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Veteran Journalist Dies in the Streets of Quito

Tens of thousands, as many as one hundred thousand according to the newspaper El Comercio, marched last night against the government of Lucio Gutiérrez. The repression that Narco News feared yesterday after troubling statements from the president arrived in full force, killing one and causing at least a hundred injuries.

The man killed was Chilean journalist and photographer Julio Augusto García Romero, who had lived in Ecuador since fleeing the Pinochet dictatorship in his own country. García apparently suffered a heart attack caused by inhaling tear gas fired by security forces.

Street battles raged into the early morning in Quito. The government began bussing in supporters for counterdemonstrations this morning – according to El Comercio, they arrived in Quito carrying machetes and clubs. The military high command has sided with the government. Smaller demonstrations are reported throughout the country. We will continue to report and translate reports as they come in through the Ecuadorian and international media.

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