach to security.
Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo shared a photo of 37-year-old Noboa standing outside the damaged car in sunglasses.
“Nothing stops this president, which is the best sign that the country won’t be stopped either,” he said.
A video from inside a car published by the presidency showed people throwing rocks on the side of the road and cracks on the car’s window. A separate image published by the presidency showed a car with smashed windows and a badly cracked windscreen.
The attack drew condemnation from some foreign governments, including Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama.
In a separate event, some 200 people took to the streets in capital Quito on Tuesday evening to protest against Noboa’s government. Police blocked the march from proceeding and the crowd dissolved peacefully.
(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Alexander Villegas, Kylie Madry, Bill Berkrot and Lincoln Feast)
