Ahead of the extraordinary assembly taking place this hour in the city of Riobamba, in the Andean province of Chimborazo, the organization published a video on its social media in which it warns the president that when people rise up, “history changes course.”

The message remembers the historic strikes of 2019 and 2022, when Indigenous people led mobilizations against similar measures by then-Presidents Lenin Moreno (2017-2021) and Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023).

According to this entity, which brings together communities from across the country, the rise in diesel prices is occurring amid a lack of problems in the health sector, insecurity, and authoritarianism.

Prior to the meeting, the Union of Peasant and Indigenous Organizations of Cotacachi called for an “indefinite mobilization” starting September 21; Jose Esach, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (Confeniae), announced that they will also call for a permanent and progressive mobilization and have decided to withdraw their support for Noboa, whom they backed in the elections.

Amid these scattered calls, Salvador Quishpe, of the Pachakutik movement, announced that one of the topics to be discussed at the meeting will be to unify all the demonstrations announced by indigenous groups.

According to a study by the Center for Research and Specialized Studies (CIESS), 83 percent of Ecuadorians believe that the increase in unsubsidized diesel prices negatively impacts them, a perception that is similar in both urban and rural areas.

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