Quito (AFP)

Road blocks and demonstrations continued Sunday in Ecuador in a dozen provinces to protest against a massive increase in fuel prices decided by the government.

The Ecuadorian presidency said a man died Sunday after being run over by a vehicle during a demonstration in Azuay province in southern Ecuador.

According to the press service of the presidency, the 35-year-old man was found dead after being "hit by a vehicle apparently fleeing after being attacked by people blocking the public road".

"We regret the acts of violence that took place and caused their first victim," said the Ecuadorian army on his Twitter account.

The armed forces are mobilized to restore order in the country as part of the state of emergency established for 60 days by the Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno.

Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo announced that as of Sunday 14 civilians had been wounded and 477 people arrested, most of them for acts of vandalism.

Among the police, 59 people were injured, according to a report of the government arrested Friday.

- Subsidies abolished -

Sunday was the fifth day of the wave of protests against President Moreno's decision to remove fuel subsidies totaling $ 1.3 billion (the Ecuadorian economy is dollarized).

The removal of these subsidies has resulted in fuel price increases of up to 123%. The US gallon (3.79 liters) of diesel thus rose from $ 1.03 to $ 2.30 and a gallon of regular gasoline from $ 1.85 to $ 2.40.

As part of an agreement between Ecuador and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in exchange for the elimination of these subsidies, Quito can access credits in the amount of 4.209 billion dollars.

The establishment of the state of emergency has not prevented the continuation of daily protests involving peasants, students and political opponents.

To reply to the government, the main organization of Ecuadorian natives, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), has also announced "a state of exception in all indigenous territories".

Conaie said in a statement that soldiers and policemen approaching indigenous territories would be captured.

The spokesman of Conaie, Apawki Castro, told AFP that members of the police were already detained by indigenous communities in three provinces. This statement has not been confirmed by the authorities.

In addition, indigenous communities plan to march in the next few hours on Quito to express in the capital their refusal to rise fuel prices and what they consider the abuse of natural resources on their territories.

President Moreno said he was ready to discuss. "I am determined to dialogue with you, indigenous brothers, with whom we have many causes in common," he said in a radio and television broadcast.

© 2019 AFP