The indigenous movement of Ecuador broke the dialogue tables that it established in 2022 with the government of Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, after almost a month of protests and paralysis of the country, and called for a new great mobilization for the end of March, it announced on Friday. the top leader of the collective, Leónidas Iza.
The decision, which also seeks the political prosecution of the president in the Assembly, was adopted after 12 hours of an extended council, made up of hundreds of leaders and members of local, provincial and regional organizations, meeting in Quito.
Iza called on the community guards to be on “maximum alert” in defense of the territories against the advance of mining, while calling for a large mobilization for the end of March in which a water and resources project will be delivered hydric.
“It is evident that there has been no political will of the national government” to comply, said the president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), referring to the 10 points that were required to suspend the June 2022 strike.
The negotiation was then redirected to a series of conversations with government officials to discuss the targeting of fuel prices, the suspension of the delivery of mining concessions, moratoriums and debt forgiveness, among other requests from the indigenous movement.
“We declare ourselves in mobilization and permanent assembly and we radicalize ourselves in the struggle in our territories,” said Iza on Friday, who read the adopted resolutions.
The group also asked the Legislature to apply the legal and constitutional mechanisms that give way to a political trial against President Guillermo Lasso “for his inability to govern and solve the most felt problems of Ecuadorians.”
In June 2022, an indigenous protest paralyzed roads, caused food shortages and generated a crisis in the government of Guillermo Lasso, who tossed a recall petition in the National Assembly by opposition movements and parties. The losses due to the strike were estimated at more than 1,000 million dollars. The protests concluded with the signing of an agreement and the installation of dialogue tables.
Source: VOA Español
