Ecuador’s president has little chance of implementing reforms

In 2019 an uprising by Ecuador’s indigenous movement and its allies brought mayhem to Quito, the capital, and forced the centrist government of Lenín Moreno to cancel a rise in fuel prices, a climbdown from which it never recovered. This week conaie, the indigenous federation, was on the march again. It blocked roads, including the highway connecting Ecuador to Colombia, in a trial of strength for Mr Moreno’s successor, Guillermo Lasso, a conservative former banker. This time the demands are vague. The protest, which conaie says will be “indefinite”, is one more difficulty for a president facing a proliferation of problems after just one year in office.