New violence punctuates indigenous protests in Ecuador. Some 18 police officers are brought “disappeared” after the attack on a police station in eastern Equateur on Tuesday evening, the Minister of the Interior announced on Wednesday June 22.
According to the official, a mob attacked and set fire to a police station in the town of Puyo, in the eastern Amazon province of Pastaza. Officers were still at the scene. “Six police officers were seriously injured, three are held hostage and 18 police officers are missing”said the minister, who added that the branch of a bank had also been set on fire.
Nearly 10,000 demonstrators according to the authorities
A protester was also killed during the violence. Police say he has “handled an explosive device”when an NGO explains that it was “hit in the face, apparently by a tear gas grenade”. “Once again, we make a public call for dialogue”said the Minister of the Interior.
The country has been shaken for ten days by a mobilization of indigenous communities against rising fuel prices, the lack of jobs and the granting of mining concessions in indigenous territories. These rallies turned violent on Tuesday, when the natives who arrived in recent days from the periphery invested the center of the capital. They would be around 10,000, according to the authorities.