Ecuador's president Daniel Noboa emerged without injury following his presidential convoy was targeted by stone-throwing demonstrators and what officials characterized as potential shots.
Noboa was inaugurating a water purification facility in central Ecuador when his motorcade was attacked by a large group demonstrating against rising energy costs.
About five hundred individuals showed up and were throwing stones at him, and there are obviously gunshot impacts on the official vehicle
stated Ecuador's environment minister.
Officials confirmed that five people were arrested and would stand trial on terrorism charges – an offense carrying a highest penalty of three decades in prison.
Video footage made public by the government depicts demonstrators standing in the road, draped in flags, scrambling to collect sizeable rocks and bricks.
As the presidential SUV passed, projectiles slammed into the paneling and shattered windows.
A voice could be audible shouting: "Heads down! Heads down!" as the vehicle accelerated from the scene.
Officials indicated they were continuing to examine whether some of the damage on the president's protected vehicle were resulted from gunfire.
This reported attack occurred amid several days of increasingly violent protests sparked by a government decision to raise fuel costs.
Demonstrators have gone on strike, blocked roads and taken 16 soldiers – who were subsequently released unharmed.
The country's largest native group reported that a protester had been fatally injured by security personnel during a the rallies.
More than one hundred individuals, including demonstrators and security services, are believed to have been injured in the violence.
Noboa has declared a state of emergency across multiple regions.
Noboa's office said on social media following the incident that "cowardly acts will not stop" the leader.
A senior official of the Organization of American States said that "these actions are an attack on democratic principles, stability, and the principle of harmonious living that must dominate in our societies."
The recently re-elected president is trying to cut diesel subsidies to conserve about $1bn in public expenditure, redirecting much of the funds to security funding.
The nation, once considered one of Latin America's safest nations, has experienced a significant increase in criminal activity in recent years.
Strategically located between Colombia and Peru, two of the world's largest drug manufacturers, Ecuador has transformed into a significant transit hub for narcotics.
Authorities have alleged cartels of exacerbating the protests, implying that illegal organizations are exploiting the demonstrations to disrupt the nation.
Reports indicate that seventy percent of the world's illegal drug market transits via the country, much of it destined for the US.
This business has drawn global crime syndicates, including Mexican drug cartels, Italian mafia groups, and Albanian criminal networks.
The rivalry for control of smuggling corridors has turned Ecuador into one of the area's highest-risk places.
The president has called for a referendum to permit the presence of American military to the country, overturning a 2009 ban on international military installations.
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