World

An Indigenous protester died Tuesday in clashes with law enforcement during a ninth day of demonstrations against the Ecuadorian government that the military has described as a “grave threat.”

An estimated 10,000 Indigenous people, many of whom traveled to Quito on foot or on the backs of trucks, took to the streets of the capital wielding sticks, fireworks and shields made from road signs, angry at fuel prices and President Guillermo Lasso’s conservative government.

The biggest clashes were concentrated in the north of the capital Quito, a city of more than two million, where officers, including some on motorcycles and horseback, attempted to disperse the crowds using anti-riot vehicles equipped with tear gas and water cannons.

The city’s cultural centre, a building surrounded by mirrors that has been a traditional meeting point for Indigenous people, was taken over by law enforcement on Sunday as they tried to control the crowds.

“Today’s objective is to retake the Casa de la Cultura,” protester Wilson Mazabanda told AFP before police used pepper spray to break up the group.

Several hours south of Quito, in the Amazon town of Puyo, a member of the Quichua Indigenous group was killed while participating in a roadblock when he was “hit in the face, apparently with a tear gas bomb” during a confrontation with law enforcement, lawyer Lina Maria Espinosa of the Alliance for Human Rights organization told AFP.

Police, however, said “it was presumed that the person died as a result of handling an explosive device.”

His death followed that of a young man who earlier this week fell into a ravine in a town on the outskirts of Quito where protests were taking place. The prosecutor’s office has opened a homicide investigation into the incident, which police have declared an accident.

Amid the violence, President Lasso agreed to participate “for the good of the country” in a “frank and respectful dialogue process” with the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), which called the protests.

Its leader, Leonidas Iza, however, conditioned any talks on a repeal of the state of emergency that had been called in six of Ecuador’s 24 provinces, allowing the military to mobilize. 

In a statement broadcast on social media, the Indigenous leader said the government’s response to the protests “has only managed to exacerbate the spirit of the population and generate serious escalations of conflict.”

The Alliance for Human Rights reported that at least 90 people have been injured and 87 detained since the start of the protests on June 13.

The police, for their part, have reported 101 uniformed personnel including soldiers injured, another 27 held by protesters and 80 protesters arrested.

Earlier in the day, Defense Minister Luis Lara said Ecuador’s democracy “faces a grave threat from… people who are preventing the free movement of the majority of Ecuadorans” with widespread blockades.

Flanked by the heads of the army, navy and air force, Lara warned the military “will not allow attempts to break the constitutional order or any action against democracy and the laws of the republic.”

Quito Mayor Santiago Guarderas said on Twitter the demonstrations “continue to escalate” and that the capital’s markets were running out of supplies.

– ‘Tired of this government’ –

Conaie — credited with helping topple three presidents between 1997 and 2005 — called for the demonstrations as Ecuadorans increasingly struggle to make ends meet.

Indigenous people comprise more than a million of Ecuador’s 17.7 million inhabitants and wield much political clout, but are disproportionately affected by rising inflation, unemployment and poverty exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are already tired of this government,” Mazabanda, a university student, said of ex-banker Lasso’s one-year-old term.

Tito Zamora, a small-scale farmer, added that costs have risen sharply, “but not the price we get for our products.”

Fuel prices have risen steeply since 2020, almost doubling for diesel from $1 to $1.90 per gallon and rising from $1.75 to $2.55 for gasoline.

Conaie is demanding a price cut to $1.50 a gallon for diesel and $2.10 for gasoline.

It also wants jobs and food price controls.

The movement has been joined by students, workers and other Ecuadorans feeling the economic pinch.

Ecuador is losing about $50 million a day as a result of the protests, without counting oil production — the country’s main export product.

The CEO of state-owned Petroecuador, Italo Cedeno, said Tuesday output had dropped by about 100,000 barrels a day during the protests, in part because demonstrators have targeted both oil wells and power plants.

In 2019, Conaie-led protests left 11 people dead and more than 1,000 injured but forced then-president Lenin Moreno to abandon plans to eliminate fuel subsidies.

Equities and oil prices tumbled Wednesday after a brief respite from last week’s painful rout across world markets, with recession fears continuing to build as central banks hike interest rates to combat decades-high inflation.

While Asia, Wall Street and Europe all enjoyed healthy gains on Tuesday, analysts warned the downbeat mood on trading floors means the selling is unlikely to end any time soon.

Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell’s two-day testimony to Congress this week will be pored over for an idea about officials’ plans for fighting runaway prices, which are being fanned by supply chain snarls, China’s lockdowns and the war in Ukraine.

Most observers expect them to hike rates by three-quarters of a point several more times this year, having announced such a move in June — the sharpest lift in almost 30 years.

However, while many believe the Fed’s front-loaded tightening drive is needed — allowing it to begin cutting sooner as price rises settle back — there is a building consensus that the world’s top economy is heading for a contraction next year.

“The Fed has entered into a policy cocktail that we would describe as hammer time,” Gene Tannuzzo, at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, told Bloomberg Television.

“You have to be planning defensively at this point. There are a lot of questions on all risk assets.”

In Asian trade, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Manila, Taipei, Jakarta and Bangkok were all deep in the red.

London followed suit, dropping more than one percent after official data showed UK inflation had reached a fresh 40-year high.

– Crude prices hammered –

Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management said that while the selling from last week had abated, traders continued to fret over a recession and the prospect of more rate hikes, adding that the Fed could be more compelled to respond if oil prices surge again and push up inflation further.

“One cause of the market malaise could be the thought of business confidence catching down to consumer confidence; hence the risk in equities is for an earnings downgrade,” he wrote in a note.

“We could see that play out in the context of weaker University of Michigan sentiment on Friday, which could lead investors to conclude US consumers will start tightening their purse strings.

“Indeed, an extremely powerful equity market sell signal.”

Oil prices were feeling the heat from recessionary fears, with both main contracts tanking Wednesday on demand worries caused by any recession, despite China’s reopening moves, the US holiday driving season and tight supplies. 

Still, Goldman Sachs said that with demand still outpacing supplies, the market remains tight.

“Investors should remember that Fed-induced slowdowns are simply a short-term abatement of the symptom, inflation, and not a cure for the problem, underinvestment,” it added.

Bets on the Fed’s rate hikes and the Bank of Japan’s refusal to move from its policy of ultra-low rates continue to pile pressure on the yen, which is sitting at a 24-year low above 136.50 to the dollar.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s comment that it “is up to the central bank” how to maintain its easy money policy added to pressure on the country’s currency, though famed economist Nouriel Roubini said he expects Tokyo to take action if the yen hits 140.

“If you go well above 140, the BoJ will have to change policy and the first change in policy is going to be yield curve control,” he said referring to a policy of keeping long-term rates artificially at a chosen level.

“So I think another 10 percent fall in the yen will imply a change in policy,” he told Bloomberg Television at the Qatar Economic Forum.

– Key figures at around 0720 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 at 26,149.55 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.4 percent at 21,040.37

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,267.20 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.3 percent at 7,057.87

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 5.1 percent at $103.92 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 5.6 percent at $108.62 per barrel

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.04.86 from $1.0535 late Tuesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2218 from $1.2273

Euro/pound: UP at 85.81 pence from 85.80 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 136.54 yen from 136.64 yen

New York – Dow: UP 2.2 percent at 30,530.25 (close)

The cluster of dots on the Atlantique 2’s screens may seem like a confusing mess to the untrained eye, but not to the crew of the French naval surveillance aircraft tasked with telling friend from foe in the Baltic Sea.

“Another tarantula,” says an operator as the Russian corvette of the Tarantul class becomes visible, travelling in a pack with other Russian vessels as several nearby NATO ships also criss-cross the placid northeastern European sea.

“It’s busy down there,” the soldier observes.

France’s Atlantique 2 aircraft, in service since the 1980s to detect surface vessels and submarines, has been dispatched to track Russian and Russia-friendly ships, a task that became key after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

 

– ‘Rapidly distinguish’ –

 

The patrol aircraft took off from Brittany, western France, early in the morning and stopped over in Germany before heading north to scour much of the Baltic, now a strategic focal point for Western and Russian forces.

Once the aircraft passes the island of Ruegen — where work for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany was abruptly frozen — the eyes of the 14-strong crew (12 men and two women) become focused.

The plane’s most senior officer Lieutenant Commander Guillaume — who according to French military tradition gives only his first name — gives the order for the radar’s protective shell to emerge from the plane’s hull. 

The equipment may look old-fashioned, but it is full of state-of-the-art technology.

The sea is calm and the weather clear, but frantic action is visible in a zone, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) wide, between the Swedish and Polish coastlines.

“We have to be able to rapidly distinguish between friendly, neutral and suspicious vessels so our forces can find the best navigation path,” said Guillaume.

French forces have orders to avoid flying too close to some coastal waters and Russian ships to avert any escalation, or entering potential danger zones where Baltic rim countries may have flagged military activities.

 

– ‘A strange crane’ –

 

The flurry of activity coincides with the end of the annual NATO military exercise BALTOPS, which the Russians responded to with manoeuvres of their own. 

Both undertakings demonstrate a determination on both sides not to give up any areas, even if it means sending huge numbers of warships into the Baltic where they co-exist with countless merchant ships and pleasure boats.

A well-rehearsed procedure kicks off. Radar operator Chief Petty Officer Maxime watches the signals, known as “tracks”.

Next to Maxime sits Lieutenant Alain, the tactical coordinator also known as “Tacco”, who picks the tracks he believes require more detailed observation, such as traces from ships who fail to activate their automatic identification system (AIS), which is mandatory for civilian vessels.

Alain shares his observations with Chief Petty Officer Christopher, to his right, who operates the Wescam camera placed at the bottom of the aircraft and that yields a detailed picture of targets even tens of kilometres away.

Finally Christopher and Petty Officers Roxane and Nicolas frantically check various databases hoping to properly identify the ship.

“It has a strange crane near the bow,” says Christopher as he zooms in on a ship that has attracted their attention despite looking civilian at first glance.

“In fact, it’s a Moma class,” responds Roxane, confirming that the vessel is a Russian water survey ship suspected of gathering intelligence. It promptly gets an AXRU label on the situation screen, an acronym for Russian auxiliary vessel.

There’s no shortage of acronyms: DDG UK, PBF LT, MLE FI and FFL SE designate British, Lithuanian, Finnish and Swedish vessels.

 

– ‘Quite crowded’ –

 

Russians are marked in red, such as the Tarantul or Parchim-class corvettes identified on this flight.

As soon as the Atlantique 2 flies over a quieter stretch, the Tacco hands his notes to Chief Petty Officer Romain. 

The latter is in charge of electronic warfare and transmissions and sends the plane’s observations via a dedicated chat system to French and NATO command centres. A full report can wait until their return.

“This small space has gotten quite crowded, which shows how interested everybody is in everybody else,” says Lieutenant Henri over the plane’s noise.

The Baltic is where Russia’s attack on February 24 has prompted rapid geopolitical change. 

Sweden and Finland have applied to join NATO which, if successful, will isolate Russia even more in the Baltic which Moscow needs for access to the world’s oceans.

“The Baltic will in effect become a NATO lake,” said Robert Dalsjo at the Swedish Defence Research Agency FOI.

Sweden’s membership in particular would remove a factor of uncertainty, he told AFP, “because the Baltic countries couldn’t be sure about how Sweden would act in a crisis”.

The plane changes direction to fly close to the forbidden Kaliningrad zone to catch a glimpse of the military activity in the highly militarised enclave, then heads north.

Once it reaches the latitude of Riga, the plane makes a U-turn and checks on the Russian ships in the southern zone one last time before heading home.

The day’s work? Nearly 7,000 kilometres of flight and around a dozen Russian vessels identified including, to the crew’s delight, the stunning sail training vessel Sedov, the world’s largest sailing ship still in operation.

The cluster of dots on the Atlantique 2’s screens may seem like a confusing mess to the untrained eye, but not to the crew of the French naval surveillance aircraft tasked with telling friend from foe in the Baltic Sea.

“Another tarantula,” says an operator as the Russian corvette of the Tarantul class becomes visible, travelling in a pack with other Russian vessels as several nearby NATO ships also criss-cross the placid northeastern European sea.

“It’s busy down there,” the soldier observes.

France’s Atlantique 2 aircraft, in service since the 1980s to detect surface vessels and submarines, has been dispatched to track Russian and Russia-friendly ships, a task that became key after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

 

– ‘Rapidly distinguish’ –

 

The patrol aircraft took off from Brittany, western France, early in the morning and stopped over in Germany before heading north to scour much of the Baltic, now a strategic focal point for Western and Russian forces.

Once the aircraft passes the island of Ruegen — where work for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany was abruptly frozen — the eyes of the 14-strong crew (12 men and two women) become focused.

The plane’s most senior officer Lieutenant Commander Guillaume — who according to French military tradition gives only his first name — gives the order for the radar’s protective shell to emerge from the plane’s hull. 

The equipment may look old-fashioned, but it is full of state-of-the-art technology.

The sea is calm and the weather clear, but frantic action is visible in a zone, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) wide, between the Swedish and Polish coastlines.

“We have to be able to rapidly distinguish between friendly, neutral and suspicious vessels so our forces can find the best navigation path,” said Guillaume.

French forces have orders to avoid flying too close to some coastal waters and Russian ships to avert any escalation, or entering potential danger zones where Baltic rim countries may have flagged military activities.

 

– ‘A strange crane’ –

 

The flurry of activity coincides with the end of the annual NATO military exercise BALTOPS, which the Russians responded to with manoeuvres of their own. 

Both undertakings demonstrate a determination on both sides not to give up any areas, even if it means sending huge numbers of warships into the Baltic where they co-exist with countless merchant ships and pleasure boats.

A well-rehearsed procedure kicks off. Radar operator Chief Petty Officer Maxime watches the signals, known as “tracks”.

Next to Maxime sits Lieutenant Alain, the tactical coordinator also known as “Tacco”, who picks the tracks he believes require more detailed observation, such as traces from ships who fail to activate their automatic identification system (AIS), which is mandatory for civilian vessels.

Alain shares his observations with Chief Petty Officer Christopher, to his right, who operates the Wescam camera placed at the bottom of the aircraft and that yields a detailed picture of targets even tens of kilometres away.

Finally Christopher and Petty Officers Roxane and Nicolas frantically check various databases hoping to properly identify the ship.

“It has a strange crane near the bow,” says Christopher as he zooms in on a ship that has attracted their attention despite looking civilian at first glance.

“In fact, it’s a Moma class,” responds Roxane, confirming that the vessel is a Russian water survey ship suspected of gathering intelligence. It promptly gets an AXRU label on the situation screen, an acronym for Russian auxiliary vessel.

There’s no shortage of acronyms: DDG UK, PBF LT, MLE FI and FFL SE designate British, Lithuanian, Finnish and Swedish vessels.

 

– ‘Quite crowded’ –

 

Russians are marked in red, such as the Tarantul or Parchim-class corvettes identified on this flight.

As soon as the Atlantique 2 flies over a quieter stretch, the Tacco hands his notes to Chief Petty Officer Romain. 

The latter is in charge of electronic warfare and transmissions and sends the plane’s observations via a dedicated chat system to French and NATO command centres. A full report can wait until their return.

“This small space has gotten quite crowded, which shows how interested everybody is in everybody else,” says Lieutenant Henri over the plane’s noise.

The Baltic is where Russia’s attack on February 24 has prompted rapid geopolitical change. 

Sweden and Finland have applied to join NATO which, if successful, will isolate Russia even more in the Baltic which Moscow needs for access to the world’s oceans.

“The Baltic will in effect become a NATO lake,” said Robert Dalsjo at the Swedish Defence Research Agency FOI.

Sweden’s membership in particular would remove a factor of uncertainty, he told AFP, “because the Baltic countries couldn’t be sure about how Sweden would act in a crisis”.

The plane changes direction to fly close to the forbidden Kaliningrad zone to catch a glimpse of the military activity in the highly militarised enclave, then heads north.

Once it reaches the latitude of Riga, the plane makes a U-turn and checks on the Russian ships in the southern zone one last time before heading home.

The day’s work? Nearly 7,000 kilometres of flight and around a dozen Russian vessels identified including, to the crew’s delight, the stunning sail training vessel Sedov, the world’s largest sailing ship still in operation.