US ally Ecuador faces a worsening crisis: the government could collapse – Fox News

Protests and riots in Ecuador could mean problems for the U.S., as analysts claim democracy in the South American nation is under threat. The instability and any potential fallout could trigger hundreds of thousands more people to migrate north to the U.S.

Ecuador’s defense minister warned that the country’s democracy was at risk as demonstrations turned increasingly violent in the capital.

The spread of antigovernmental protests in Ecuador has hurt oil output, and forced reductions in fuel prices, though protest leaders have called the price cuts insufficient.

The energy minister said on Sunday that output could be completely halted in a matter of days over acts of vandalism.

U.S. refiners have increased purchases of Ecuadorian crude since Washington imposed a phased wind-down of Russian oil imports.

One official said that the Correistas are trying to overthrow the president.

Analysts say the political crisis in Ecuador has its genesis in drug trafficking. The government of President Guillermo Lasso is pro-U.S. but has been complicit in previous governments that were close to leftist movements financed by drug trafficking.

Observers say the former leftist President Rafael Correa is still active in Ecuador and wants to return to power at any price. The violence in the streets is one of his strategies to take power.

Oswaldo Toscano, a political analyst and university professor, noted that since 2017, an institutional crisis triggered an economic and social crisis. He said that President Lasso continued with the aggressive cut to social issues, which produced today’s social outburst.

On Saturday, president Guillermo Lasso lifted a state of emergency he imposed in six provinces after talks with protest leaders.

Ecuador remains one of the main allies of the United States in Latin America, and a departure of president Lasso would mean that Ecuador would return to the orbit of China and Russia.

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