by the El Reportero‘s wire services
Russia’s navy has foiled an attempt by pirates to hijack a Panama-registered container ship off West Africa, the Russian defence ministry has said.
The MSC Lucia was en route to Cameroon from Togo when it sent out a distress call on Monday that was picked up the Russian destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov.
A unit of Russian marines were dispatched by helicopter to the Lucia’s aid, the defence ministry statement said.
The pirates immediately fled, allowing the marines to free the ship’s crew.
Photos of the mission were posted by the defence ministry on Facebook:
The Russian destroyer was patrolling the Gulf of Guinea as part of international efforts to improve security there.
The waters off West Africa’s oil-rich coastline have been some of the most dangerous in the world for shipping in recent years.
Ecuador president calls for dialogue with Indigenous protesters
Dozens of people arrested during demonstrations and highway blockades to protest against rising fuel prices
Indigenous and rural Ecuadorans have blocked roads in several provinces on the second day of protests against rising fuel prices amid a state of emergency as the president called for dialogue.
Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso, a conservative ex-banker who took office in May, on Wednesday said his government would keep security forces on highways to maintain order.
Last Friday, Lasso announced a 12 percent increase in fuel prices, which have nearly doubled since last year, bringing the price of diesel to $1.90 a gallon ($0.50 a litre) and $2.55 a gallon ($0.67 a litre) for petrol, setting off the largest protests since he took office.
“I call once more for dialogue, for consensus, for thinking of the good of the country and not of personal, party or union interests,” Lasso said on Wednesday during a military ceremony. “In these moments of economic recovery, it’s time to be united.”
Demonstrators argue the increased cost falls unfairly on regular citizens already struggling economically because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ecuador Confederation of Indigenous Nations (CONAIE), the group who called the protests, wants fuel prices capped at $1.50 a gallon ($0.39 a litre) for diesel and $2 a gallon ($0.53 litre) for petrol.
“The government has messed up, pushing fuel prices up all the time,” protester Dennis Viteri, a 28-year-old textile worker told AFP on Wednesday at a blockade northeast of the capital Quito.
Viteri and others used soil, tree trunks and burning tyres to block a portion of the Pan-American highway which connects Quito with Colombia
Demonstrators have disrupted traffic in at least five of Ecuador’s 24 provinces.
