2024-04-12 01:31:44
In recent weeks, friction between the Government and Conaie has been escalating and the topic under discussion is mining. The hostility reached the point that after a sit-in in Quito, Leonidas Iza called President Daniel Noboa miserable.
In the middle of an anti-mining demonstration, Leonidas Iza called President Daniel Noboa “miserable” and “ignorant.” The next day, without mentioning it, the President asked citizens not to allow “a small group of conchudos and backward people to want to stop development.”
In just over four months, since Noboa took office, the president of Conaie and the Head of State have had few exchanges, although in a more modest tone. But in March, the mining investment promoted by the Government has provoked the reaction of the indigenous movement. Although there was a small demonstration on March 26 in Quito, the epicenter of the mining conflict is in Palo Quemado, a small parish of 1,000 inhabitants in Cotopaxi, where clashes arose over the rejection of the La Plata mining project.
Iza asked the indigenous communities to remove mining from their territories “with struggle and resistance”, something that all governments in power have faced. With barely four months in office, this is shaping up to be Noboa’s first open conflict with Conaie. And it occurs in the midst of the environmental consultation carried out by the Executive in the area, a process that is rejected by the indigenous movement, and against which Conaie filed a claim of unconstitutionality before the Constitutional Court.
The indigenous movement announced that it will hold an anti-mining assembly to define the radicalization of measures and analyze an uprising. But the escalation of actions in Palo Quemado already adds up, As of March 27, nine civilians and 37 uniformed personnel were injured. According to the Ministry of Government, “actors outside the area seek to sow chaos and instability, generating confrontations between the community and law enforcement.”
While Conaie maintains that there is repression and violations of human rights by those in uniform. These actions and speeches, by the Executive and the indigenous movement, gain strength a few days before the electoral campaign for the popular consultation and referendum begins, promoted by President Noboa.
The previous crossings
It is not the first time that the president of Conaie is part of an exchange of comments and now epithets with a President. It happened with Guillermo Lasso and Lenín Moreno, who faced a national strike. But, Iza and Noboa had crossed paths directly or indirectly on few occasions.
The first was a week after Daniel Noboa came to power. At the end of November 2023, the indigenous leader criticized the debt forgiveness proposal presented by the Government before the National Assembly. On January 8, 2024, Iza warned Noboa that the revision of fuel prices, for the targeting intended by the Executive, would be “a spark for a mobilization” against his Government.
On January 23, the President challenged the Conaie representative to participate in the 2025 presidential elections, so that he could then “impose economic measures.” Noboa said that Iza was “brave” and demanding the installation of a dialogue table.
Three days later, the indigenous leader accused the Head of State of lying in those statements, as he assured that he was only giving his opinion “what corresponds in our field” and added that the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and the right to resistance. Now, due to the mining situation, the accusations have been escalating.
In an interview with Ecuavisa on March 20, Iza stated that President Noboa “has mining interests” and specified the participation of the Noboa Group in the Curipamba, Pijilí and Santiago projects, of the Adventus Mining Company. After the incidents in Palo Quemado, Iza reiterated that the President must stop lying and attacking the population, “Ecuador is not one of his farms or companies.”
Source: PRIMICIAS