Ecuador detains five after attack on President Noboa’s car

Audio By Carbonatix

By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) -Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa’s car was surrounded by a group of around 500 people throwing rocks as he approached an event in Cañar province, a top minister said, adding that “signs of bullet damage” were found on the president’s vehicle.

Environment and Energy Minister Ines Manzano spoke on Tuesday after formally filing a report of an assassination attempt against Noboa. The president was not hurt and five people have been detained, the minister said.

“Shooting at the president’s car, throwing stones, damaging state property – that’s just criminal,” Manzano said. “We will not allow this.”

Noboa’s office said all those arrested would be processed under charges of terrorism and attempted assassination.

Reuters could not independently verify whether a bullet was fired.

The national Indigenous federation CONAIE said orchestrated violence had broken out against the people who mobilized for Noboa’s arrival, saying that elderly women were among those attacked in a “brutal police and military action.”

“At least five of us have been arbitrarily detained,” it said in a post on X, which included a video of a woman in traditional dress being marched off by four police officers in body armor, their faces covered by black bandanas.

CONAIE launched a strike action 16 days ago, organizing marches and blockading some roads, in a protest against the government ending diesel subsidies. Critics say further dialogue is needed and that the measure will increase the cost of living particularly for small-scale farmers and Indigenous communities.

Noboa signed the executive decree eliminating subsidies in mid-September, and his government declared emergency measures in several provinces to maintain order.

The government has defended ending the subsidy, which it said will free up some $1.1 billion a year that it has already begun to redistribute in compensation payments to small-scale farmers and people working in the transport sector.

Noboa, who was reelected in April, has frequently granted emergency powers to armed forces and police as part of his tough-on-crime approach to security.

Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo shared a photo of 37-year-old Noboa standing outside the damaged car in sunglasses.

“Nothing stops this president, which is the best sign that the country won’t be stopped either,” he said.

A video from inside a car published by the presidency showed people throwing rocks on the side of the road and cracks on the car’s window. A separate image published by the presidency showed a car with smashed windows and a badly cracked windscreen.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Alexander Villegas, Kylie Madry and Bill Berkrot)