Tension grows in Ecuador after nine days of protests and a state of emergency

“I call for peace. Together we must seek solutions to the problems faced by Ecuadorian families.” On the ninth day of a strike with an end on the horizon, the president William Lasso expressed its willingness to dialogue with the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), which has virtually taken Quito with a list of demands similar to that of the 2019 social outburst. In some sectors of the city shortages are felt. In turn, the fear of a wave of looting that has not taken place began to circulate. “Out Lasso“, is heard in the streets of the capital in the midst of clashes between indigenous people and security forces that, so far, have caused two deaths.

With this background, the president made it known that “he has accepted a large part of the suggestions presented” by Conaie, including declaring a health emergency, assuming 50% of the price of urea, agricultural credits and a larger budget for intercultural education. . Leonidas Isaone of the main leaders of that organization, asked the Government for guarantees to sit down for dialogue as well as for repeal the state of emergency. “We must attend to the agricultural sector, the countryside of Ecuador cannot take it anymore because we have had neoliberal governments that have not known how to respond to the needs. They have been unconcerned about the problems of poor families. We want a little justice. Well-being is not privilege of the bankers and the ruling classes,” he added.

For Iza, “the true response to the conflict is to solve the adverse economic conditions that the population is going through, restore the violated social rights, put aside the neoliberal tax policy of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)”. They seem like claims traced from the incidents that three years ago hacked the then president Lenin Moreno. For this reason, as if it were an extension of that conflict, Conaie has requested, together with the Council of Evangelical Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Ecuador (Feine), a reduction in fuel prices, in the case of diesel and gasoline. extra.

I call for peace. Together we must seek solutions to the problems faced by Ecuadorian families.

#EcuadorWantsPeace pic.twitter.com/AIEMqsxDYU

— Guillermo Lasso (@LassoGuillermo) June 21, 2022

Lasso took office at the end of May 2021. His first anniversary as head of the Executive Branch was more convulsive than expected. Quito smelled of tear gas. The police responded with batons to the advance of the demonstrators who, in turn, responded to the repression with sticks and stones.

The newspaper The universe, from Guayaquil, the country’s second largest city, described the street scenes with a hint of wonder. “They all speak Quichua, but their poncho designs, the sounds of drums and flutes they play set them apart. They are indigenous people who came from provinces such as Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, Chimborazo and Imbabura and since last Monday night they have occupied spaces in the Salesian and Central Polytechnic Universities of Ecuador (UCE).” The columns were nourished by some 11,000 people.

institutional danger

According to Defense Minister Luis Lara, democracy “is at serious risk“As the protest with the roadblocks spreads, he remarked, the economic losses grow. The minister has used a more angry tone than that of the president. Lara has assured that the strike is carried out only by “violent groups” that They prevent “the free movement of the majority of Ecuadorians.” These actions “go beyond citizen protest, it is a deliberate attempt to use armed violence to attack democracy, threaten institutions. The armed forces will not allow attempts to break the constitutional order.”

Ecuadorians still have the memory of the events of 2019 alive. That year that sealed Moreno’s political fate, the protest lasted three weeks. The then government reversed its measures after the United Nations and the Catholic Church entered the scene to mediate. Lasso wants that role to be played this time by the EU and the UN. For now, the Conaie has not given the go-ahead.

Iza insisted that the indigenous movement does not shy away from dialogue. But before accepting it, the government must ensure “compliance with our political rights so that the mobilized organizations can organize ourselves to discuss and fine-tune procedures, our positions and responses in the face of the new rapprochement.”

🔴During the #ParoNacionalEc2022 We monitor violations of #HR.
We urge the @IACHR a #pronouncement in the face of state violence and brutal repression of the @PoliceEcuador and the @FFAAECUADOR in Ecuador. #CIDHesUrgenteEc
More info➡️ https://t.co/lCR3XFqico pic.twitter.com/AwCJjEvKab

— CONAIE (@CONAIE_Ecuador) June 22, 2022

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The Ecuadorian economy grew 4.2% in 2021, after a sharp contraction of 7.8% in 2020 due to the effect of the pandemic. This year a rise of 2.7% is expected as a result of the crisis arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The current poverty affects more than 30% of the population and is one of the factors that activates social unrest.

“This work stoppage must be given a definitive solution. But seeing the actions of the National Assembly (Congress), it is painfully necessary to conclude that the political elite does he give a damn about this problem“Walter Spurrier Baquerizo complained in a column in the newspaper Trade.