Kito is a city in need. Shops have been closed, streets are empty except for thousands of indigenous protesters, seeking a better life, and police and soldiers are watching over them.
Approximately 10,000 demonstrators from all over the country gathered in the capital of Ecuador to protest rising fuel prices and rising living costs.
And they vowed that the government would meet their demands or stay until it collapsed.
"It could be a month or two ... a war will happen, but I'll fight here," says Maria, who makes a living by doing a strange job. Vega, 47, said. She is one-third of the poor Ecuadorians.
Almost one-third do not have a full-time job.
Hard work, lower fuel prices, better medical care and education, they were hundreds of kilometers away and many arrived in Kito on foot or behind trucks.
After spending a lot of time on the streets at night, they recharged, solemnly housed on two university campuses, and largely relied on food rations from churches and other groups.
Shields, sticks, flags
In the morning, they are a group with sticks, makeshift shields made from traffic signs and trash cans, and colorful wiphalas. I left at. Andean indigenous flag.
Traditional red ponchos stand out in the suffering crowd, setting up road barricades with burning tires and tree branches, creating a bonfire in the daytime. I am.
Access to the presidency is blocked by metal fences, razor wires, and a line of strict guards.
"They have weapons. How can we compare weapons to sticks and stones? We are not on an equal footing," protester Rusmira Samora, 51, military. He complained about the show of force.
Former banker President Gillermo Lasso, who took office a year ago, has rebelled against attempts to defeat him.
Ecuador has a reputation for being ungovernable after three presidents resigned between 1997 and 2005 under pressure from indigenous peoples, who make up more than one million of Ecuador's 17.7 million people. there is.
In 2019, protests led by the Ecuadorian Indigenous Peoples' Union (Conaie) (also known as the latest demonstrations) forced the government to abandon plans to abolish fuel subsidies.
This time it seems that he has decided. Despite the state of emergency in six of Ecuador's 24 states, a curfew was issued in Quito, and large-scale military deployments and insults were thrown by residents. Life and livelihoods are in turmoil.
"We want a government that works for people, not just for the upper class, but for Ecuador as a whole," protester Samora insisted.
Another 40-year-old Rev. Marco Vinicio Morales said he could not understand that people are lagging behind more than ever in a country with vast oil, gold and silver resources. rice field.
"If there was no answer [to the protester's request], Lasso would have dug his grave," he said.
Diner fleeing tear gas
Business owners, shopkeepers and workers in the capital just beginning to recover from the coronavirus pandemic are not happy Hmm.
42-year-old chef Efren Carrion said his restaurant usually sells about 120 meals on weekdays. "Recently, it's up to 10 or 25," he said.
And because of the ubiquitous tear gas in the air, "clients often keep running without paying."
In the case of carrion, a worker like him should not have to pay the price of protest.
"The best revolution is to work, reach consensus, and negotiate," he said.
So far, no discussions are planned as both sides are digging into the heels.
