Ecuador President unhurt in assault on motorcade

Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa escaped unhurt after his motorcade was focused by stone-throwing protesters and what one Minister described as a volley of gunshots on Tuesday (October 7, 2025).

Mr. Noboa was inaugurating a water therapy plant in central Ecuador when his motorcade was set on by a big group protesting towards rising gasoline costs.

“About 500 individuals confirmed up and had been throwing stones at him, and there are clearly bullet marks on the president’s automobile as properly,” mentioned Environment Minister Ines Manzano.

She mentioned 5 individuals had been arrested and would stand trial on terrorism prices — an offence carrying a most punishment of 30 years in jail.

Video launched by the federal government, reportedly filmed from contained in the motorcade, reveals protesters standing within the street, draped in flags, scrambling to gather massive stones and bricks.

As the presidential SUV handed, projectiles thudded into the paneling and shattered home windows.

A voice could be heard shouting, “Heads down! Heads down!” because the automobile sped away.

Officials mentioned they had been nonetheless investigating whether or not a number of the impression marks on Mr. Noboa’s armoured Chevrolet Suburban had been brought on by gunfire.

‘War coverage’

The alleged assault got here amid days of more and more violent demonstrations sparked by a authorities resolution to lift diesel costs.

Protesters have gone on strike, blocked roads and kidnapped 16 troopers — who had been ultimately launched unhurt.

Ecuador’s largest Indigenous organisation reported on Sunday (October 5, 2025) {that a} protester had been killed by armed forces throughout one of many rallies.

More than 100 individuals, together with protesters and safety providers, are believed to have been injured within the unrest.

Mr. Noboa has declared a state of emergency throughout a number of provinces.

Mr. Noboa’s workplace mentioned on social media following the assault that “cowardly acts is not going to deter” the president.

Albert Ramdin, head of the Organization of American States, mentioned on social media platform X that “such violent acts are an assault on democracy, stability, and the spirit of peaceable coexistence that should prevail in our societies.”

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador mentioned the president’s convoy had “entered a resistance zone,” resulting in “incidents that the federal government now makes use of to justify its conflict coverage.”

Lawyer Yaku Perez informed reporters that these arrested weren’t “on the protest. They had been simply confused” amid the commotion throughout which police fired tear fuel.

The lately re-elected president is making an attempt to chop diesel subsidies to save lots of about $1 billion in authorities spending, diverting a lot of the financial savings to safety funding.

Ecuador, as soon as thought-about one in every of Latin America’s most secure nations, has seen a dramatic surge in violence in recent times.

Strategically situated between Colombia and Peru, two of the world’s largest cocaine producers, Ecuador has develop into a significant transit hub for narcotics.

Authorities have accused drug gangs of fueling the unrest, suggesting that felony teams are exploiting the protests to destabilize the nation.

It is estimated that 70% of the world’s cocaine provide passes by way of Ecuador, a lot of it destined for the United States.

The commerce has attracted worldwide felony organizations, together with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta, and Albania’s mafia.

Their competitors for management of trafficking routes has turned Ecuador into one of many area’s most harmful locations.

Mr. Noboa has known as for a referendum to permit the return of US troops to the nation, repealing a 2009 ban on overseas bases.