Ecuador president Moreno leaves Quito amid growing unrest

At thousands of anti-government protesters poured into Ecuador’s capital Quito, the nation’s president, Lenin Moreno, moved to the southern city of Guayaquil and announced he was facing an attempted coup.

Nationwide protests, including road blocks, looting and escalating clashes, first started earlier this week in response to the government’s decision to cancel key fuel subsidies. Members of the nation’s indigenous tribes traveled to the city for a scheduled march on the Quito presidential palace on Tuesday.

Moreno blames Correa, Maduro

In a Monday evening address from Guayaquil, Moreno pledged to stick to the subsidies decision. Moreno also accused his exiled predecessor Rafael Correa of trying to oust him with help from Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.

“Maduro and Correa have begun their destabilization plan,” Moreno said, appearing together with his top military chiefs.

On Tuesday, his government said it would be open to mediation by the United Nation or the Catholic Church to overcome the crisis. Moreno’s secretary, Juan Roldan, also said that 570 people have been arrested due to the protests.

Correa slams ‘liars’ in Moreno’s government

Talking to reporters in Belgium, Correa denied accusations that he was planning a coup and that he was in cahoots with Venezuela’s Maduro.

“They are such liars … They say I am so powerful that with an iPhone from Brussels I could lead the protests,” he told the Reuters news agency.

“People couldn’t take it anymore, that’s the reality,” he added.

Ex-president Rafael Correa now lives in Belgium

Correa faces multiple charges in Ecuador, including corruption and abuse of power. He said he would only go back if there was a political shift in the country.

“I would have to be a candidate for something, for example, vice president,” he said.

IMF demands austerity

Ecuador is facing an economic crisis and was forced to seek a $4.2-billion (€3.8 billion) loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year. The canceling of the fuel subsides plays a key role in complying with the IMF’s terms.

However, Moreno’s austerity program is unpopular among his voters, says Ximena Zapata of the Hamburg-based GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies.

“It punishes the poorest parts of the population and favors the small percentage of the wealthy, mostly private banks and businesspeople,” she told DW.

dj/ng (Reuters, AP)

Gabriel Gonzalez Zorrilla contributed to this report.

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