Ecuador's government declared a "state of exception" Oct. 3 after protesters opposed to a fuel price hike blocked streets and disrupted transport nationwide. A national paro, or general strike, was called after President Lenín Moreno announced his decision to end a 40-year-old subsidy for fuel—widely perceived as a move taken in response to belt-tightening demands made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following a recent $4.2 billion loan package. At least 350 have been arrested in the "paquetazo" protests, whch have been led by transport unions, indigenous organizations and student groups. (TeleSur [9], Al Jazeera [10], NPR [11], BBC News [12])
Global oil prices remain low [13], but several countries around the world have seen exploisions of protest [14] over domestic fuel price spikes in recent months.
