Ecuadorians continue to resist as national strike enters second week

Defying the state of emergency, enduring brutal police and military repression, hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorians continue to remain on the streets against neoliberalism

Tanya Wadhwa

People’s Dispatch | June 21, 2022

Since June 13, hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorians have been mobilizing across the country as a part of an indefinite national strike against the right-wing government of President Guillermo Lasso and his regressive economic policies. Photo: Alexander Crespo

Since June 13, hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorians have been mobilizing across the country as a part of an indefinite national strike against the right-wing government of President Guillermo Lasso and his anti-people economic policies. The strike was called for by various Indigenous, peasant and social organizations, with a set of ten demands that address the most urgent needs of the majority of Ecuador’s population.

The world’s peoples can always count on Cuba to be present for just causes

Party First Secretary and President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez yesterday conversed with Latin American intellectual Atilio Boró in a radio interview, discussing Cuba’s creative resistance in the face of continuing U.S. attacks and imperialist threats around the world

Granma | April 25, 2022

Artwork by Ernesto Rancaño 

“We are not going to surrender, we are going to continue resisting, but with the concept of creative resistance, which is precisely the way in which we have faced COVID-19, that is, we resist, but with talent, effort and intelligence, we also grow; as we resist, we are capable of advancing.”

This observation was among those shared by Communist Party First Secretary and President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, in an interview with Latin American intellectual Atilio Borón, for the Argentine radio stations Madres de la Plaza de Mayo and the Universidad Nacional de Avellaneda, also broadcast on several community radio stations in Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador and elsewhere.

Campaign for run-off election begins in Ecuador, threats to obstruct election remain

ELECTION IN ECUADOR 

Peoples Dispatc | March 19, 2021

Progressive candidate Andrés Arauzbegan his electoral campaign in the El Beaterio sector, in the south of the capital city Quito, with the promise to protect the environment. Photo: Andrés Arauz/Twitter

The election campaign for the second round of presidential election in Ecuador began on March 16. In the run-off on April 11, Andrés Arauz of the progressive Union for Hope alliance (UNES) will face off Guillermo Lasso of the right-wing Creating Opportunities  party (CREO) and Social Christian Party (PSC).

According to the schedule set by the National Electoral Council (CNE), the candidates will have until April 8 to promote their plans and proposals for the new government. This Sunday, on March 21, they will take part in an official and mandatory debate organized by the CNE in the city of Guayaquil.

Andrés Arauz and The Progressive Bloc Are a Threat to Ecuador’s Right Wing

ECUADOR 

Peoples Dispatch | February 16, 2021

Confusion and misinformation are shrouding the recent elections in Ecuador. While progressive candidate Andrés Arauz clinched a clear first round victory, baseless allegations of fraud have been launched by the 2nd and 3rd place candidates Guillermo Lasso and Yaku Pérez who have also demanded that a partial recount take place in a meeting with the National Electoral Council. The next days will be decisive.

To understand what is behind the accusations of fraud, the dirty campaign being waged against progressive Arauz, and to hear more about what is stake in these elections we spoke to David Adler, the coordinator of Progressive International and the head of the organization’s electoral observation delegation that was on the ground in Ecuador for over a week.

Election in Ecuador Promises to Kick Washington Stooge out of Office

ECUADOR 

Patrice Greanville

The Ecuadorian comprador bourgeoisie may be breathing its last moments in office if the Election on Sunday 7 February confirms the victory of former president Correa protegé populist Andrés Arauz . If the victory is ample, as many people on the left expect, it may avoid a runoff during which the forces allied with the US, currently represented by the traitor Lenin Moreno, may try to claim voting fraud and other shenanigans to steal the election. It was precisely a ruse of this type, with the backing of a corrupt OAS,  that opened the door to the putschists in Bolivia about a year ago. The videos below show that the majority of Ecuadorians reject the Moreno regime and its “vendepatrias” policies, demanding a return to a national patriotic government willing and capable of restoring the nation’s sovereignty and helping the masses. The main feature in this post is The Grayzone’s Ben Norton‘s excellent coverage of the election and its historical backdrop. This is anti-imperialist journalism as it should be. In fact, the truth alone is all you need to indict imperialism. —PG

Dirty Campaign Intensifies Against Progressive Candidate Andrés Arauz

ELECTION IN ECUADOR 

Several members of the progressive Union for Hope (UNES) alliance, including its presidential candidate Andrés Arauz, former president Rafael Correa, among others, are denouncing that plans to suspend the February 7 general elections are underway in Ecuador

Tanya Wadhwa

Peoples Dispatch | February 04, 2021

Progressive candidate Andrés Arauz has received a series of attacks in the days leading up the the elections. Photo: Twitter Arauz

On February 2, former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa warned about a new attempt to suspend the upcoming general elections in the country. The former head of state indicated that the possibility of a clear and resounding first-round victory of the progressive Union for Hope (UNES) alliance ticket, with Andrés Arauz and Carlos Rabascall, worries the government and its allies. He stressed that they are “desperate” and are making every possible effort to disqualify the UNES presidential ticket and eliminate progressivism from the electoral race.

“New attempt to suspend the elections! They know that they will lose in the first round and they are desperate. Now they will attempt to do it through the Electoral Dispute Tribunal (TCE), a complaint received yesterday by judge Ángel Torres (the WORST!) Álvaro Noboa already announced this morning that the elections would be postponed for 2 months UNACCEPTABLE!,” denounced Correa in a tweet.

Journalist Carlos Rabascall Replaces Rafael Correa as Vice-presidential Candidate

PEOPLE’S STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY IN ECUADOR 

Peoples Dispatch | September 17, 2020

The UNES’ presidential ticket, Andrés Arauz and Carlos Rabascall, vowed to recover the future and hope of all Ecuadorians. Photo: Twitter

The Union for Hope (UNES), an alliance of progressive forces, on September 16, elected journalist Carlos Rabascall as the new candidate for the vice-presidency of Ecuador in the general elections scheduled for February 7, 2021. The decision was taken after Rafael Correa was disqualified from running as vice-presidential candidate.

Correa Blocked from Standing in Ecuador Election Following Court Ruling

ECUADOR 

Morning Star | September 09, 2020

Supporters of Ecuador’s former President Rafael Correa show their support for their leader during a demonstration in Quito, Ecuador

FORMER Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa has effectively seen his bid to run in next year’s elections annulled after an appeals court ratified his eight-year jail sentence on bribery charges in record time on Monday.

The Ecuadorian National Court of Justice rushed to reach its verdict against Mr Correa and 15 co-defendants at a hearing in Quito on Monday afternoon.

Bodies in the Streets: IMF Imposed Measures Have Left Ecuador Unable to Cope with Coronavirus

by Alan Macleod

MintPress News | April 13, 2020

If you are using one of the many coronavirus incidence trackers, the Pacific country of Ecuador does not seem to be particularly badly affected by COVID-19. Officially, the country has less than 7,500 cases and 333 deaths. But everybody knows this number is nonsense, including President Lenín Moreno, who freely admitted that authorities were collecting over 100 dead bodies a day from Guayaquil city alone, the epicenter of the pandemic tormenting his country.

Whitewashing Neoliberal Repression in Chile and Ecuador

by Lucas Koerner

ABOVE: Ecuadoreans battle the government’s police in Quito.  There have been numerous ptched battles all over the country, showing the administration of turncoat Lenin Moreno that the US imposed neoliberal prescription will not be accepted without a fight.

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Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, people are rising up against right-wing, US-backed governments and their neoliberal austerity policies.

Currently in Chile, the government of billionaire Sebastian Piñera has deployed the army to crush nationwide demonstrations against inequality sparked by a subway fare hike.