Ecuador descends into chaos 11 days after government ends decades-old fuel subsidies. Video / Al Jazeera
Residents of Ecuador's capital have picked their way through piles of burned tires and chunks of pavement after the city turned into a battleground and buildings were torched by vandals.
At least seven people died during the unrest, which has paralysed the nation's economy and is the worst in thesmall South American country in more than a decade.
The country's oil production has also been halved, forcing Ecuador to stop shipping its most important export, news.com.au reports.
Protesters had demanded the return of fuel subsidies that the Government scrapped in early October as part of an International Monetary Fund austerity package.
Late on Sunday, President Lenin Moreno and leaders of Ecuador's indigenous peoples struck a deal to cancel the package and end nearly two weeks of protests.
Anti-government protesters leave the site where there were strong clashes with the police during protests against government in Quito, Ecuador. Photo / AP
Thousands descended upon the capital, hailing from the Andes mountains to the Amazon rainforest, and anti-austerity protests were organised across the country.
Ecuador's indigenous groups make up a quarter of the country's 17.3 million people.
Some defied a presidential curfew imposed on the capital city of Quito, during which armoured military vehicles patrolled the streets.
On Sunday, police dispersed protesters who tried to erect a barricade from Saturday's debris.
The militarisation of the city has fuelled criticism the Government's handling of the protests has been too heavy-handed, with human rights groups urging security forces to use restraint.
Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo said about 500 people defied police barriers in the city, and a group of vandals set the national comptroller's office alight.
It was shrouded in thick smoke after being attacked by fire bombs.
At least seven people have been killed since the unrest began on October 3, according to monitors.
Anti-government protesters stand behind their burning barricade as they clash with police near the National Assembly during a military curfew in Quito, Ecuado. Photo / AP
Authorities said nearly 2100 people had been wounded or detained.
Ecuadoreans posted social media videos of burning blockades and stand-offs between crowds and security forces in downtown Quito on Sunday ahead of the first round of talks aimed at ending 11 days of unrest.
Mr Moreno and the indigenous leaders sat down on Sunday night to a nationally broadcast negotiating session, mediated by the United Nations' chief representative, aimed at defusing nearly two weeks of chaos.
Wearing the feathered headdress and face paint of the Achuar people of the Amazon rainforest, the president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nations, Jaime Vargas, demanded the immediate cancellation of the decree ending fuel subsidies.
"This isn't a demand of the indigenous people, it's the demand of the country," he said.
"We haven't come to form negotiating commissions."
He told Mr Moreno they represented millions asking the President "to wager on peace".
Salvador Quishpe, also of CONAIE, said those who have converged on Quito would remain until an agreement is reached on reforms such as the doubling of some fuel prices.
Anti-government protesters clash with police near the National Assembly during a military curfew in Quito, Ecuador. Photo / AP
"Not just the leaders but the rank and file — and we will stay until there is a solution," he said.
Under the agreement, announced just before 10pm, the President will withdraw the IMF-backed package known as Decree 883 that included a sharp rise in fuels.
Indigenous leaders, in turn, will call on their followers to end protests and street blockades.
"Comrades, a deal is compromise on both sides," Mr Moreno said.
The two sides will work together to develop a new package of measures to cut government spending, increase revenues and reduce Ecuador's unsustainable budget deficits and public debt.
"The moment of peace, of agreement, has come for Ecuador," Arnaud Peral, the UN resident co-ordinator in Ecuador and one of the mediators of the nationally televised talks, said.
Mr Moreno signed a $US4.2 billion ($A6.2 billion) deal with the IMF earlier this year, angering many of his former supporters who voted for him as the left-leaning successor of his former ally, Rafael Correa.
The President had defended his decision to slash fuel subsidies as a key part of his bid to clean up the country's finances and denied it was required by the IMF.
Mr Moreno said his government would address some concerns of protesters, studying ways to ensure resources reach rural areas and offering compensation for those who lost earnings because of the recent upheaval.
