On the tenth day of the National Strike in Ecuador, the mobilizations intensified across the country, and especially in Quito, against the rise in fuel prices and the repression unleashed by the police and army against the indigenous movement, while the government responds with more repression and the introduction of a curfew.

On the morning of Saturday, October 12, the neighborhoods and residents of Quito massively joined the strike, paralyzing traffic in their localities and mobilizing from their places of residence to the district of the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, where thousands of indigenous people are gathered since Monday, October 7.

The mobilizations are aimed at rejecting the harsh repression that has so far left 6 people dead, 937 injured and 1121 arrested, according to the Ombudsman's Office of Ecuador.  Among the dead are the indigenous leader of Cotopaxi, Inocencio Tucumbi, the youth Raúl Chilpe, Marco Oto, José Daniel Chaluisa Cusco and José Rodrigo Chaluisa. Among the seriously wounded, Juan Alvaro Olovacha is struggling between life and death, and remains in an intensive care unit.

The people in Quito are protesting also against the package of economic measures contained in Decree 883 that the government of Lenín Moreno has imposed in the framework of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which includes the price increase of “extra” gasoline, the most used by the population, and diesel, which is used for the production and transportation of basic necessities. The Minister of the Economy, Richard Martinez, a representative of the business chambers who is the mentor of the agreement with the IMF, informed that the liberalization of fuel prices also implies that the State will cease to be in charge of importing and commercializing them, which will be handed over to private companies.

In response to the resounding popular mobilization, President Moreno decreed this October 12, at 14h20, the curfew and the militarization of the Metropolitan District of Quito and the surrounding valleys, effective from 15h00, which meant that no one would be able mobilize in the streets, and the military could arrest demonstrators who fail to comply with this provision.  However, the native people and city dwellers continued to take some of the streets in Quito, defying the curfew.  Faced with the curfew, the Quiteños (inhabitants of Quito), during the evening, staged a “cacerolazo” (banging pots and pans outside their homes) that resounded loudly throughout the city.

The curfew was adopted followeing an incendiary attack on the building of the Comptroller General of the State, located in front of the National Assembly and 500 meters from the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, where the indigenous people are gathered.  The perpetrators of this attack are unknown, while the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, CONAIE, denied responsibility for the act. The facilities of the Teleamazonas television station and the newspaper El Comercio in Quito were also attacked.

In this context, the CONAIE announced that it will meet with the Ecuadorian president to establish a direct dialogue for the repeal or revision of Decree 883. So far, Lenín Moreno has stated that he will not repeal the decree, insisting on focalizing state assistance on the poorest sectors.  For the last 10 days, Ecuador has been semi-paralyzed, classes in educational establishments are suspended, food and basic necessities are scarce in the stores, there is no urban or interprovincial transport, there is great speculation and price increases.  Likewise, oil exports have been affected by the seizure of some oil wells that have suspended their operations.

There is practically a power vacuum in Quito, in the absence of the President of the Republic in the Palace of Government, who has moved the seat of government to Guayaquil.  At the same time, the National Assembly has not held sessions for more than 11 days, nor has it played any role in resolving the serious political crisis.  In addition, in several provincial capitals, such as Ambato, Riobamba, Guaranda, Latacunga and Azogues, indigenous people have taken over the offices of the governorships.

With the announcement of the state of emergency and the curfew, power is practically in the hands of the Armed Forces, which are imposing measures and actions to "re-establish public order.”

The tranquil ox reawakens

The current indigenous uprising is perhaps even more momentous than those it has staged over the past two decades. The causes of this uprising are to be found in poverty and extreme poverty that have intensified since this government took office (two years ago); in the critical situation of small-scale agriculture, the incursion of mining and oil transnationals into their territories, the cuts in the state budget to attend to health and education and, above all, the failure to comply with the agreements reached more than two years ago with the government of Lenín Moreno, in the context of dialogues that have yielded no concrete results.

Once again, the indigenous movement is demonstrating that it is the best organized, with the greatest capacity for mobilization.  Their struggles are not aimed at defending particular interests, but rather the general interests of the population, as in this case rejecting Decree 883 that affects the entire population, especially the poor.  In the indigenous movement, there is a renewed leadership, assumed by young women and men, with new visions, discourses and capacities.

In addition to occupation of the governorships mentioned above, the actions of the indigenous movement have been aimed at questioning national power.  That is why they have gone to Quito, where they have concentrated, and on two occasions have tried to take over the National Assembly, in order to install an Assembly of the People there.

After the emergence of the indigenous movement onto the national stage, the elites who consider themselves white, along with some of the corporate media, have been enforcing the narrative that this is a struggle between civilization and barbarism.  They claim that the Indians are vandals and violent, and that they are opposed to work and peace.  They have insistently called on the Armed Forces and the Police not to be soft on them, and to repress the indigenous and popular protest by any and all means. In this type of discourse, the right-wing business and political chambers are aligned, including the Social Christian leader Jaime Nebot, ex-mayor of Guayaquil, and the banker and ex-presidential candidate, Guillermo Lasso.  The recently formed Civic Junta of Quito also declared its support and backing for the action of the Armed Forces and the National Police.

In contrast, the indigenous people have been received with widespread solidarity in Quito and other cities, expressed in the provision of food, medical supplies, clothing and blankets for their stay.  Four of the city's universities have set up zones of peace and humanitarian reception to house and assist indigenous families.  Particularly noteworthy is the collaboration of young women and men, who have volunteered, participating side by side in this struggle that has been going on for several days.

Repression and censorship

At the same time that the government has called for dialogue, it has unleashed harsh repression, even inside the shelter areas, regardless of whether they are housing children, women and older adults.  Particularly in the afternoon and evening of Friday, October 11, it was directed against the women who were in the vicinity of the National Assembly, and were invited to enter the legislative chamber, only to then attack them mercilessly with tear gas bombs.  The repression has deepened with the declaration of the curfew on Saturday the 12th, leaving indigenous people and residents of Quito defenseless. The water supply and Internet were even cut off in the shelters, which is complemented by the infiltration of agents provocateurs to generate acts of violence and delegitimize the popular struggle.

Days before, the Minister of Defense, Oswaldo Jarrín, had stated that the Armed Forces "will make radical use of force, and not with non-lethal weapons.  When attacking strategic installations, all types of force will be used, with force on its real terms... the Armed Forces are proud of their war experience.”

The corporate media have a great responsibility in the current political crisis and state of emergency in Ecuador.  In recent days, they have spread a biased view of the indigenous and popular strike, insisting that its protagonists are vandals, hiding the true dimension of the mobilization and the reasons for the protest.  The demonstrators have criticized this editorial policy, which hides from view or distorts their demands and actions.

Despite the government’s discourse of respect for freedom of expression, it recently suppressed the broadcast signal of the Pichincha Universal radio station and of other digital media that have transmitted the demonstrations and the repression live.  Likewise, after the announcement of the curfew, the cable television companies took the Telesur channel off the air.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and its special rapporteur for freedom of expression, Edison Lanza, expressed their concern over the raid on Radio Pichincha Universal on Tuesday, October 8, as well as the attacks on more than 30 journalists and photojournalists.

Lenín Moreno, without providing any evidence, has blamed the former president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, and the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, for trying to destabilize his government and promoting a coup d'état, and even for being behind the acts of vandalism against the facilities of the Comptroller's Office.  In the same vein, he has accused former foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño, the prefect of Pichincha (the province where Quito is situated) Paola Pabón and the leader of the citizen’s revolution, Virgilio Hernández. This Saturday, October 12, the government of Mexico granted protection and shelter to the assemblywoman of the Citizen's Revolution[1], Gabriela Rivadeneira, in its embassy in Quito.

Attempting to ignore that the protests are due to the enormous popular discontent towards its administration, the government creates smoke screens to blame the Venezuelan government, as in the case of the detention of 17 Venezuelans, 2 Cubans and an Ecuadorian at Quito airport, who were released after being found not guilty. This encourages xenophobia against Venezuelan citizens.

According to the pollster CEDATOS, 76% of the population considers that an urgent solution must be found to the crisis in Ecuador, by suspending the enforcement of Decree 883, in a dialogue with indigenous leaders. Despite this majority opinion, Moreno's government responds with the state of exception, curfew and repression, which reminds us of the dictatorships that devastated the Latin American region in the 1960s and 1970s.

(Translation ALAI)

October 12 2019