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<font size="1"><a href="https://thegrayzone.com/2020/05/06/ecuadors-moreno-persecutes-coronavirus/#more-24071">https://thegrayzone.com/2020/05/06/ecuadors-moreno-persecutes-coronavirus/#more-24071</a>
</font><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Ecuador's Moreno govt persecutes opponents as coronavirus catastrophe exposes its neoliberal war on public sector</h1></div>
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<br><h3><span>Sentencing former President Rafael Correa and Jorge Glas
to eight years in jail and barring them from public office for an
additional 25 years is a desperate move by a repressive administration
trapped in a socio-economic crisis of its own making. </span></h3>
<h3>By Denis Rogatyuk May 6, 2020<br></h3>
<p><span>The Carondelet presidential palace in Quito stands in front of
Plaza de la Independencia, the statue depicting the first “cry of
independence” and dedicated to the heroes of South America’s liberation.
Each Monday, the square would become the stage for one of the key
palace ceremonies – the changing of the guard. Massive crowds gathered
there to observe not only the parade by the blue-clad guards, the
raising of the nation’s flag and the sound of the national anthem, but
also to catch a glimpse of the nation’s president, always clad in a
black suit and a Guayabera-style indigenous shirt. </span></p>
<p><span>The palace now lies virtually empty and the salon of the
national treasures – the gifts received by Rafael Correa during his
various official visits abroad – has been hollowed out, with the shelves
laid bare. The water fountain in its central courtyard now stands
still, the echoes of palace guards, visitors and public servants no
longer resounding through its wide marble corridors. It is a worthy
metaphor for a country saddled with an inept leadership in the midst of a
deadly pandemic. </span></p>
<p><span>The response of the administration of Ecuadorian President
Lenin Moreno, which was already severely weakened by the mass protests
of October 2019, has been a combination of limited initiative and
finger-pointing for its shortcomings. Naturally, the target of its blame
was its predecessors in Rafael Correa’s administration. </span></p>
<p><span>Otto Sonnenholzner, Lenin Moreno’s appointed vice-president and
a protege of the Ecuadorian Chamber of Commerce, has effectively taken
over the reins of the administration and followed a procedure in line
with the other neoliberal governments in the region: severe repression,
deprivation of workers and the most vulnerable communities, failure to
mobilize the public resources and incompetence in seeking and acquiring
international assistance. </span></p>
<h3><span>Ecuador’s coronavirus death wave goes viral</span></h3>
<p><span>Up to the end of April, the number of infected and deceased
caused by the COVID19 pandemic had spiraled out of control, nearly
collapsing the country’s public healthcare sector, already struggling
with the cuts and austerity due to the Moreno government’s IMF deal. </span></p>
<p><span> The official figures tracking the number of infected finally
began demonstrating the more accurate picture of the catastrophe, with
the total number of infected and dead reaching 7,161 and 297 on April 10
— an increase of 30 percent within 24 hours. By the end of the month, <a href="https://libero.pe/ocio/1556606-coronavirus-ecuador-covid-19-mapa-guayaquil-muertes-calle-videos-contagiados-quito-region-provincia-canton-ultimas-noticias-jueves-30-abril-2020"><span>the official figure</span></a> for the infected stood at 24,934 infected and around 900 dead.<span> </span></span></p>
<p><span>These numbers have been widely disputed by the citizenry, the
international media and the medical staff on the ground, who have
reportedly <a href="https://twitter.com/camilapress/status/1255258018964537350?s=20"><span>been terrorized and silenced</span></a>
about what they have witnessed. The viral images and videos of bodies
wrapped in black bags lying in makeshift morgues or being loaded into
trucks made headlines across the world, while a report conducted by New
York Times showed that the highly death tall is approximately <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/world/americas/ecuador-deaths-coronavirus.html"><span>15 times higher</span></a> than the one suggested in the official reports.</span></p>
<p><span>Other private sources have indicated much higher numbers during that time, with more than <a href="https://confirmado.net/2020/04/14/gobierno-de-ecuador-dice-haber-recogido-mas-de-1-900-cadaveres-en-guayaquil-en-dos-semanas/"><span>1,900 corpses</span></a>
collected in the province of Guayaquil alone in the first two weeks of
April. This number is reported to have increased to 7,000 until April 24</span><span><sup>th</sup></span><span> and 14,000 <a href="https://www.ecuavisa.com/articulo/noticias/actualidad/596171-ecuador-reporta-14-mil-muertos-solo-abril-segun-registro-civil"><span>by the end of the month</span></a>. </span></p>
<p><span>There are several reasons why Guayaquil was hit especially hard
by the outbreak compared to the rest of the country’s regions. The
densely populated coastal province is a major travel hub for travel and
transportation to the neighboring Peru and Colombia, as well as an
increasingly popular destination for retirees from the United States. </span></p>
<p><span>More importantly though, the city of Guayaquil has been
governed for more than 30 years by the right-wing Social Christian
Party, a remnant of Ecuador’s old neoliberal political order. Both the
current mayor, Cynthia Viteri and her long-time predecessor Jaime Nebot,
have been long-time opponents of President Correa, consistently
maintaining Guayaquil as a bastion of opposition and neoliberal reform.
This has evidently impacted the quality and availability of many public
services, including healthcare. </span></p>
<p><span>As has become the norm with the Moreno regime in the last
several years, the initial response of the government has been to blame
the appearance of the viral horror on Rafael Correa and the online
“troll farms” <a href="https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2020/04/02/nota/7802793/maria-paula-romo-responsabiliza-rafael-correa-ola-noticias-falsas"><span>he allegedly operates</span></a>.
The announcement was picked up and promoted by a number of private
media and journalists aligned with the Moreno government, but widely
ridiculed and criticized across the social media. </span></p>
<p><span>The attempt at pushback was followed by another bizarre press
conference by Vice President Sonnenholzner, in which he issued a public
apology for the “worsening of [Ecuador’s] international image,” rather
than the lack of initial government response. </span></p>
<p><span>In another widely-criticized action, the police proceeded <a href="https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/capturado-video-reclamo-coronavirus-guayaquil.html"><span>to arrest a man</span></a>
for publishing viral videos criticizing the governments of Moreno and
the Guayaquil mayor Cynthia Viteri while repeating the allegations that
the true number of infected and deceased was a lot higher. This was
likely a consequence of the Moreno government’s announcement that it
would investigate the publication of “fake news” about the current
COVID19 emergency.</span></p>
<h3><span>Business as usual for Ecuador’s economic elites, layoffs for pandemic specialists</span></h3>
<p><span><a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2020/04/ecuador-lenin-moreno-coronavirus-rafael-correa-health-care">The last three years of Lenín Moreno’s neoliberal</a></span><span>
government have left a visible mark on the fabric of the welfare state
and social projects initiated and developed during Correa’s Citizens’
Revolution. Under the previous administration’s ten-year rule, the
health care sector was top priority, alongside education and social
programs. Indeed, the total level of public expenditure on health care
rose from 1.81 percent of GDP in 2007 to 4.21 percent in 2016. This
resulted in a number of impressive achievements — the total number of
doctors increased from 16 per 10,000 people in 2009 to 20.5 in 2016, the
total number of emergency beds from 473 in 2006 to 2,535 in 2018, and
the standard ones from 19,945 to 24,359 during the same time period.
Consequently, the process was stalled following the Moreno government’s
turn to neoliberalism, and the gradual dismantling of the welfare state
grew during those ten years.</span></p>
<p><span>The public healthcare sector received its biggest blow in March
2019, shortly after the signing of the new IMF agreement. Approximately
10,000 public sector workers were fired in preparation for the
financial body’s reform package, among them between <a href="https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2019/03/06/nota/7219694/trabajadores-publicos-salud-denuncian-despidos-masivos"><span>2,500 and 3,500 personnel</span></a> working in the healthcare sector. </span></p>
<p><span>More importantly, over <a href="https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2019/03/02/nota/7215191/trabajadores-que-hacen-control-vectorial-fueron-despedidos"><span>300 personnel</span></a> working
in the control and treatment of pandemics were also made redundant
almost exactly a year before the start of COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to
the crisis, in November Moreno <a href="https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2019/11/12/alerta-ecuador-pone-fin-a-los-convenios-de-salud-bilaterales-con-cuba/"><span>decided to expel over four hundred Cuban doctors and medical personnel</span></a>, much like his neoliberal counterparts in Bolivia and Brazil. He has also been reluctant to <a href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ecuadors-CONAIE-Asks-President-To-Restore-Relations-with-Cuba-20200319-0019.html"><span>restore diplomatic ties</span></a>
with Cuba and purchase the interferon alfa-2B antiviral drug currently
produced by the island nation to treat COVID-19. Thus, with the
government infrastructure severely weakened through a “death by a
thousand cuts” technique, the health care sector has been predictably
unable to cope with the pandemic.</span></p>
<p><span>Meanwhile, the structures of the state have been hollowed out with the elimination of <a href="https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2019/04/21/nota/7295018/gobierno-aun-no-concluye-su-plan-optimizacion"><span>thirteen out of forty institutions</span></a> by April 2019, as well as <a href="https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2018/09/03/nota/6936041/2000-millones-ajuste-2019"><span>$2 billion</span></a>
of cuts and austerity through the elimination, privatization, and
fusion of a number of state companies and public entities originally
planned for 2019. The Moreno administration has severely cut social
spending in other sectors, such as education, with the funding to 32
major universities and polytechnics reduced by <a href="https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/presupuesto-universidades-recorte-coronavirus-emergencia.html"><span>over $100 million</span></a>. </span></p>
<p><span>But the rapidly spreading pandemic has not stopped the
government from putting its obligations to global finance above the
health of its citizens. On March 23, economy minister Richard Martínez
indicated that the Ecuadorian government is planning to repay $324
million of its current debt to the international lenders as the means of
“fulfilling their obligations to investors” despite the evident need
for urgent investment in COVID-19 containment measures. In an ironic
twist, mere days afterward, the heads of the IMF and the World Bank <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/imf-world-bank-urge-debt-relief-poor-nations-battling-virus-200327233253010.html"><span>advocated</span></a> debt
relief for emerging economies, alongside over $12 billion in emergency
funding and grants to assist the countries battling the COVID-19
pandemic. </span></p>
<h3><span>Punishing Correa and his allies</span></h3>
<p><span>This immense crisis has provided the Moreno regime with
opportunity to escalate his vendetta against Rafael Correa and other
leaders of the Citizens’ Revolution and permanently purge his presence
from the country’s political map.<span> </span>Even before this latest sentencing, the former President was already facing <a href="https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2020/04/14/nota/7813764/rafael-correa-25-investigaciones-delitos-lavado-activos-concusion"><span>more than 25 ongoing legal cases</span></a>
with charges ranging from bribery, corruption to kidnapping. All of
them have been consistently questioned and disputed by Correa’s legal
team as lacking any substantial evidence or due procedure. The same has
been said of the “Caso Sobornos”, which the so far resulted in the
sentence of eight years for the former President. </span></p>
<p><span>In summary, the case alleges that Correa and Jorge Glas
organized a system of political financing and bribery throughout the
period of 2012-2016, with a total of $7.8 million being received from
various private companies in exchange for government contracts of public
works. Only two significant pieces of evidence have been presented by
the persecution so far</span><span>.</span></p>
<p><span>The first is a</span><span> receipt for $80,000 from one of Correa’s assistants in the presidential secretariat, Alexis Mera, which bears no signat</span><span>ure and no explanation whatsoever as to where the money came from or who the intended final recipient would be. </span></p>
<p><span>Maria del Mar Gallegos, the lawyer of Alexis Mera,<span> </span>has <a href="http://www.pichinchacomunicaciones.com.ec/los-medios-de-comunicacion-juegan-un-papel-importante-en-la-administracion-de-justicia-dice-defensa-de-alexis-mera/"><span>also pointed</span></a>
out that the media has played an important part in the construction of
the “guilty before proven innocent” narrative of the case. In an
interview with Radio Pichincha Universal, she mentioned that, “Most of
the media are polarized on the side of the Prosecutor’s Office,
publishing what is convenient for them to make it believe that [the
persecution] is winning the process.” </span><span>She has further
asserted that until now, not a single private enterprise or entity have
passed any cash payments to any of Correa’s ex-functionaries under
investigation. </span></p>
<p><span>The <a href="https://twitter.com/MashiRafael/status/1247578706312335360">former president’s response</a> spoke volumes about both the intention behind the charges and their validity: </span></p>
<p><span>“</span><span>Well, this was what they were looking for:
managing justice to achieve what they could never do at the ballot box.
I’m fine. I am concerned about my colleagues,” Correa said following the
Tuesday decision. “Surely we will win internationally, because
everything is bullshit, but it takes years. It depends on your vote to
end this nightmare.”</span></p>
<p><span>In a widely publicized <a href="https://confirmado.net/2020/05/01/fausto-jarrin-la-absoluta-oscuridad-e-incoherencia-de-la-sentencia-nos-lleva-a-solicitar-la-aclaracion-y-ampliacion/"><span>article</span></a>,
Correa’s lead lawyer on the case, Fausto Jarin, disputed and dismissed
numerous aspects of the conviction, accusing the tribunal of violations
of Ecuador’s penal code, refusal to admit key pieces of evidence, and
outright falsehoods. Among the most absurd charges leveled at Correa was
that he was “taking public resources for personal use.” In fact, <a href="https://twitter.com/MashiRafael/status/1159155788881039360">he had borrowed $6000</a> from a common presidential fund and then paid back the sum with interest.</span></p>
<p><span>Correa has not been the only one in the crosshairs of the legal
hit squad headed by Moreno’s Attorney General, Diane Salazar Méndez.
Repression has gradually intensified against other historical leaders of
the Citizens’ Revolution, particularly the most competent figures who
engineered the most successful aspects of the Correa administration. </span></p>
<p><span>The most prominent case so far has been that of Correa’s former
vice-president Jorge Glas, already serving a 6-year sentence for the
disputed Odebrecht case of accepting bribes from the Brazilian
construction company giant. He has been credited as the key figure
behind creating a new productive matrix during the 2013-2017 period
through mass investment into major energy projects, such as the Coca
Codo Sinclair Hydroelectric plant, and the export of energy to the
neighboring Peru and Colombia. </span></p>
<p><span>Virgilio Hernandez, Gabriela Rivadeneira and Paola Pabon<b>, </b>the
three leaders persecuted in the aftermath of the mass protests of
October 2019, held several important positions in Correa’s
administration. As the president of the economic commission, Hernandez
played a key role in designing several economic reforms and <a href="https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/medidas-economicas-terremoto-ecuador-asamblea.html"><span>overseeing the country’s recovery</span></a>
in the aftermath 2016 earthquake. Rivadeneira is the former president
of the National Assembly of Ecuador and the former executive secretary
of the Country Alliance party initially founded by Correa, but hijacked
by Moreno and his allies and effectively turned into a neoliberal
political platform. Paola Pabon, the current governor of Pichincha and
the former member of the Constituent Assembly, came to prominence during
the Correa administration for her campaigns for women’s rights and the
decriminalization of abortion. </span></p>
<p><span>In addition, Ricardo Patiño, the former minister of defense and
foreign affairs responsible for organizing the political asylum of
Julian Assange, and Sofia Espin, the former member of the Constituent
Assembly, have been <a href="https://confirmado.net/2019/10/04/el-ex-ministro-de-exteriores-de-ecuador-ricardo-patino-consigue-asilo-politico-en-mexico/"><span>forced into exile</span></a> in Mexico in 2019. </span></p>
<p><span>The sentence of the “Caso Sobornos” is not final and appeal has
been filed by the legal teams of both Correa and Mera. However, it is
increasingly difficult to imagine the Moreno regime returning to
transparency and the rule of law without a mass social uprising against
his repressive rule. </span></p>
<p><span>For now, Ecuadorians must endure the triad of disasters of
COVID19 pandemic, political persecution and a pro-business neoliberal
austerity regime. But these are the exact kinds of conditions that
nourish the soil of the popular discontent and allow mass movements to
simmer until they finally erupt and as has been seen again and again in
Ecuador’s history, they take the neoliberal government down.</span></p>
<div><p><br></p><div><p><span>Denis
is a Russian-Australian freelance writer, journalist and researcher.
His articles, interviews and analysis have been published in a variety
of media sources around the world including Jacobin, Le Vent Se Léve,
Sputnik, Green Left Weekly, Links International Journal, Alborada and
others.</span></p></div></div><br>
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