Demonstrators from the country's Indigenous community — which makes up over a million of Ecuador's 17.7 million inhabitants — launched an open-ended anti-government protest on Monday, June 13, 2022 that has since been joined by students, workers and others.

The demonstrations have blocked roads across the country, including highways leading into the capital Quito. Indigenous protesters demanding cheaper fuel in Ecuador defied a state of emergency, pressing on with road blockages now in their seventh day.

Protestors believe that President Guillermo Lasso should be less focused on following International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies because the script imposed by the IMF is worsening the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the country's poor.

Ecuador's $6.5 billion deal with the IMF ends this year. The plan included tax hikes and eliminating subsidies but failed to improve the country's fiscal deficit and the promises did not improve the reality on the ground.