Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
Ecuador rises against the IMF
Recent weeks show the spirit of resistance against neoliberalism is burning brightly, writes LEE BROWN
Lenin Moreno's draconian state of emergency has not quelled mass protests over his neoliberal 'package'

ANYONE observing events in Ecuador in recent days could be forgiven for thinking they had been transported back to the Latin America of the 1990s. 

Then, huge protests against IMF-imposed austerity were regularly met with violent state repression. Such events returned to Ecuador’s streets with a bang last week.

The mass demonstrations under way in Ecuador follow new attacks on living standards designed to meet the terms of a multibillion-dollar IMF loan. The immediate spark to the huge street protests was the removal of subsidies on fuel that affects not only transport costs but drives up food prices.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa speaks during an event to deliver benefits and to decry the protests against diesel price hikes, in Otavalo, Ecuador, September 24, 2025
Latin America / 13 November 2025
13 November 2025

LEE BROWN highlights the latest attempts to undo progressive reforms instated during the presidency of Rafael Correa

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa and his wife, Lavinia Valbonesi, acknowledge supporters from the balcony of the presidential palace after his swearing-in ceremony for a second term in Quito, Ecuador, May 24, 2025
Latin America / 29 May 2025
29 May 2025

Noboa’s second term looks set to deepen his neoliberal policies: reduced public investment, privatization, cuts to social programmes, and militarisation, says  PILAR TROYA FERNANDEZ

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, his wife Lavinia Valbonesi
Features / 18 April 2025
18 April 2025

Ecuador’s election wasn’t free — and its people will pay the price under President Noboa

A supporter of Brazilian President Lula da Silva of the Work
Features / 10 February 2025
10 February 2025
Long having been considered the ‘US’s backyard,’ Latin America is the crucible of anti-imperialist struggle – yet with the rise of China as an economic and ideological counterweight to Washington, we see a new phase of that struggle emerge, writes BEN CHACKO