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Ecuador police requisition Indigenous center to monitor protests

Ecuadoran police requisitioned an Indigenous cultural center in Quito on Sunday to use it as a base for monitoring anti-government protests by Indigenous people.

"The national police notified (us of) the requisition of the place, under the state of emergency," the House of Ecuadorian Culture announced.

Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency on Friday in three provinces, including the capital Quito, in a bid to end the demonstrations.

The state of emergency empowers Lasso to mobilize the armed forces to maintain order, suspend civil rights, and declare curfews.

Protests demanding cheaper fuel and food prices

The powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) called for the protests to demand cheaper fuel and food price controls.

The Indigenous community represents more than one million of Ecuador's 17.7 million inhabitants, and their protest has been joined by students, workers, and others.

The demonstrations have blocked roads across the country, including highways leading into Quito.

Oil producer Ecuador has been hit by rising inflation, unemployment, and poverty exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

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

"Joy has died tonight"

The requisition of the House of Ecuadorian Culture - home to theaters, cinemas, a museum, and a library - came on the eve of the arrival of more Indigenous protesters in the capital, where a seven-hour nighttime curfew is in effect.

The center sheltered thousands of Indigenous people in October 2019 during violent demonstrations against rising fuel prices that left 11 dead and more than 1,000 injured.

"National police and soldiers entered" the building and "hundreds of armed elements besieged it," the Ecuadorian House of Culture confirmed in a statement.

"Joy has died tonight, the House of Culture has fallen into the hands of police terror, we live in a dictatorship," Fernando Ceron, president of the cultural center, tweeted on Sunday, posting a copy of the police requisition order.

Talks with the Ecuadoran President have failed to end the demonstrations.

Clashes with security forces during the protests over the past week have left at least 83 people injured and 40 arrested.