ECUADOREAN President Lenin Moreno on Tuesday ordered a curfew around government buildings after six days of violent anti-austerity protests that have pushed his administration out of the capital Quito and brought hundreds of arrests.

Following tactics that have toppled previous governments, thousands of indigenous demonstrators have flooded the highland capital. Some burst through security cordons to briefly enter the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Quito and other flashpoints, masked and stick-wielding protesters hurled stones and battled with security forces, who responded with tear gas. The clashes injured 19 civilians and 43 police officers, authorities said.

Facing the biggest challenge to his rule, Moreno has refused to reinstate fuel subsidies he recently cut and ruled out stepping down.

“Under no circumstance,” Moreno said in an interview with domestic TV channel Teleamazonas late Tuesday. “I don’t see why I should resign if I’m making the right decisions.”

(SD-Agencies)