By Emmanuel Nduka Obisue
A convoy carrying Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa came under attack on Tuesday when it was surrounded by about 500 people and pelted with stones, according to government reports.
Energy Minister Inés Manzano said in a video posted on Instagram that President Noboa was en route to an event in the central city of Cañar when the attack occurred. Manzano later confirmed that bullet holes were discovered in the president’s vehicle, though he was uninjured.
The government also released a video on X (formerly Twitter) purportedly showing the incident from inside one of the vehicles, with attackers hurling large stones and smashing windows.
According to Manzano, five suspects have been arrested on charges of attempted murder. He added that Tuesday’s incident was the second such attack on the president’s convoy within a few weeks.
In late September, protesters near the northern city of Cotacachi assaulted a convoy transporting humanitarian aid led by Mr Noboa and European Union diplomats, injuring 12 soldiers.
Since mid-September, various groups in Ecuador have mounted protests, including roadblocks, against the government’s decision to cut diesel subsidies and implement other austerity measures.
Noboa, 37, who became Ecuador’s youngest-ever president in 2023 and was re-elected in April, faces growing unrest alongside a surge in criminal violence driven by powerful drug cartels. Once considered a relatively safe country, Ecuador has in recent years become a key route for cocaine smuggling through Pacific ports to Europe and Asia.
