Moreno: “With criminals, it is not possible to dialogue. With criminals, I have to impose myself.”

350 citizens have been arrested for participating in demonstrations.

Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno on Friday ratified that he will not back down on the elimination of fuel subsidies, the flexibilization of labor rules and other austerity measures which have prompted an ongoing indefinite nationwide strike.

“When they become rulers, opponents will be able to execute their plans. At this moment I am the president, I make decisions and I do not shake my hand to do so,” Moreno said during a press conference in which warned “With criminals, it is not possible to dialogue. With criminals, I have to impose myself.”

Shortly before the presidential statements, Defense Minister Oswaldo Jarrin and Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo admitted that 350 citizens have been arrested for participating in demonstrations. Among those arrested on Friday were 159 people in Guayaquil; 118 in Quito; and 54 in the provinces of Esmeraldas, Sucumbios, Carchi, and Imbabura.

dónde está la comisionada de los derechos humanos @mbachelet, ante la brutal represión en Ecuador por parte del gobierno???… o brillara por su ausencia ya que no es Venezuela… https://t.co/qCgacL1QCe

— Alexander Morales (@alexandervlz) October 4, 2019

“Regarding the government’s brutal repression in Ecuador, where is the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Bachelet??? Or will she shine for her absence given that it is not about Venezuela?”
The meme reads, “In Quito, a motorized policeman attacks and literally passes over a citizen who demonstrates against an economic package implemented by Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno.”

As a precaution for the consequences of those Presidential attributions, Ecuador’s Ombudsman urged the Constitutional Court and the Prosecutor Office to rule on what is really going on in the country. “We demand the immediate release of indigenous leaders Marlo Santi and Jairo Gualinga,” the Ombudsman said, explaining that the use of criminal law against social leaders is an unconstitutional act which cancels “the right to defend rights.”

Until noon on Friday, the local independent media also reported the arrest of 4 transport union leaders and protests at the popular neighborhoods of the main cities.

Sources: teleSUR, El Comercio, La Epoca.