Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa escaped unharmed after his motorcade was targeted by stone-hurling protestors and what one minister described as a volley of gunshots on Tuesday.
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.
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 at the president’s car during protests over the removal of fuel subsidies.
Speaking afterwards at a student event in Cuenca, some 77 km (48 miles) south of where the attack took place, Noboa said his government would not tolerate such actions.
“Do not follow the bad example of those who wanted to stop us from attending this event with you and who tried to attack us,” he said. “Such attacks will not be accepted in the new Ecuador, and the law applies to everyone.”
“Shooting at the president’s car, throwing stones, damaging state property – that’s just criminal,” said Manzano, after reporting the attack to prosecutors. “We will not allow this.”
The national Indigenous federation CONAIE, however, said orchestrated violence had broken out against people who mobilised for Noboa’s arrival, saying 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 armour, their faces covered by black bandanas.
Protests against decree
CONAIE launched strike action 16 days ago, organising 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.
Defence 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 at 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.
A march against Noboa’s government is scheduled in the capital Quito later on Tuesday from 6pm. (2300 GMT).
