[News] Ecuador - Lasso government responsible for the murder of Indigenous activist

[Anti-Imperialist News]

peoplesdispatch.org
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/02/28/lasso-government-responsible-for-the-murder-of-indigenous-activist-alleges-conaie/>
Lasso government responsible for the murder of Indigenous activist, alleges
CONAIE
Peoples Dispatch - February 28, 2023
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[image: image.png]

Ecuadorian Indigenous leader and environmentalist Eduardo Mendúa was
assassinated by hitmen in his home in the Sucumbíos province on Sunday,
February 26. Photo: Wambra Medio Comunitario/Twitter

Ecuadorian Indigenous leader Eduardo Mendúa was assassinated by hitmen in
his home on Sunday, February 26. The Confederation of Indigenous
Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), the country’s largest Indigenous
organization, reported that Mendúa was in the garden of his home in the
Sucumbíos province when he was approached by unidentified, hooded men who
fired 12 shots against him and killed him. Mendúa was the international
relations leader in CONAIE’s governing council.

Mendúa belonged to the A’i Kofán Indigenous nationality. He was a social
leader, an environmentalist, and a land defender. He was at the forefront
of the struggle in defense of land and against oil and gas exploitation by
the PetroEcuador company in the Cofán Dureno commune, Sucumbíos. CONAIE
declared that Mendúa was murdered precisely because of his fight against
these companies and their actions in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

CONAIE’s president Leonidas Iza Salazar
<https://www.facebook.com/conaie.org/videos/5906215042788674/?extid=CL-UNK-UNK-UNK-AN_GK0T-GK1C&mibextid=2Rb1fB&ref=sharing>
has stated that he holds the state owned oil company PetroEcuador and the
national government of conservative President Guillermo Lasso responsible
for Mendúa’s murder. Iza pointed out that for the past seven months, CONAIE
had been warning against the conflict and violence generated due to the
expansion of extractive activities in the Cofán Dureno commune and the A’i
Kofán territory. He condemned that the extractive companies opened new oil
fields in Indigenous territories without guaranteeing the right to prior,
free and informed consultation as stipulated in the 2008 Constitution.

Iza called for the unity of all Indigenous peoples and nationalities, of
all popular sectors, so that “the acts of violence such as the
assassination our comrade Eduardo do not go unpunished.” Iza added that the
CONAIE leadership feels threatened and vulnerable as many of them are under
consistent surveillance by people and cars. In this regard, Iza requested
the intervention of international human rights organizations to protect the
lives of Indigenous leaders in Ecuador.

Exigimos justicia para nuestro compañero Eduardo Mendúa, luchador social,
defensor de la naturaleza, quien estaba al frente de la defensa territorial
en medio del conflicto generado por @EPPETROECUADOR
<https://twitter.com/EPPETROECUADOR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> en la comunidad
Cofán Dureno, Sucumbíos.
Paz en su tumba #CONAIE
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/CONAIE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
pic.twitter.com/6YayWyeOs4 <https://t.co/6YayWyeOs4>

— CONAIE (@CONAIE_Ecuador) February 27, 2023
<https://twitter.com/CONAIE_Ecuador/status/1630045777983680512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Former presidential candidate of the progressive Citizen Revolution
Movement party, Andrés Arauz, also expressed his solidarity with Mendúa’s
family and with the CONAIE. “The neocolonial system of exploitation claimed
one more victim. A total change in the model of sovereign management of
natural resources is urgently needed,” tweeted
<https://twitter.com/ecuarauz/status/1630050659184566272?s=20> Arauz.

President Lasso also expressed his government’s solidarity with the Mendúa
family and the CONAIE. “This crime will not go unpunished. We have ordered
that all investigative actions be carried out to find those responsible and
bring them to justice,” said
<https://twitter.com/LassoGuillermo/status/1630024352031711232?s=20> the
president.
*CONAIE calls for radicalization of anti-government mobilizations*

Mendúa was assassinated two days after CONAIE called for a new national
strike against the Lasso government.

Last week, on Thursday February 23, CONAIE denounced that President Lasso
broke the agreements reached
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/10/15/indigenous-organizations-and-government-conclude-negotiations-in-ecuador/>
on the ban on mining and oil exploitation activities in Indigenous
territories and near water resources following the June 2022 national strike
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/07/01/ecuadorian-indigenous-organizations-and-government-reach-agreement-to-end-national-strike/>.
In a press conference, Iza recalled that the social movements and the
national government signed an agreement to guarantee the right to prior,
free, and informed consultation at all stages of mining development. He
urged that all processes for mining concessions be stopped where this
principle has been violated.

Iza also denounced that the public security forces had been using violence
against community members who oppose mining projects that harm the
environment and their communities. He said that CONAIE would hold the
president responsible for the acts of violence in protected territories and
for militarizing them to impose mining projects on the communities.

On Friday February 24, in a press conference, CONAIE announced that it was
suspending the dialogue process with the government and withdrawing from
the monitoring roundtables due to breaches by the president. The
organization declared that its members would be in permanent mobilization
across the national territory and called for a national strike on March 8
to demand Lasso’s resignation due to lack of legitimacy to govern and
non-compliance with the 2022 agreements.

“After analyzing the follow-up report on the results achieved at the
dialogue tables, installed as a part of the Indigenous and popular uprising
of June 2022, it is evident that there has been no political will on the
part of the government to comply with it. On the contrary, the government
of President Guillermo Lasso has continued advancing with its neoliberal
policies, which violate our territorial and community rights and the
national economy. That is why we are breaking this dialogue process and
withdrawing from these follow-up roundtables,” said Iza.

Following Mendúa’s assassination, on Monday, February 27, CONAIE announced
that it would radicalize the anti-government mobilizations.

Llamamiento de la Confed de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (CONAIE) a
la movilización nacional el 8M para exigir dimisión del pdte Lasso. CONAIE
responsabiliza al Gob de asesinar al líder indígena amazónico Eduardo
Mendúa en 1 pueblo donde mantienen la lucha con petroleras.
pic.twitter.com/ir1ApoHT2A <https://t.co/ir1ApoHT2A>

— Juan Miguel Garrido (@JuanmiGG_News) February 27, 2023
<https://twitter.com/JuanmiGG_News/status/1630208905241395200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
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