QUITO (Ecuador) -- Ecuadorian authorities arrested the leader and founder of a national Indigenous organization on Tuesday. He was accused of being responsible for violence during protests against the government.

According to police, Leonidas Iza was taken into custody in Pastocalle in Ecuador's Andean centre.

The confederation called for protests in order to demand a decrease in gasoline prices, the setting of a minimum price on agricultural products, and a moratorium regarding the extension of oil and mining projects.

Authorities said that protesters were responsible for destroying police vehicles and private vehicles, attacking and damaging private vehicles, breaking into private flower gardens in the middle of the country and destroying public property in the capital.

Iza also called for followers to overthrow President Guillermo Lasso's government.

Lasso stated that "The arrests have started for the masterminds and perpetrators" of the violent acts. "It's now up to the judiciary and the prosecution to act because no one is above law."