Five arrested after alleged ‘assassination attempt’ on Ecuador President Noboa

Five people have been arrested following an alleged assassination attempt on Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa. Noboa is seen here on Aug. 18. (Adriano Machado/Reuters via CNN Newsource)

Five people have been arrested following an alleged assassination attempt on Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, according to the country’s energy minister Ines Manzano.

Noboa’s car was surrounded by a group of around 500 people throwing rocks as he traveled in a convoy to Cañar province, where he was scheduled to announce a set of infrastructure projects, the minister said Tuesday.

Signs of bullet damage were later found on the car, according to the minister, but Noboa was not hurt in the attack.

CNN could not independently confirm whether shots were fired.

A video released by the Ecuadorian presidency shows hundreds of people on both sides of the road, many waving arms and shouting, surging forward as the motorcade approaches. Members of the crowd throw rocks toward the vehicles, hitting and cracking some of the windows. In the background, a panicked voice can be heard warning passengers to duck.

Authorities said those detained will face terrorism and attempted murder charges.

“Shooting at the president’s car, throwing stones, damaging state property – that’s just criminal,” Manzano said Tuesday after formally filing a report of an assassination attempt against Noboa, according to Reuters. “We will not allow this.”

This is not the first time a convoy carrying Noboa has been attacked. In September, roughly 350 people attacked a motorcade carrying the president and diplomats during a protest in Imbabura province, according to officials.

Authorities said the attackers ambushed the convoy with fireworks, molotov cocktails and rocks.

The attacks come amid unrest in Ecuador sparked by the government saying it would end a subsidy on diesel to reduce public spending, curb fuel smuggling and free up funds for social programs.

In recent weeks, demonstrators led mostly by Ecuador’s Indigenous community have blocked roads and clashed with security forces, with one incident a week ago leaving one civilian dead and several injured.

The presidency claims “terrorist groups” have infiltrated the demonstrations, but protesters argue the government is violently repressing dissent over the new fuel policy.

Indigenous leaders have also accused the government of allowing unchecked mining and oil drilling on ancestral lands.

Following Tuesday’s incident, national Indigenous confederation CONAIE again accused the government of violence toward demonstrators, saying in a post on X that the five detained people were protesters who – alongside elderly women – had been attacked in a “brutal police and military action.”

At the weekend, the government declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces where there have been protests, citing “serious internal unrest,” but it has not prohibited peaceful demonstrations. The provinces affected have large Indigenous communities.

Noboa has insisted the fuel subsidy cut is here to stay. “Those who choose violence will face the law. Those who act like criminals will be treated as criminals,” the president said Sunday on X.

With additional reporting from Michael Rios and Ana María Cañizares.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

By Isa Cardona, CNN