Anti-austerity Protests and Strikes Shut Down Quito, Ecuador

Demonstrations have roiled Ecuador’s capital city for more than a week, after the government eliminated a long-standing subsidy, doubling the price of fuel.

Demonstrators have filled the streets of Quito, Ecuador, for more than a week, after the government of Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno doubled fuel prices by eliminating a 40-year-old subsidy,  part of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to secure loans despite the nation’s high levels of debt. The protests grew, and others joined by staging a nationwide transport strike, leading Moreno to declare a state of emergency and take the unusual step of moving government operations from the capital city of Quito to the port of Guayaquil.