By Spy Uganda
Ecuador: The President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno, declared a state of emergency on Thursday amid after massive protests that broke out in various parts of the country disrupted business and transport.
Moreno announced the state of emergency after Interior Minister Maria Romo said that 19 protesters had been arrested for blocking roads and for other disruptive behaviour as demonstrators took to the streets, chanting slogans and burning tires, marking their anger over the elimination of long-standing fuel subsidies worth over $1.3 billion a year.
The protests were against his decisions to introduce austerity measures and slash subsidies.
Shortly after announcing the state of emergency, Moreno wrote on his official Twitter account thus; “We will not agree to blackmail and act according to the law,”
Ecuador’s government announced plans to cut the subsidies as part of a broader austerity plan which also includes mass layoffs of employees from state-owned companies, and plans to privatise CNT, a state-owned telecommunications provider, and other firms, while making changes to the tax code.
Moreno signed a decree on ending diesel and gasoline subsidies on Tuesday in order to comply with the loan conditions of the International Monetary Fund, which has offered Ecuador a $4.2 billion loan package in exchange for the adoption of a series of reforms, including the end of subsidies, changes to the tax code, and privatisation.
However, President Moreno maintains that his decisions “were firm,” and that the state of emergency was aimed at reigning in on “those who intend to cause chaos.
