[2] By August, an alliance of rural farmworkers, Indigenous federations such as CONAIE, student groups, and labor unions had organised protests involving hundreds of thousands of people with a wide range of grievances, including the controversial tax laws; constitutional amendments removing presidential term limits; expanding oil and mining projects; water, education, and labour policies; a proposed free trade agreement with the European Union; and increasing repression of freedom of speech.

"[10] The Washington Post characterized Correa's ideological approach as having contradictions however, and compared him to other pink tide presidents such as Bolivia's Evo Morales and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez.

[7] The government then cut its 2015 fiscal budget by 4% and initiated controversial economic measures that affected most Ecuadorians; both the middle class and the poor.

[7] In March 2015 when constitutional changes were proposed to allow the re-election of the president and government officials indefinitely while other labor and land ownership rules were submitted, protests numbered in thousands occurred in Quito that were organized by indigenous communities, unions and students.

[7] Protests began on 8 June 2015 and continued after President Correa temporarily withdrew the proposed tax bills on 15 June,[19][20] The protests expanded in July through September to include a broader range of issues including constitutional amendments removing presidential term limits; expanding oil and mining projects; water, education, and labour policies; a proposed free trade agreement with the European Union; and increasing repression of freedom of speech.

[3][4] Near the headquarters of Correa's party, Alianza País, about 1,000 people gathered on June 8, including opposition, pro-government demonstrators, and 100 police on standby.

[2] On June 24, Guillermo Lasso led a march to the National Assembly of Ecuador to demand the permanent withdrawal of the proposed tax bills.

[23] Workers and trade unionists, mainly from the Frente Unitario de los Trabajadores (FUT), demonstrated in Quito denouncing Correa's policies, calling them "anti-popular" and were planning a national strike.

CONAIE and other social movements joining the march called on the government to end police brutality against protestors and release detainees.

The use of peer-to-peer applications increased during the protests due to the network problems with Opposition Senator Andres Paez recommending the use of the FireChat app.