NOVANEWS
Opposition groups in Ecuador have called for a rally that the president’s supporters allege is seeking to destabilize the government.
A wide array of social movements, workers’ organizations, and groups representing indigenous peoples in Ecuador have publicly come out against an opposition march planned for Thursday in the capital Quito.
“We are working people who know that these call-outs are misleading efforts to destabilize the government,” said Teresa Urcuango, a grassroots leader from the town of Cayambe who participated in a face-to-face meeting with President Rafael Correa alongside other indigenous leaders. Those attending the meeting said they support Correa’s government and said they will not participate in the opposition rally on Thursday.
Urcuango questioned why leaders who purport to represent the people’s needs would ally themselves with conservative political forces in the country. Right-wing politician Guillermo Lasso, who lost to Correa in the 2013 presidential election, announced he would be participating in the opposition rally.
Rodrigo Collaguazao, spokesperson for the Social Movements Coordinating Body, said Wednesday that those organizing the rally are looking only to promote conflict and generate chaos in the country.
The Social Movements Coordinating Body also formally rejected the opposition-led rally on the grounds that they feel it seeks to destabilize the country.
Collaguazao accused the leadership of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) of deliberately misleading the public and called on the membership of that movement to analyze the accomplishments of the government of Rafael Correa. Recently, a rift between the leadership of the CONAIE and its bases has emerged publicly, with some grassroots leaders rejecting the confrontational style of the group’s leadership.
Social movements and indigenous peoples were joined by the United Workers Trade Union Federation (CUT) in their rejection of the opposition rally. The CUT, which unites 720 workers’ organizations, said in a statement, “The actions planned for March 19 by certain groups do not represent the peaceful and democratic will of the Ecuadorean people, nor the majority of the workers of the country.”
An opposition rally on September 17, 2014, resulted in violent clashes between protestors and security forces.
The CUT also questioned how organizations that consider themselves left-wing could play into the strategy of the right wing.
The groups organizing the rally on Thursday have a long list of demands representing both conservative and left-wing issues. The CONAIE has said they want to see changes to the proposed Land Law, though they have refused to participate in meetings with the National Assembly. Meanwhile, some opposition groups have said they are marching to express their displeasure with government’s recent decision to implement “safeguard” tariffs on imported luxury goods.
