Army deployed in Ecuador as protests descend into violence
Demonstrators in capital Quito attack television station and national government buildings

Associated Press in Quito

Sat 12 Oct 2019 19.10 EDT | Last modified on Sat 12 Oct 2019 19.26 EDT

Dozens of people protest near Quito on the tenth day of unrest. Photograph: Bienvenido Velasco/EPA

President Lenín Moreno ordered the army on to the streets of Ecuador’s capital Quito 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.

Moreno said the military enforced curfew would begin at 3pm local time in response to violence in areas previously untouched by the protests. 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 epicentre of the protests.

Later, several dozen masked men swarmed the offices of the private Teleamazonas television station, set fires on the grounds and tried to break into the building where about 20 employees were trapped.

[...]