ECUADOR: Indigenous Movement Grows in Strength

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Kintto Lucas

QUITO, Oct 30 2002 (IPS) - Ecuador’s indigenous movement, the best- organised in Latin America, won more than 12 percent of the vote in the first round of this Andean nation’s general elections last week, the fruit of more than a decade of organising.

Although the first round was held on Oct 20, only 50 percent of the ballots have been tallied so far by the private company in charge of the vote-count. However, the tendencies indicate that Indian candidates to parliament and municipal governments took over 12 percent of the vote.

According to the preliminary results, the Pachakutik-New Country Movement of Multi-national Unity, the political arm of the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE), won 10 or 11 seats in the 100-member single-chamber Congress, compared to five in the previous parliament, four of whom were indigenous.

The Pachakutik Movement also contributed to the first-place triumph of retired colonel Lucio Gutiérrez, the presidential candidate of the Patriotic Society Party, who garnered 20.73 percent of the vote with the backing of an alliance of indigenous and social groups.

Gutiérrez will dispute the Nov 24 runoff with banana industry magnate Alvaro Noboa, whose share of the vote was 17.37 percent.

The votes tallied so far show that voters in the central highlands provinces of Pichincha – the capital of which is Quito- , Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, Azuay, Imbabura and Bolívar elected indigenous lawmakers.

Pachakutik also expects victories in the eastern Amazon jungle provinces of Zamora Chinchipe, Morona Santiago, Napo and Sucumbíos, although not all of the candidates were Indians, because the movement formed part of an electoral alliance with social organisations and Gutiérrez’s party.

On the other hand, the first indigenous presidential candidate in the history of Ecuador, Antonio Vargas, a former president of CONAIE and the head of the Ecuadorean Federation of Evangelical Indigenous people, captured a mere 0.5 percent of the vote.

Indigenous activist Luis Macas, who according to the preliminary results was elected to the Andean Parliament, told IPS that the progress made by the country’s indigenous people on the electoral front came within the context of broader advances made in other areas of social, political and cultural life.

The 25-member Andean Parliament is made up of five seats for each member country: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. But only voters in Venezuela and Ecuador directly elect their regional representatives.

”The triumph of our brothers and sisters in several provinces is the consolidation of a multi-national vision of the country, in which cultural diversity is expressed, and in which ‘the other’ ceases to be merely a consumer of politics, to become an actor,” said Macas.

More than 3.5 million of Ecuador’s 12.4 million people are Indians, distributed in 11 ethnic groups, the largest of which is the Quechua, whose people live in the highlands region and in the Amazon jungle in the eastern part of the country.

The Awa, Chachi, Epera and Tsáchila inhabit the area along the Pacific coast, and the Cofán, Siona, Secoya, Huaorani, Achuar and Shuar live in the Amazon jungle.

”Through their struggle, the communities have gradually won spaces in the country’s public life, and now have an important presence in the political agenda. Even the possibility of taking part in governing the country has come up,” said Macas.

The activist pointed to city and provincial governments ruled by indigenous people as examples of sound administration and participation on equal terms.

The 27 city governments ruled by Indians have been praised for their implementation of development projects in conjunction with non-governmental organisations and United Nations agencies.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) granted a prize to the city government of Cotacachi, in the province of Imbabura, for its participative administration.

In 1996, Mayor Auki Tituaña was elected with just over 50 percent of the vote. But in 2000, he garnered more than 85 percent, winning over even ”mestizo” or mixed-race voters, who in the past had never backed indigenous candidates.

Political adversaries do not generally criticise the performance of municipal governments headed by indigenous people. But they do take issue with the attempt to achieve legal recognition for indigenous systems of justice, which are applied in native communities.

One characteristic of indigenous governments is the strong role played by municipal assemblies, in which representatives of the community decide on how budgetary funds should be used.

According to Ricardo Ulcuango, deputy-elect for the Pachakutik Movement, first it was the fight for land – ”which never ends” – and then for bilingual education, respect for indigenous culture and nationalities, and full social and political participation.

”Although we have progressed on all fronts, and in economic terms as well, the majority of our people in the countryside and cities continue to suffer economic discrimination, and racism has not been eradicated in our country,” said Ulcuango.

Anthropologist Antonio Rodríguez, technical director of the Coordinator of Alternative Local Governments, which groups municipal governments with ties to the indigenous movement and other social organisations, said it is important to understand the historic process experienced by the country’s indigenous peoples.

The indigenous community ”is where a different form of human relations is being built, where ‘minga’ (collective labour) and solidarity are the key concepts,” said Rodríguez.

The anthropologist noted that ”Ecuador’s indigenous movement has a long history of rebellion.”

He pointed to Dolores Cacuango and Tránsito Amaguaña, indigenous women who created the country’s first union of agricultural workers in the early 20th century, headed the first strikes by indigenous peasants, and founded the Ecuadorean Federation of Indians, as well as rural schools in which the Quechua language was taught for the first time.

”Nearly half a century went by before the indigenous movement once again made its appearance in public life, with the staging of the Inti Raymi uprising in June 1990,” said Rodríguez, who was referring to an unprecedented week-long spate of protests organised by CONAIE.

In the view of Macas, a founder of CONAIE and the current dean of the Intercultural University of Indigenous Peoples, the possibility of participating in the national government alongside Gutiérrez is another challenge for the movement.

”Ushay in Quechua means power, which signifies improving living conditions, and the capacity to develop ourselves collectively,” he said. ”The government can be another area to build ushay.”

Some analysts say the fact that Gutiérrez and Noboa were the two candidates to make it to the second round of elections was a reflection of the public’s rejection of the traditional parties that have governed the country since the return to democracy in 1979.

The Oct 20 first-round victory of Gutiérrez, a retired colonel who led a rebellion of junior military officers and indigenous people on Jan 21, 2000, came as a surprise, as he had stood third in the opinion polls.

The 2000 indigenous and military uprising culminated in a coup d’etat against the government of Jamil Mahuad. The vice-president, Gustavo Noboa, was sworn in as president.

”Today is a very tough day, a day of tears. But the story does not end here,” Macas said at the time.

Recalling the revolt, Macas says today that ”certainly, the story did not end there, it only began again. The history of the indigenous communities is beginning anew every day.”

The new constitution in effect since 1998 recognises the collective rights of indigenous peoples and the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural character of the country.

Along with the constitutional amendments approved in 1998, convention 169 of the International Labour Organisation, which recognises the rights of indigenous peoples, was also ratified by Congress.

ECUADOR: Indigenous Movement Grows in Strength

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Kintto Lucas

QUITO, Oct 30 2002 (IPS) - Ecuador’s indigenous movement, the best- organised in Latin America, won more than 12 percent of the vote in the first round of this Andean nation’s general elections last week, the fruit of more than a decade of organising.
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