Ecuador's situation is back to normal after the government imposed a state of emergency and the military controlled the oil-producing provinces of Orellana and Sucumbios, Defense Minister Oswaldo Jarrin said Monday.

Jarrin said 20 people were arrested for having committed acts against public property.

The minister considered as fair the demands of inhabitants of Orellana and Sucumbios for more infrastructure, but he said the military will resort to force to guarantee order.

Local authorities, who supported a general strike last week, were accountable for the chaos generated during the labor stoppage, he said.

Also on Monday, some 50 negotiators of Orellana and Sucumbios started talks with the government in Quito.

However, the talks nearly broke down in the late afternoon when Ana Rivas, mayor of El Coca, the capital of Orellana, angrily left the bargaining table.

She accused the army of breaking a truce by firing tear gas at a group of demonstrators in her city, 180 km east of Quito.

Guillermo Munoz, governor of Sucumbios Province, and Guadalupe Llori, governor of Orellana Province, also left in protest. But after about two hours, all three officials returned to the negotiations.

Protests began in Orellana and Sucumbios a week ago, demanding greater spending on infrastructure, more job opportunities for locals by foreign petroleum companies and the expulsion of two foreign oil firms from the provinces.

President Alfredo Palacio decreed on Wednesday a state of emergency in the two provinces, where the demonstrators were backed by local authorities.

Under the state of emergency, free movement of traffic was restricted, freedom of expression banned and a curfew imposed in both provinces.

The government said the state of emergency will be kept while petroleum production is resumed in Orellana and Sucumbios.

The general strike was called off on Sunday as leaders of protests were released from jail after agreeing to end violent attacks and enter into talks with the government.

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2005)