At 2pm on February 7, Ecuadoran indigenous leaders signed a 23-point accord with President Gustavo Noboa Bejarano, ending an indigenous uprising against economic policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The uprising started on January 22 and intensified on January 29.
Under the terms of the agreement, the price of cooking gas will now be US$1.60 per 15-kilo container instead of US$2. The price was US$1 before Noboa doubled it via presidential decree on December 27, provoking widespread public outrage. The accord provides for a popular distribution system to provide cooking gas to poor people, to be established with the participation of indigenous, campesino and social organisations and local governments. Noboa met directly with Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) president Antonio Vargas Huatatoca. The talks were mediated by Auki Tituana, indigenous mayor of Cotacachi and president of the Association of Municipalities of Ecuador (AME).
As part of the agreement, the government will also: abandon its plan to introduce kerosene for cooking fuel; institute half-price bus fares for students, children, older people and people with disabilities; restructure, strengthen and provide an initial US$10 million in capital for the National Development Bank (BNF) and the National Financing Corporation (CFN) toward granting preferential credits, training and technical assistance to small and midsize farmers and owners of micro-enterprises and community enterprises; and recover public funds lost to a banking crisis.
In addition, the government pledges to increase the budget for national indigenous health, education and development agencies; resolve conflicts over land, water and other natural resources; support migrants inside and outside the country through "conventions, decrees and funding"; support decentralisation and coordination among local alternative governments, and arrange for international agencies to provide needed aid through these governments; establish a dialogue on a platform of indigenous demands; seek consensus on the reform of the Ecuadoran Social Security Institute (IESS) and on payment of the Campesino Social Security (SSC) debt; and eliminate service fees charged to people who aren't receiving those services.
The government also committed itself to reject "the regionalisation of Plan Colombia, and the involvement of Ecuador in foreign conflicts; provide special treatment for all of Ecuador's nationalities and peoples, especially in the Amazon region, and comply with the constitution and international conventions in awarding oil contracts; complete unfinished irrigation projects; comply with general budget allocations for social spending, and increase such spending as resources become available through renegotiation of foreign debt; and carry out a dialogue on tax reform prior to approving new legislation.
In exchange for an end to the uprising, the government agreed to lift a state of emergency in effect since February 2; release from prison and drop charges against those arrested for participating in the protests; compensate people who were injured and the families of those who were killed; and return all property confiscated from protesters.
Between 5000 and 10,000 indigenous people who had come to Quito over the previous weeks to take part in the uprising, marched through the streets of the capital on February 7 to celebrate the victory before packing up their bags to return to their communities.
Police kill protesters
The negotiations that ended the protests came in the wake of increased government repression against protesters. Early on February 5, soldiers fired on indigenous protesters in the city of Tena in Napo province, killing at least three people, including 14-year-old Jorge Xavier Arias Narvaez, and injuring 23 others. When a local radio station reported on the violence, a military commando took over the station and shut it down. Meanwhile, soldiers fired guns and tear gas at protesters in Salasaca, in the central province of Tungurahua, injuring at least 19 people.On the afternoon of the same day, police began an eviction raid against some 5000 indigenous protesters camped out at Quito's Salesian Polytechnic University. The government had previously cut off water and electricity to the site and was blocking food donations from getting through to the protesters. Police on foot and on horseback fired tear gas directly at protesters; many were hit in the face with the gas canisters, and dozens were injured or arrested. A group of indigenous warriors finally fought off the police with spears and managed to close the main gate. Police then brought reinforcements and surrounded the university.
Some 200 students demonstrated outside the university to protest the repression and show solidarity with the protesters inside, as cars passed honking their horns in support. ”It's necessary to support [the protesters] because the government, with its attitude of removing them by force, is attacking us all; the indigenous people are fighting not only for themselves but for all Ecuadorans,“ said one of the students. CONAIE responded to the day's violence by calling off its negotiations with the government; the talks had resumed that morning after having been suspended since February 2.
Late on February 5 or early on February 6, security forces killed another protester, Wilson Landa Mullulema, this time in the Huachitotora sector of Ambato, in Tungurahua province.
The talks resumed on February 6 with the government under increasing pressure from inside and outside the country. A national strike was set to begin on February 7, and condemnation of the government was growing as news spread of the previous day's violence. A marathon session of talks ended late on February 6 with both sides nearing a tentative agreement; the accord was finalised and signed the next day.
The protesters had significant support from outside Ecuador: individuals from all over the world sent messages to the government urging it to halt repression and negotiate with the protesters. Indigenous organizations from Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Chile condemned the police brutality and expressed solidarity with the protesters. In the US, activists held a protest at the Ecuadoran embassy in Washington on the morning of February 7.
[Edited from Weekly News Update on the Americas.]