Five people have been arrested on suspicion of attempting to assassinate Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, according to Ecuador’s Energy Minister Inés Manzano.
The minister said on Tuesday that he was surrounded by a group of about 500 people throwing stones at him as he traveled in a motorcade to Kanyar province, where he was scheduled to announce a series of infrastructure projects.
The minister said evidence of bullet damage was later found on the car, but Novoa was not injured in the attack.
A video released by Ecuador’s presidential palace shows hundreds of people crowding both sides of the road, waving their arms and shouting as the convoy approaches. Members of the crowd threw rocks at the vehicle, hitting some of the windows and breaking them. Panicked voices can be heard in the background warning passengers to hunker down.
Crowd attacks Ecuadorian President Noboa’s motorcade on suspicion of assassination attempt
Officials said those detained would face charges of terrorism and attempted murder.
“They fired at the president’s car, threw stones and damaged state property. That is truly a crime,” Manzano said on Tuesday after formally filing a report on the attempted assassination of Novoa, according to Reuters. “We will not tolerate this.”
This is not the first time a convoy carrying Novoa has been attacked. In September, about 350 people attacked a convoy carrying the president and diplomats during a protest in Imbabura province, officials said.
Authorities said the attackers ambushed the convoy with fireworks, petrol bombs and stones.
The attack came amid unrest in Ecuador caused by the Ecuadorian government’s announcement that it would end subsidies for diesel to cut public spending, curb fuel smuggling and free up funds for social programs.
In recent weeks, demonstrators, mainly led by Ecuador’s indigenous communities, have blocked roads and clashed with security forces, with one civilian killed and several injured in an incident a week ago.
The presidential palace claims “terrorist groups” have invaded the demonstrations, but demonstrators say the government is violently suppressing dissent against the new fuel policy.
Indigenous leaders also accuse the government of allowing unchecked mining and oil drilling on their ancestral lands.
Following Tuesday’s incident, the National Federation of Indigenous Peoples CONAIE once again accused the government of violence against demonstrators, saying in a post on X that the five people detained, along with elderly women, were protesters who had been attacked in “brutal police and military action.”
Over the weekend, the government declared a state of emergency in 10 states where protests were taking place, citing “serious internal unrest”, but did not ban peaceful demonstrations. The affected states have large indigenous communities.
Novoa insists that fuel subsidy cuts will continue. “Those who choose violence will face the law. Those who act like criminals will be treated like criminals,” the president said on Sunday’s X broadcast.
With additional reporting from Michael Rios and Ana Maria Cañizares.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
