As the talks got underway, Jaime Vargas, the head of the indigenous umbrella grouping CONAIE, called on President Lenin Moreno to immediately dismiss the interior and defense ministers for "excessive violence" during the protests.

The talks in the capital Quito came after 12 days of rolling demonstrations that left six people dead and nearly 2,100 wounded or detained, according to authorities.

Protesters on Saturday targeted a television station and a newspaper, and set fire to the comptroller general's office.

Moreno declared a curfew and placed the city under military control to quell the unrest. On Sunday, police dispersed protesters who tried to erect a barricade of debris from Saturday's violence.

Another indigenous leader said Sunday that protesters who have converged on Quito will remain until an agreement is reached on painful reforms such as a doubling of some fuel prices.

"Not just the leaders but the rank and file -- and we will stay until there is a solution," said Salvador Quishpe of CONAIE.

The crisis broke out in early October after Moreno ordered fuel subsidies to be cut as part of a deal to obtain a $4.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

CONAIE had previously rejected an offer of dialogue but reversed course Saturday and said the talks would focus on ending the fuel hike.

"Our hope is that, God willing, today we can sit down and talk and end all this," said Quishpe, a former governor of an Amazon province.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres "welcomes the announcement of the start of a dialogue process," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

Guterres "calls on all concerned to commit to inclusive and meaningful talks, and to work in good faith towards a peaceful solution," the statement said.

Ecuador's indigenous groups make up a quarter of the country's 17.3 million people. Thousands from disadvantaged communities from across the Amazon and the Andes have traveled to Quito where they are spearheading demands that the subsidies continue.

- Media attacked -

Demonstrators on Saturday ransacked and set fire to the building housing the comptroller general's office, which was shrouded in thick smoke after being attacked with fire bombs.

The prosecutor's office said 34 people were arrested.

Nearby, protesters had built barricades in front of the National Assembly building as police fired tear gas at them.

The Teleamazonas TV channel interrupted its regular broadcast to air images of broken windows, a burned vehicle and heavy police presence on the scene.

The station evacuated 25 employees, none of them hurt.

El Comercio newspaper reported on Twitter that its offices were attacked by a "group of unknowns." It did not provide further details.

"We have nothing to do with the events at the comptroller's office and Teleamazonas," said CONAIE.

Protesters did not immediately heed the curfew that went into effect on Saturday, with security forces still struggling to impose order in some parts of the city as night fell.

"Where are the mothers and fathers of the police? Why do they let them kill us?" cried Nancy Quinyupani, an indigenous woman.

The restrictions in Quito, a city of 2.7 million, came on top of a state of emergency Moreno had declared on October 3, deploying some 75,000 military and police and imposing a nighttime curfew in the vicinity of government buildings.

The violence has forced Moreno to relocate his government to Ecuador's second city, Guayaquil, and has hit the oil industry hard with the energy ministry suspending more than two-thirds of its distribution of crude.

Protesters seized three oil facilities in the Amazon earlier this week.

Moreno is struggling with an economic crisis that he blames on waste and corruption by Correa's administration.