QUITO, Ecuador — Protesters calling for the ouster of President Rafael Correa have filled the streets of Ecuador’s largest cities in recent weeks in some of the largest antigovernment demonstrations here in years, creating tensions on the eve of a visit by Pope Francis.

Both the government and the opposition have been using the pope’s visit to get their messages across, giving rise to complaints that they are usurping the historic event for political ends.

Some government opponents have used social media to urge people to shout a slogan at the end of the pope’s two giant Masses in the country: “Francis yes, Correa no!”

For its part, the government has erected enormous banners and billboards with texts from the pope’s writings or speeches that criticize inequality and society’s obsession with money.