The protests erupted in the Andean nation last week when Moreno, who abandoned his predecessor and one-time mentor Rafael Correa's leftist policies upon taking office in 2017, announced a measure to eliminate fuel subsidies to reduce the country's fiscal deficit.

Umbrella indigenous organization CONAIE said demonstrations would continue until Moreno withdraws the measure. The mobilization would coincide with a national strike planned for Wednesday.

But in a defiant national television address on Monday evening, after protesters reached Quito's historic center, Moreno said he would not back down on the fuel price hike in the face of what he called a "destabilization plan" orchestrated by Correa and leftist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.