[News] What is Putting Ecuador’s Democracy at Risk?

[Anti-Imperialist News]

resumen-english.org
<https://www.resumen-english.org/2022/06/what-is-putting-ecuadors-democracy-at-risk/>
What is Putting Ecuador’s Democracy at Risk?
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
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20220624/863a2e39/attachment.htm>