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>## 24.01.00
>## by nativeamericas@cornell.edu
>
>As indigenous people in Ecuador work towards establishing a government for
>the people, Native Americas Journal provides the following articles for
>information on this unfolding event. For more information on this topic,
>and other events throughout the hemisphere, look to our website at
>http://nativeamericas.aip.cornell.edu.
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>
>Pachacutik: Indigenous People and Democracy in Ecuador
>By Melina H. Selverston/Native Americas Journal, Summer 1998
>
>The 1993 Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE)
>Congress in the Amazon province of Puyo was ripe with debate: Should the
>indigenous population participate in the upcoming national elections?
>Until now there was a unanimous decision on the part of the Indigenous
>Federations not to support the elections on the basis that the government
>was corrupt and did not represent indigenous interests. "Why bite into a
>rotten apple?" one indigenous leader was fond of saying. Others argued
>that the state was an import from Europe that did not correspond to
>indigenous values and ways of organizing, thus it did not make sense for
>them to join.
>
>This year, things were different. In neighboring Bolivia, an Aymara Indian
>leader, Victor Hugo Cardenas, was elected Vice President of the Republic.
>His wife, herself an Aymara leader, had traveled from Bolivia to encourage
>her brothers and sisters in Ecuador to follow their example. "We should no
>longer be ruled," she exclaimed to the jubilant crowd, "We should rule
>ourselves!"
>
>For the first time, the CONAIE Assembly decided to officially participate
>in the 1996 national elections, not only to vote as a bloc, but to run for
>office at the provincial and national levels. They established a national
>political council, and soon agreed that it was not in their interest to
>run with one of Ecuador's existing political parties, but to present an
>alternative way of representing their interests: thus, the
>Pachacutic/Nuevo Pais movement, a complex political organization distinct
>from CONAIE, was born.
>
>"We are taking a huge political risk," said Dr. Luis Macas in an
>interview. "If we lose this electoral initiative we may lose the proposals
>for which we have been fighting for a long time-and not just through
>today's organizations, but the proposals that our ancestors fought for
>with their lives and blood-and that we cannot sacrifice."
>
>The elections were, however, a triumph for the indigenous movement. They
>won congressional seats in virtually all of the provinces and eight
>representatives in the National Congress. They all coordinate their
>activities with each other and with their organizations. Although they are
>a minority, they have remained influential in specific areas, including
>the environment, human rights, land tenancy, and water rights. They are
>presenting a new political model for Ecuador in which representatives
>respond to their communities and their civil society organizations, rather
>than solely to the interests of their parties.
>
>more at http://nativeamericas.aip.cornell.edu
>----------------------------------------------------------
>
>Ecuador Indians Protest Against Military Base
>By Bill Weinberg/Native Americas Journal, Fall/Winter 1999
>
>Indians throughout Ecuador's mountains mobilized in July to protest the
>U.S. military base proposed for the Pacific port of Manta, finally
>bringing the government to the bargaining table.
>
>President Jamil Mahuad agreed on July 17 to a dialogue on the issue with
>the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) following a
>two-week campaign of protests, roadblocks and occupations of television
>and radio stations. Some 8,000 indigenous protestors camped out in El
>Arbolito Park in Quito. More than 10,000 Indians arrived in Quito on July
>14 after marching cross-country. Army troops attempted to stop them,
>placing barbed-wire barricades on the roads and hurling tear gas, but the
>Indians broke into smaller groups and filtered into Quito over hills and
>along creeks. On July 16, thousands of Indians clashed with police just
>blocks from the national palace, which was guarded by army artillery.
>
>The accord calls for the government to free all those arrested in the
>protests and to drop planned fuel price hikes. The government also agreed
>to discuss debt forgiveness for campesinos and other issues of rural
>economic survival. "Once more it has been demonstrated that only struggle
>makes the authorities listen to us," said indigenous leader Miguel Lluco.
>
>Plans for the Manta base are on hold until after the meetings. Mahuad says
>the U.S. base would be a backup for the national armed forces, and
>authorized the first air operations in the area in May. Defense Minister
>José Gallardo says the armed forces are "profoundly concerned" about
>guerrilla troops and coca plantations on the Colombian border.
>
>The Ecumenical Human Rights Commission fears the base will take an
>ecological toll. In 1997, the Pentagon commissioned a study on the
>environmental impact of the Canal Zone bases, which found that tests
>involving chemical weapons and spent uranium had been conducted in the
>area. The Commission asked, "Who can ensure that the same thing will not
>occur in Manta? Who will clean up afterwards?"
>
>In early July, U.S. Southern Command chief Charles Wilhelm met in Quito
>with Minister Gallardo to present the results of the first air operations
>in Manta. In mid-1998, Ecuadorean and U.S. troops held joint exercises in
>the Amazon jungle region. Today, U.S. troops are helping build an
>anti-narcotics base in the region. Three more are planned in the
>rainforest and seven in other regions of Ecuador.
>
>more at http://nativeamericas.aip.cornell.edu/fall99/fall99hd.html
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Ecuador Natives Fend Off Oil Exploration
>By Lydia Fernandez/Native Americas Journal, Spring 1999
>
>The Achuar people are seeking international support in their fight against
>the U.S.-based ARCO oil company. ARCO has bought oil exploration rights
>for nearly 2.5 million acres of rainforest from Ecuador's government,
>including a large section of Achuar territory.
>
>The tribe has proposed an alternative that would allow the land to be
>purchased by ARCO to be set aside in perpetuity as a biological reserve.
>This plan would create a development mechanism, as described by the 1997
>Kyoto Protocol, to absorb excess carbon released from the burning of
>fossil fuels. The Kyoto Protocol, if ratified, would require developed
>countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent. One of the ways
>to do this is through flexible reduction methods like the carbon offset
>process.
>
>The Achuar nation, of about 4,300 people, hold communal title to nearly 2
>million acres of old-growth rain forest. They maintain that any group
>affected by proposed development should have a voice in how traditional
>land is used.
>
>The Achuar have joined a number of indigenous nations like the Machiguenga
>of Peru and the U'wa of Colombia, to prevent oil development on their
>territories.
>
>"The Achuar are doing everything they can to open these doors peacefully,"
>said Shannon Wright, the Amazon Oil Campaign director at the Rainforest
>Action Network in California.
>
>The Achuar proposal is similar to an arrangement in place in Costa Rica,
>where territory, though not under indigenous ownership, has been conserved
>for carbon dioxide reduction.
>
>Wright said the Achuar are trying to meet with the Ecuadorian government
>on the carbon offset proposal. The Achuar have environmental consultants
>working with them on the project to ensure its feasibility.
>
>"The Ecuadorian government could actually make money by keeping this
>territory because of its ability to absorb carbon," Wright said.
>
>Under the Kyoto Protocol, if ratified, countries like the United States
>could purchase the rights to lands in rainforest areas in exchange for
>conserving them. This would earn them credits toward their greenhouse gas
>emissions reductions.
>
>ARCO officials say they are committed to dialogue with the Achuar, but the
>Achuar remain opposed to oil extraction no matter what, Wright said.
>
>more at http://nativeamericas.aip.cornell.edu/spr99hd.html
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>
>Ecuador Ratifies ILO Convention 169
>By Donna Van Cott/Native Americas Journal, Summer 1998
>
>On April 14, the Ecuadorian legislature unanimously ratified International
>Labor Organization Convention 169 (1989) on the Rights of Indigenous and
>Tribal Peoples, bringing the number of states signing to 12. The new
>indigenous movement-based political party Movimiento de Unidad
>Plurinacional Pachakutik-Nuevo Pais immediately issued a statement of
>gratitude to the international community for its support:
>
>"We want to share the immense emotion that this small step in the
>framework of legality presents for our peoples, this triumph in a society
>that is marked by exclusion fills us with happiness. We know that this is
>part of a broad process of our peoples to begin to recognize our true
>face, to discover finally the reality that was lost centuries ago, to be
>able to begin a path of hopes and alternatives for all humanity."
>
>Ecuador's indigenous organizations had long sought approval of the
>Convention. Efforts to pressure the legislature to ratify the convention
>were intensified this year to take advantage of the opportunity for
>radical change in indigenous-state relations presented by the convocation
>early in 1998 of a national constitutional assembly to reform the
>Ecuadorian constitution. Indigenous organizations mobilized a massive
>indigenous march that arrived in Quito on February 4. The following day,
>Interim President Fabián Alarcón sent a favorable report on ILO 169 to the
>legislature, where indigenous deputies representing the Movimiento
>Plurinacional Pachakutik had been actively promoting its ratification. The
>legislative proposal gained momentum in March when, in addition to
>indigenous politicians and non-indigenous center-left parties within the
>constitutional assembly, ex-President Osvaldo Hurtado, president of that
>assembly, promised to support the Convention.
>
>Indigenous activists hope that the coincidence of the ratification of ILO
>169 with the constitutional reforms will inject a strong statement of
>indigenous rights, including the recognition of Ecuador as a plurinational
>state, into the new constitution. Such was the case in 1991, when
>Colombia's president signed ILO 169 at the beginning of the country's
>National Constituent Assembly. The 1991 Colombian Constitution recognizes
>the pluricultural and multi-ethnic nature of Colombian society and
>contains one of the strongest indigenous rights regimes in the hemisphere.
>
>ILO 169 is the only international convention in force that specifically
>addresses a broad range of indigenous rights, including communal land
>rights, the right to be involved in public policy decisions with respect
>to natural resources on indigenous lands, educational and language rights,
>and recognition of indigenous justice systems and political authorities.
>Other Latin American countries signing the convention are: Bolivia,
>Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru.
>Prior to Ecuador's ratification, the Guatemalan government was the most
>recent signatory, having approved the convention as part of the deal
>ending the long-running guerrilla war.
>
>Readers interested in learning more about the Ecuadorian indigenous
>movement or the constitutional convention can contact the national
>confederation CONAIE at ccc@conaie.ecx.ec. For more information on
>indigenous rights in the Bolivian and Colombian constitutions and their
>implementation in practice, a doctoral dissertation on that topic has just
>been published by the author of this article. It will be available from
>the University of Michigan dissertation microfilm service later this year.
>
>more at http://nativeamericas.aip.cornell.edu/sum98irw.html
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>

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