Dozens arrested as Indigenous people lead mass Ecuador protests - Al Jazeera English

Quito, Ecuador – As dawn broke in the early hours of October 26, Ecuador’s Indigenous communities had already started the most recent “paro nacional”, or national shutdown in English, by bringing main transit arteries to a halt in the countryside to mark the beginning of a day of protest against a hike in fuel prices.

Indigenous and other social collectives have been demanding conservative President Guillermo Lasso reverse the spike in fuel costs announced last week.

CONAIE also announced seven resolutions following the day of protests, among them preparations for a second day of demonstrations and reiterated its demand that fuel prices be reduced to the levels they were in June.

Under pressure from CONAIE and Indigenous legislators, Lasso announced last week he was freezing the monthly increases of fuel prices, but fixed new prices slightly higher than those that had been expected to go into effect in October with petrol a fixed $2.55 a gallon ($0.67 a litre) and diesel $1.90 a gallon ($0.50 a litre).

Tensions between Lasso and CONAIE have escalated for months and on October 4, a meeting at the presidential palace between the two sides resulted in a deadlock with no viable solution for bringing down fuel prices and oil exploration in Ecuador’s rainforest.

Forced to backtrack by overwhelming social discontent, Moreno signed an executive decree allowing for gradual monthly increases in the price of fuel beginning in May 2020.