Tensions do not weaken between the Amerindians and the Ecuadorian government. Indigenous peoples continue their protest against the rising cost of living and fuel prices, which have almost doubled since 2020. But also against the lack of jobs and the granting of mining concessions in indigenous territories. They demand a control of the prices of agricultural products and a renegotiation of the debts of the peasants with the banks. “We are here to claim our rights because we are paid low prices for the products we get from the fields”explains Nelson Jami, a farmer from the Salamalag community (Cotopaxi province).
The precedent of 2019
This protest movement was launched by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), the largest indigenous organization in the country, which has at least one million people out of a total population of 17.7 million. This organization has been chaired since June 2021 by Leonidas Iza, a Kichwa-Panzaleo Indian. This agricultural engineer by profession denounces the policy of conservative President Guillermo Lasso, in power for a year.
In 2019, Conaie had already led violent protests that killed eleven people and forced then-president Lenín Moreno to abandon a plan to remove fuel subsidies. In the past, she also participated in the uprisings that overthrew three presidents between 1997 and 2005.
Events of “indefinite duration”
The demonstrations began on Monday June 13 with roadblocks on the country’s main roads partially cutting off access to the capital Quito. According to Conaie, these actions affected sixteen of the country’s twenty-four provinces. “Peaceful protests yes, vandalism no. No to roadblocks and no to roadblocks”, warns Minister Francisco Jimenez very quickly. Soldiers were then deployed in strategic areas and places, such as oil installations, to contain the violence.
The next day, June 14, the leader of Conaie, Leonidas Iza, was arrested by the authorities. The prosecution holds against him the charge of paralysis of a public service, punishable by three years’ imprisonment. According to the independent Observatory of Justice, Leonidas Iza will have to appear in court on Wednesdays and Fridays until July 4, the date of his trial. The Ecuadorian president justifies this arrest in reaction to “acts of vandalism prohibited by law and the Constitution”. “The burning of police vehicles, the invasion of farms, the attack on an oil installation, the rupture of water supply in communities (…)”he listed.
Under pressure, the government finally released the head of Conaie on Wednesday, June 15. “We continue the fight”, immediately launches Leonidas Iza. The next day, the protest movement spread again, this time to the transport sector and to students. A dozen members of Conaie and the police have been injured so far. And Leonidas Iza warned: the demonstrations will take place for a period “undetermined”as long as its demands are not met.
Ecuador: release of an indigenous chief, continuation of demonstrations