At least three people have been killed in Ecuador as the government further ramps up its use of force against Indigenous-led protests triggered in part by crackdowns on environmentalists, according to civil society and human rights groups.

Inside Climate News previously reported that the Noboa administration has arrested, detained or frozen the bank accounts of 61 leaders of Ecuadorian environmental, Indigenous and human rights organizations.

the 61 leaders work on programs that collectively protect at least 35 million hectares of Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon rainforest. The leaders are also working to restore an additional 8.7 million hectares and represent 1,500 Amazonian Indigenous communities in Ecuador.