PRESIDENT Lenin Moreno ordered the army onto the streets of Ecuador’s capital Saturday after a week and a half of protests over fuel prices devolved into violent incidents, with masked protesters attacking a television station, newspaper and the national auditor’s office.

Ecuador, a former OPEC member, was left deeply in debt by a decade of high-spending governance and the oil price drop. Faced with a US$64 billion debt and a US$10 billion annual deficit, Moreno is raising taxes, liberalizing labor laws and cutting public spending in order to win more than US$4 billion in emergency financing from the International Monetary Fund.

As part of that plan, Moreno eliminated a subsidy on the price of fuel Oct. 2, driving the most popular variety of gasoline from US$1.85 to US$2.39 a gallon and diesel from US$1.03 to US$2.30.

Moreno said the military would enforce a round the clock curfew in Quito and around critical infrastructure like power stations and hospitals in response to violence in areas previously untouched by the protests. Around 1 p.m., masked protesters broke into the national auditor’s office and set it ablaze, sending black smoke billowing across the central Quito park and cultural complex that have been the epicenter of the protests.

About two hours later, a group of several dozen masked men swarmed the offices of the private Teleamazonas television station in northern Quito, set fires on the grounds and tried to break into the building where about 20 employees were trapped.

“They’re trying to enter the station, trying to break down the doors, we’re asking for help but the police aren’t coming,” one employee said on condition of anonymity because he was afraid of retaliation.

Moreno appeared on national television alongside his vice president and defense minister to announce that he was ordering people indoors and the army onto the streets.

He blamed the violence on drug traffickers, organized crime and followers of former President Rafael Correa, who has denied allegations he is trying to topple Moreno’s government.

(SD-Agencies)