Ecuador’s army took to the streets after President Lenin Moreno ordered the first 24-hour curfew in decades in response to a day of attacks on government buildings and media offices.

Soldiers last night took control of the park and streets leading to the National Assembly and the national comptroller’s office, which had been broken into by protesters who lit fires inside the building.

President Moreno said, the military would enforce the round the clock curfew in Quito and around critical infrastructure like power stations and hospitals in response to the day’s violence.

It was the first such action imposed since a series of coups in the 1960s and ’70s.The President also announced some possible concessions in an economic package that was opposed by many Ecuadorians. But he didn’t retract his decision to remove fuel subsidies, a step that triggered the nationwide protests and clashes.