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QUITO, Ecuador – Ecuador’s indigenous protesters have been credited in the past for bringing the country to its knees and chasing three incumbent presidents.
Now, the powerful indigenous movement in the South American country has once again taken to the streets, leading 12 days of nationwide protests that have paralyzed the capital and tested the government of Guillermo Lasso, one of the continent’s last conservative leaders. , just one year after its inception. presidency.
Protesters have marched through Quito, clashed with police and blocked roads across the country, causing food and fuel shortages. While government forces have tried to stifle the rise in protests this week, at least four people have been killed, four missing and 93 injured. Dozens have been arrested, according to local human rights groups, and at least 114 police officers have been injured, according to authorities.
Like in 2019, when the pre – pandemic protests led by the Indigenous people stopped Ecuador, organizers are taking advantage of frustration over fuel prices. Gasoline costs less in Ecuador than in other countries in the region, but the The government last year reduced long-term subsidies, causing prices at the pump to almost double.
But this time, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador is asking for more. The movement calls for economic reforms to address rising inequality in a country that is still suffering from the economic devastation caused by the pandemic, which was especially lethal here.
Indigenous and rural communities, protesters say, have been disproportionately affected by inflation, rising gas prices and austerity measures. The organization has submitted to the government a list of 10 demands, which include a better job creation plan, increased investment in public education and health care, and a halt to the expansion of oil and mining.
Mario Granja joined the protesters this week on October 12 Avenue in downtown Quito. Police had blocked traffic on the normally busy street; protesters lit eucalyptus fires in an effort to avoid the effects of the tear gas that burned the eyes that remained in the air.
“I come here to fight for fuel prices … for our children’s education and for work,” the 57-year-old construction worker said. “We want the president to leave. He’s lying to people, and people are tired of being fooled.”
Voters in Latin America, one of the regions most affected by the pandemic and its economic cost, have voted outside the presidents and parties in favor of politicians promise change. Lasso’s victory in Ecuador last year over the hand-picked candidate by former President Rafael Correa was a rebuke to left-wing governments that had long held power in the country. Lasso, a conservative banker, promised to increase coronavirus vaccines, revive the country’s economy and create more job opportunities, even for indigenous people.
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Lasso benefited from the election of discontent among indigenous peoples, who represent only 10 percent of the population, but are a powerful and organized political force. After the Indigenous candidate Yaku Perez did not make it to the second round of voting, many Indigenous voters left their ballots blank, helping Lasso.
A year later, Ecuador is suffering from rising unemployment, drug shortages, as-yet-out-of-school students and rising drug violence and prison massacres. Lasso has focused more on macroeconomic challenges, such as reducing the budget deficit and paying off foreign debt, than on the social programs demanded by a population fighting poverty. Sociologist Decio Machado, an independent political consultant, said The approach reflected a total “lack of sensitivity”.
This caused the president to collapse approval and growing opposition to the National Assembly and the street. Lawmakers associated with Correa began a process in the assembly on Friday to vote on Lasso’s removal.
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Lasso has only partially addressed the demands of the protesters. Last week he announced plans to subsidize fertilizer costs for small and medium farmers by 50 percent. He said the public bank would forgive overdue loans worth up to $ 3,000. He also said there would be no further increase in the cost of diesel, which would be limited to $ 1.90 per gallon, or gasoline, which would be limited to $ 2.55. Both are above the protesters ’demands of $ 1.50 and $ 2.10 per gallon.
“I called for dialogue and the response was more violence,” Lasso said in televised statements. “There is no intention to find solutions.”
Leonidas Iza, president of the indigenous confederation, said Lasso’s proposals did not fully meet the demands of the protesters. He also doubted the president’s sincerity in implementing them.
Lasso’s challenges could serve as a warning to other newly elected presidents in the region who courted angry voters with promises of change.
“In such unequal countries, when people see someone new, they have high expectations,” said Santiago Basabe, a political scientist at Ecuador’s Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences. “When you have offered more than you can give, people will not back down. … If you don’t follow it, people will get irritated. “
And in the case of Ecuador’s indigenous community, people will mobilize.
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The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador is credited with helping to overthrow three governments in Ecuador between 1997 and 2005, by leading massive street protests for days that pushed the National Assembly to vote presidents for incapacity. to govern. Today, many, including Lasso, say the group is trying to do the same.
But this time it will not be so easy. The assembly now requires a two-thirds vote to remove a president, more than the majority requirement of the past.
Lasso has responded to the protests by proclaiming a 30-day state of emergency in six provinces, including Quich-based Pichincha. Police have occupied the Casa de la Cultura, a cultural center in central Quito that has historical significance as a base for indigenous protesters entering from the camp. Police withdrew from the building Thursday.
Several groups, including Amnesty International, have called for a dialogue between the government and the movement to end the protests immediately. Both sides say they are open to dialogue, but Iza, of the confederation, has demanded the government lift the state of emergency before sitting at the table.
“We have always had our door open to dialogue; we have only said that conversations cannot make a mockery of the Ecuadorian people,” Iza said in a news release. conference. He said any dialogue with the government must lead to results. He has held several meetings with the president over the past year, he said. Everything, he said, has ended in empty promises.
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Meanwhile, anger against the protesters and the disruption they are causing in daily life is increasing, especially in Quito, where clashes between protesters and police have blocked entire neighborhoods in the city center. Opponents held “demonstrations for peace” on Wednesday in the capital, shouting “We want to work!”
The government says the first eight days of protests cost the economy more $ 110 million, affecting about 1.4 million jobs. The Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters says roadblocks, which mainly affect the flower, broccoli, wood and banana industries, have cost it $ 27 million in exports.
Farm traveled to Quito in a caravan Monday night from Cotopaxi province. Usually, the Driving would take less than an hour, but the caravan took 10 hours because it encountered police blockades along the way.
He has been sleeping in a flat at the Salesian University, one of the two universities in Quito that has opened its doors to about 18,000 protesters in rural Ecuador.
Back in his Tancuchi community, Farm said, he is being pushed to his limits. It has been difficult for him to find work as a construction worker; when he does, the salary is $ 100 a week, not the $ 150 he received before the pandemic. The price of some commodities, meanwhile, has doubled. Cooking oil has risen from $ 2 per liter to almost $ 4.50 per liter. A dollar used to buy eight buns. Today I only buy four.
“Now even the potatoes have to be counted. As they say, a potato can be made in 12 pieces, ”he said. “I ask God for the president to act. Don’t keep fooling us.”