The eighteen policemen from Ecuador whose "disappearance" was denounced this Wednesday by the Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carrillo, they were found hours later and are in good condition, including two of them who were held by indigenous communities and later released. This was reported by the Commander General of the Ecuadorian National Police, Fausto Salinas, in his assessment of the tenth day of protests against the Government of President Guillermo Lasso due to the high cost of living. Salinas indicated that the Police had requested the International Red Cross to make the respective approaches to the communities and verify that the two agents were in good condition, and then proceed to release them by the communities. The two agents were held Tuesday night during the violent events that took place in Puyo, capital of the Amazonian province of Pastaza, in which a mob set fire to a bank office and also a police station, where eighteen vehicles were burned. This has meant that the damage balance of the Police has risen to 114 injured agents, a dozen patrol cars and seven motorcycles destroyed, as well as another 39 cars and seven motorcycles with minor damage.
"We have two wounded hospitalized, one of whom needs to be transferred to receive specialized medical attention, which is not possible because (the protesters) do not allow the passage of ambulances"Salinas pointed out when referring to the siege that the indigenous communities have made to the city of Puyo with various roadblocks.
"The ambulance that was transporting him was intercepted, the tires were lowered (the wheels were punctured), the wounded police officer was beaten and he was forced to read a statement", he claimed. The protests against the government of the conservative Lasso began on June 13 and continue this Wednesday concentrated in several cities, mainly in the capital, Quito, after leaving so far a balance of two deceased protesters and no less than a hundred injured. The indigenous movement refuses for now to dialogue with the Government until the state of emergency decreed in six provinces to stop the protests ceases, the House of Ecuadorian Culture is freed from security forces to establish a popular assembly and compliance is guaranteed. of your statement of demands. In total there are ten points that demand from the Government the reduction and freezing of the prices of all fuels, the control of prices of essential products, the commitment that state companies will not be privatized and that oil and mining concessions will not be expanded in the Amazon, among others.
