TITLE: Protest In Ecuador Escalates

AUTHOR:

ORG: SAPRI

DATE: February 6, 2001

PROTEST IN ECUADOR ESCALATES - INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND CITIZENS' GROUPS CALL FOR REPEAL OF IMF-IMPOSED STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT POLICIES GOVERNMENT RESPONDS WITH REPRESSION - SEVERAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLE KILLED OR WOUNDED AND HUNDREDS ARRESTED International Secretariat of the Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative (SAPRI)   Indigenous peoples in Ecuador have been mobilizing over the past month to demand the repeal of new IMF-backed economic measures announced by the Ecuadoran government in late December as part of an ongoing structural adjustment program. The measures involve the removal of subsidies on cooking fuel and gasoline, causing the former to double in price and the latter to increase by 25%, and a 75% increase in transportation costs. The IMF's insistence on the application of these measures -- as well as a 3% increase in the value-added tax which is still pending -- has put access to dignified living conditions even further beyond the reach of large segments of the Ecuadoran population. The escalating protests in recent days are not only in response to these economic measures but to the overall structural adjustment program that has intensified with Ecuador's conversion to the US dollar last year. Beginning on 21 January, indigenous groups led by CONAIE (Confederation of Indigenous Nations of Ecuador) organized marches and blockaded roads in the countryside and cities in half of the country's 22 provinces. Farmworkers, students and others also joined in supporting these protests. The government sent military forces to disperse many of these peaceful demonstrations with force, using teargas and weapons, that resulted in several indigenous people injured, some by bullets, and several hundred arrested. In response, on 26 January, indigenous organizations called for a national mobilization from communities across the country and a convergence on the nation's capital, Quito. The government responded with further repression. Quito was militarized when as many as 10,000 indigenous people arrived over the course of several days. After gathering on the grounds of the Polytechnic University, they were surrounded by military troops who have cut off water and electricity and have intermittently been stopping food and medicine from being brought in and indigenous people from leaving. Attempts at dialogue between indigenous leaders and the government have failed to produce any results, as the government has shown no willingness to discuss economic policy or refrain from using force against peaceful protest. Indigenous leaders have presented a series of demands, including an end to the repression and an open dialogue on economic policy, and insist on meeting directly with President Noboa. The government responded by declaring a state of national emergency on 2 February, suspending citizens' basic constitutional rights -- including freedom of association and mobilization, as well as protection from arbitrary search and seizure. Several dozen indigenous people then escalated their protest by beginning a hunger strike. While tensions have mounted in Quito, road blockades and marches have nearly paralyzed 12 provinces. The use of force by 300 troops to disburse the blockade of a bridge in the Amazon region on 5 February resulted in at least two indigenous people killed by gunfire, including a 14-year-old who was shot in the head, and some 20 wounded. Nevertheless, 5,000 indigenous people returned the next day to blockade the same bridge. Media censorship has made it difficult to ascertain the extent of the mobilization and protest, particularly outside the capital, and to be certain of the number of people killed or wounded by military gunfire or the number arrested. Human rights activists in Ecuador say they have not seen the current level of repression in their country in the last 20 years. Indigenous peoples have been joined by trade unionists, farmworkers, students, academics, environmentalists, small-scale producers, women's groups and others to resolutely demand the repeal of IMF-supported economic measures. They are putting their lives on the line to stop structural adjustment in Ecuador, affirming that this economic model is clearly neither politically nor economically viable. They want to open a policy dialogue with the government to formulate an alternative economic program. As the government has not shown willingness to enter into such a dialogue, a national strike has been called for 7 February by a coalition of trade unions, professional associations and others in support of the indigenous mobilization and to demand a repeal of the economic adjustment measures and an open dialogue on the national economic program. While the Ecuadoran government is repressing protest by large segments of society against economic adjustment measures, the IMF and World Bank, who are responsible for designing and promoting these policies, remain silent. Over nearly 20 years, the IMF and the World Bank have made the implementation of structural adjustment programs a condition of financial support to the government of Ecuador. These programs and the specific economic policies they embrace have placed the major burden of adjustment on the nation's poor and working people, its small farmers and businesses. This is clearly evidenced by the recently concluded SAPRI process in Ecuador -- a tripartite initiative to assess the impacts of structural adjustment policies in which the World Bank, government and SAPRIN civil-society network have been jointly involved. The SAPRI process of consultation and participatory research on the impact of adjustment in Ecuador since 1982 concluded that trade and financial-sector liberalization in Ecuador have led to a marked contraction in the national productive apparatus, particularly of small and medium-scale enterprises, as well as a greater concentration of productive resources. This, in turn, has increased unemployment and underemployment while, along with labor-market "flexibilization" policies, reducing job security. The lack of adequate, stable employment and the further concentration of wealth have generated an increase in poverty and a deterioration in the living conditions of a majority of the Ecuadoran population, conditions that have been extensively documented. Furthermore, the research reflected the belief held by a majority of citizens that a policy of universal subsidies on certain basic goods -- such as gasoline, electricity and cooking fuel -- is necessary until support for the reactivation of national production generates adequate employment and greater income for the poor and middle-income segments of society. Researchers concluded that targeted subsidies are unviable in Ecuador, where the target group is comprised of the majority of the population and continues to increase. They recommended a reorientation of macroeconomic policy to reactivate production, increase employment generation and substantially improve income levels before removing subsidies or applying measures that negatively affect the living conditions of large segments of Ecuadoran society. 6 February 2001 (For information in Spanish, see the web site of CONAIE) END top