By Gustavo A Maranges on June 23, 2022
photo: Stephanie Feldon
The situation in Ecuador has been critical for 10 days now. The country has been paralyzed since June 13, when the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) called for a general strike due to the critical situation of more than one million indigenous people and the poorest sectors of Ecuadorian society. The government has responded to people’s anger with excessive repression, but what else should be expected from a president like Guillermo Lasso?
A couple of days ago his Minister of Defense Luis Lara made a statement saying the Ecuadorian democracy is at risk and the military would not let the actions of a few interfere with the lives of the majority, that made headlines.
Taking into account the current situation, we must agree with the minister. Democracy is at risk, not because of the protests as he stated, but because of the repressive attitude of a thoroughly neo liberal government that insists on not listening to the people’s legitimate demands for better living conditions.
From the very beginning of the demonstrations, the Conaie informed the government about 10 clear demands, which are focused on improving education and health care budgets, reducing fuel and other basic products’ prices, fostering employment, and confronting illegal mining. Something that not only affects indigenous communities’ living conditions, but the environment as well. However, the government decided to use a heavy hand and repress over 10,000 indigenous and other poor people in the streets of Quito and impose a state of emergency in 6 out of 24 provinces instead of immediately analyzing their just demands.
This decision, which in no way contributes to a democratic solution of the problem, has led to disastrous results for all parties involved. According to the Alliance of Human Rights Organizations, the country’s main economic hubs have been paralyzed, two people have been killed, over 100 have been injured, including police officers, and almost 100 people have been imprisoned.
However, the government pushes for keeping the state of emergency and, at the same time, blames the Conaie for obstructing the dialogue. This gangster-like posture of negotiating at gunpoint is another example of how “democratic” the Ecuadorian government is.
Lasso’s violent solution has been criticized not only by protesters, but the National Assembly, which last Monday urged the government to begin immediate negotiations for the good of all Ecuadorians. But the opinion of the people has not been enough to stop the repression on the streets.
In view of this attitude, let’s ask the question. Why dodge the dialogue and respond with force to the popular demands? Shouldn’t a democratic government answer to its citizens’ legitimate concerns? The answer is far from complicated and can be summarized in a word: neoliberalism. Neoliberal democracies promise freedom, but later, once voted in, it hijacks democracy if it means jeopardizing corporate interests. This is a system where democracy is only for the rich and powerful.
It is evident that the neoliberal government of Lasso is not willing to give up an inch for the benefit of those in need. An attitude that differs a lot from his presidential campaign promises about a change for the better for all, as well as income redistribution. He stated protesters were only seeking to “blackmail the businessmen,” which clearly shows whose side the president is on and what are his major concerns.
Lasso’s arguments are the same ones that Colombian President Ivan Duque put forward only a year ago as the people were in the streets. The same ones that generated nothing but death and destruction. It is clear that it is not so much the matter of countries but rather it is about maintaining interests of the continent’s right-wing sectors, which are strongly linked to the neoliberal oligarchies of the region and the tentacles of the empire to the North.
After all this, it is clear that Ecuador is not protesting only against Lasso. They are protesting against Lasso because he is the representative of an economic and social model that treats people as products and cares little about their real needs.
If democracy is at risk today in Ecuador, it is because of the interests of those neoliberal sectors. The same ones who chose violence over taking with the demonstrators, who demand nothing more than their rights to live as dignified citizens. Something, by the way, the current president promised on the campaign trail but has not fulfilled despite having obtained millions of extra funds from oil sales, loans from the International Monetary Fund, and having privatized banks and companies. In other words it is a system that is not built to meet the people’s needs.
It is hard to predict how long the strike can sustain itself at this dramatic strength but it is not lost on those courageous protestors in the streets what just happened in Colombia, they are most surely feeling the new breeze of the leftward trend of our Americas and right now they are expressing that by democratically voting with their feet.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English