Photo: Reuters/Stringer
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On Feb. 22, Indigenous protesters in the Ecuadorian province of Napo shut down the country’s two main oil pipelines, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency in the region, suspend civil liberties, arrest Napo’s governor and shut down two local radio stations. Protesters hurled stones to repel soldiers, who shot at least three and arrested 11. The protesters’ demands included the construction of an airport and two highways in the province, projects promised by former president Lucio Gutierrez. The two pipelines carry nearly half a million barrels of oil per day and oil revenue accounts for 43 percent of Ecuador’s national budget. The protests came two weeks after a similar incident at an oil pumping station in the province of Sucumbios.
