(MENAFN- The Rio Times) A crowd of roughly 500 people surrounded President Daniel Noboa's motorcade on Tuesday in El Tambo, Cañar province, hurling stones as he arrived for an event.

The government says investigators later found“bullet marks” on the president's vehicle; no ballistic report has been made public. Noboa was unharmed. Five people were detained. Videos released by officials show cracked windows and shattered glass on motorcade vehicles.

The confrontation is the sharpest flashpoint yet in a national strike now in its sixteenth day, driven by anger over Decree 126, which eliminated Ecuador 's diesel subsidy. Pump prices jumped from about $1.80 to $2.80 per gallon on September 13, with a price-band system due in December.

Diesel is the backbone of transport and food logistics; when it rises, bus fares and freight costs follow. Road blockades and rolling marches have slowed travel and trade in several provinces.

Indigenous federation CONAIE , which leads the strike, accuses police and soldiers of a“brutal” response around the president's arrival and says peaceful demonstrators-including elderly women-were caught up in the clashes and detained arbitrarily.



The government rejects those claims and has framed the unrest as a threat to public order. On October 4, Noboa declared a 60-day state of exception across ten provinces, restricting public assembly and authorizing joint police-military operations.
Ecuador Faces Fuel Reform Tensions
Behind the story is a familiar dilemma in commodity-dependent economies: subsidies cushion households and small businesses but are costly and distortionary.

Noboa argues the reform will curb waste and stabilize public finances; opponents say the shock is too steep and too fast, and they want negotiations and targeted relief before any new price regime takes hold.

Why this matters, in plain terms: An attack on a head of state-whether by stones or gunfire-risks escalation and tougher security measures that can ensnare bystanders. The fuel fight touches daily life, from supermarket prices to getting to work.

What to watch next: any forensic confirmation of gunfire; whether the government and protest leaders open formal talks; and how the planned price-band in December is implemented or adjusted.

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