Ecuador declares state of emergency amid violent clashes

Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso walks, on the day of his annual report to the nation, a week after dissolving the National Assembly and calling for early elections, in Quito, Ecuador, May 24, 2023. REUTERS/Karen Toro/File Photo

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso on Monday declared a state of emergency and night curfews in three coastal provinces, amid a wave of violence over the weekend in the Andean country that left at least eight people dead.

Lasso declared the state of emergency in the provinces of Manabi and Los Rios and in the city of Duran, near Guayaquil, after Agustin Intriago, the mayor of coastal city Manta, was shot dead on Sunday.