Feature Page: Ecuador’s Gutierrez faces opposition
2004Gerry Foley 2004-02The page as the paper published it (Wayback Machine) →
From the paper's own web edition, recovered from the Internet Archive: the text as the paper put it online, not machine-read. The printed issue of February 2004 is not held.
by Gerry Foley
Leonidas Iza, the leader of CONAIE (Confederation de Nacionalidades Indigenas), the major organization in the mass mobilizations four years ago that forced the flight of Ecuador’s president, Jamil Mahuad, narrowly escaped assassination Feb. 2. His brother, a cousin, and his son were wounded.
Iza had just returned from Cuba, after attending the Third Hemispheric Conference of Struggle against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), Washington’s scheme for opening up all of Latin America for unrestrained exploitation by U.S. business. The CONAIE leader accused the government of Lucio Gutierrez of being responsible for the attack.
In a press release issued the same day as the attack, Iza noted the existence of a black list, including the names of all opposition leaders, drawn up by Alejandro Najera, leader of the Sociedad Patriotica, Gutierrez’s party.
In fact, the attack on Iza came in the wake of the murders of Angel Zhingri of the Front in Defense of Amazonia and Patricio Campana, an officer of the state oil company, as well as the jailing of Humberto Cholango, president of Ecuarunari, the largest component organization of CONAIE, for statements denouncing Gutierrez.
The Ecuadoran president took office a year ago, after being elected with the support of CONAIE. But once in office, Gutierrez proceeded to follow the very same policies of subordination to the International Monetary Fund as Jamil Mahuad. This year his government intends to use 44 percent of its budget to pay the interest on the country’s foreign debt.
Moreover, the government proposes to increase the price of gasoline and cooking gas, as demanded by the IMF, which it was forced last year to “suspend” because of mass protests.
Gutierrez’s popularity rating has fallen from 80 percent at the time of his election to 20 percent today. CONAIE leaders have withdrawn their support.
On Jan. 7, demonstrators occupied Ministry of Labor offices in three cities to protest Gutierrez’s policies. They also held marches in Quito and other cities. Other populist leaders making accommodations to the IMF, like Argentina’s Kirchner and Brazil’s Lula, are certainly taking notice.