Ecuador declared a state of emergency in five central provinces last night to try to control renewed protests by thousands of Indians demanding the government quit US free-trade talks this week.
Interior Minister Felipe Vega announced the measure after Indian peasants intensified blockades on key roads in at least eight highland regions in protests that have cost Ecuador millions in lost commerce since they began last week.
"The president took this decision after exhausting all other options for dialogue," Mr Vega said.
The state of emergency forbids public gatherings and marches and sets curfews. Troops earlier this week reinforced security along major highways leading into the capital.
The protests were the latest test for President Alfredo Palacio, a cardiologist with little political backing who says he will not halt the trade negotiations. A strike this month by workers at state company Petroecuador trimmed crude output.
Ecuadorean and US officials will meet in Washington tomorrow for the trade talks. Ecuador's Andean neighbors, Colombia and Peru, have already signed deals.
Indian protesters fear the trade pact will damage their livelihoods and way of life. Since protests began nine days ago, indigenous leaders have threatened to take their fight to the capital but so far only small groups have reached Quito.
"We are going to continue with the protests," Gilberto Talahua, an Indian leader and organizer, told Reuters after the emergency announcement.
Mr Palacio, who came to office ten months ago after Congress fired his predecessor, has faced a series of strikes and protests from provinces seeking more financing from the state before presidential elections in October.