Reuters: Ecuador president's car attacked by crowd, five detained

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa’s car was surrounded by a crowd of about 500 people who hurled stones at the vehicle as he arrived at an event in the Cañar province.

Later, bullet damage was found on the president’s car, the government said, according to Reuters.

Environment and Energy Minister Inés Manzano said on Tuesday that an official report had been submitted regarding the attempted attack on Noboa.

The president was unharmed, and five people have been detained, she added.

“Shooting at the president’s car, throwing stones, damaging state property - that’s just criminal,” said Manzano, after reporting the attack to prosecutors. “We will not allow this,” she added.

However, Ecuador’s National Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) claimed that violence had erupted against demonstrators awaiting Noboa’s arrival, saying elderly women were among those attacked during “brutal actions by police and military forces.”

“At least five of us were arbitrarily detained,” the group said in a statement.

The incident comes 16 days after CONAIE launched a strike, organizing marches and blocking several roads to protest the government’s decision to scrap diesel fuel subsidies.

By Khagan Isayev