Ecuador

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — President Lenín Moreno and leaders of Ecuador’s indigenous peoples struck a deal late Sunday to cancel a disputed austerity package and end nearly two weeks of protests that have paralyzed the economy and left seven dead. 

Under the agreement announced just before 10 p.m., Moreno will withdraw the International Monetary Fund-backed package known as Decree 883 that included a sharp rise in fuels. Indigenous leaders, in turn, will call on their followers to end protests and street blockades. 

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s army took to the streets after President Lenín Moreno ordered the first 24-hour curfew in decades in response to a day of attacks on government buildings and media offices.

By Saturday night, soldiers had retaken control of the park and streets leading to the National Assembly and the national comptroller’s office, which had been broken into by protesters who lit fires inside the building.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Anti-government protesters paraded captive police officers on a stage Thursday, defying Ecuadorian authorities who are seeking dialogue with opponents, particularly indigenous groups, after deadly unrest that was triggered by fuel price hikes.

Some of the officers were later forced to carry a coffin of an indigenous activist said to have been killed during the protests.

The brazen acts occurred in the capital of Quito at a cultural center where indigenous protesters set up a base.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador has endured days of popular upheaval since President Lenín Moreno scrapped fuel price subsidies, a step that set off protests and clashes across the small South American country. Here’s a look at the chaos that has plunged Ecuador into one of its worst political crises in many years:

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WHY IS THE COUNTRY IN TUMULT?

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A court in Ecuador freed a Swedish programmer close to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday after more than two months in jail on suspicion of hacking.

In a two-to-one vote judges with a provincial court ruled that Ola Bini should be freed while he defends himself against any upcoming charges.

The Swede thanked judges and the Ecuadorian people as he walked from from jail late Thursday night.

“Today we have proven my innocence for the first time and we will continue to prove my innocence,” said Bini.

17 Apr 2019; DW: Hundreds of protesters hit the streets in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito on Tuesday to object to the treatment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Assange spent seven years under the protection of the Ecuadorian government, but this ended last week when British police were invited into the London embassy, his long-time home, to arrest the whistleblower.

What you need to know:

16 Apr 2019; AFP: Ecuador said on Monday it has suffered 40 million cyber attacks on the webpages of public institutions since stripping Wikileaks founder Julian Assange of political asylum.

BUENOS AIRES, April 5. /TASS/. Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed as rumors a report that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be kicked out of the republic’s embassy in London soon, El Comercio newspaper reported.

"Ecuador is not answering rumors, hypotheses or suggestions, which are not confirmed by any documents," the newspaper quoted a ministry spokesman as saying.