QUITO: Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa escaped unharmed after his motorcade was targeted by stone-hurling protesters and what one minister described as a volley of gunshots Tuesday.
Noboa was inaugurating a water treatment plant in central Ecuador when his motorcade was set on by a large group protesting rising fuel prices.
“About 500 people showed up and were throwing stones at him, and there are obviously bullet marks on the president’s car as well,” said Environment Minister Ines Manzano.
She said that five people were arrested and would stand trial on terrorism charges – an offense carrying a maximum punishment of 30 years behind bars.
“This kind of protests, which are not peaceful, are not what we need,” Manzano added.
Video released by the government, reportedly filmed from inside the motorcade, shows protesters standing in the road, draped in flags, scrambling to collect large stones and bricks.
As the presidential SUV passed, projectiles thudded into the paneling and shattered windows.
A voice can be heard shouting, “Heads down! Heads down!” as the vehicle sped away.
Officials said they were still investigating whether some of the impact marks on Noboa’s armored Chevrolet Suburban were caused by gunfire.
‘War policy’
The attack came amid days of increasingly violent demonstrations sparked by a government decision to raise diesel prices.
Protesters have gone on strike, blocked roads and abducted 16 soldiers – who were eventually released unharmed.
Ecuador’s largest Indigenous organization reported on Sunday that a protester had been killed by armed forces during one of the rallies.
Between protesters and security services, more than 100 people are believed to have been injured in the unrest.
Noboa has declared a state of emergency across several provinces.
The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador said that the president’s convoy had “entered a resistance zone,” leading to “incidents that the government now uses to justify its war policy.”
The organization called to “resolve the crisis with justice and respect.”
Noboa’s office said on social media following the attack that “cowardly acts will not deter” the president.
The presidency shared messages of solidarity from the foreign ministries of Panama and Costa Rica, with condemnations also flowing in from other governments in the region, including Peru and Bolivia.
The recently re-elected president is trying to cut diesel subsidies to save about $1 billion in government spending, diverting much of the savings to security funding.
Ecuador, once considered one of Latin America’s safest nations, has seen a dramatic surge in violence in recent years.
Strategically located between Colombia and Peru – two of the world’s largest cocaine producers – Ecuador has become a major transit hub for narcotics.
Authorities have accused drug gangs of fueling the unrest, suggesting that criminal groups are exploiting the protests to destabilize the country.
It is estimated that 70 percent of the world’s cocaine supply passes through the country, much of it destined for the United States.
The trade has attracted international criminal organizations, including Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta, and Albania’s mafia.
Their competition for control of trafficking routes has turned Ecuador into one of the region’s most dangerous places.
Noboa has called for a referendum to allow the return of US troops to the country, repealing a 2009 ban on foreign bases.