Latest news with #CONAIE
Bloomberg
6 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Ecuador Indigenous Union Vote Eases Anti-Government Stance
Ecuador's Indigenous union, CONAIE, is softening its confrontational stance following bursts of violent anti-government protests that diminished the group's political relevance. The umbrella organization elected a new leader this week, replacing hard-liner Leonidas Iza who led the harsh demonstrations against economic reform in 2019 and 2022. The outcome eases political tension with Ecuador's president, Daniel Noboa, whose market-friendly administration has been preoccupied with a security crisis.
Al Jazeera
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Ecuador's Indigenous movement splinters over presidential election support
Saquisili, Ecuador – Every Thursday, the Indigenous market in the Ecuadorian town of Saquisili buzzes with crowds from across the province of Cotopaxi and beyond. Women in felt hats and men in weathered ponchos barter over alpaca scarves and clay pots amid the aroma of slow-cooked stew. But in recent weeks, campaign posters have appeared among the stalls. As the run-off in Ecuador's presidential race approaches on April 13, the final two candidates are attempting to court one of the country's key demographics: Indigenous voters. Both the centre-right incumbent President Daniel Noboa and his main rival, leftist Luisa Gonzalez, received about 44 percent of the vote in the first round of the election on February 9. But in Saquisili, the Indigenous candidate, Leonidas Iza, won. Nationally, he secured 5 percent of the first-round vote, putting him in third place behind Noboa and Gonzalez. Given the tight race in the second round, the roughly 539,000 votes he garnered could be crucial to the outcome in the run-off. The president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), Iza had run as the candidate for the group's political arm, the Pachakutik (PK) party. After Iza was knocked out in the first round, his party endorsed Gonzalez at a March 30 assembly, where she agreed to a list of 25 demands. 'The support for Luisa Gonzalez isn't a blank cheque,' said Iza, who joined the assembly remotely through video. 'It's an opportunity to create space for and strengthen the autonomous struggle against the right.' But the decision has divided Ecuador's Indigenous communities, with local leaders denouncing the agreement and one of the largest regional organisations supporting Noboa despite the PK's endorsement. Insiders and activists say that dissent calls into question not only Iza's ability to mobilise his base but also the overall unity of the Indigenous movement going forward — whoever wins.
Reuters
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Ecuador Indigenous organization asks leftist candidate to respond to proposals
QUITO, March 12 (Reuters) - Major Ecuadorean Indigenous organization CONAIE and leftist social organizations said on Wednesday they will not support incumbent Daniel Noboa for president in an April run-off and that they have asked leftist candidate Luisa Gonzalez to respond to a list of proposals. The Indigenous vote in the country overall appears divided, with some groups saying they will back Noboa. Noboa, a 37-year-old heir to a business fortune, beat Gonzalez, a protege of former President Rafael Correa, by less than 1% of the vote in a February first round. The unexpectedly narrow margin means CONAIE leader and former candidate Leonidas Iza - who notched 5.25% of the vote - could potentially have important influence on who wins in a second round. Though CONAIE has criticized Noboa's efforts on security and the economy, other Indigenous and social organizations have said they will back the president, who is finishing his predecessor's term, for a full mandate. Among the proposals floated to Gonzalez by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and the other groups are a halt to privatizations and large scale mining projects and an end to Noboa's declaration of war against crime gangs, the organizations said. They also want sales tax lowered back to 12%, after Noboa raised it to 15% in a bid to fund security operations, and oppose Ecuador's deal with the International Monetary Fund. Meanwhile the CONFENIAE, a confederation of Indigenous groups from Ecuador's Amazon which is part of CONAIE, has said it will back Noboa but wants a dialogue with the president about Amazon policies. The party represented by former candidate Andrea Gonzalez, who came fourth in the February vote with 2.69%, has said it will back Noboa.
CBC
10-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Good for mining but bad for democracy? Why Indigenous groups in Ecuador oppose free trade deal with Canada
Ecuador's largest Indigenous organization is vowing to fight a now-concluded free trade agreement with Canada, warning it could encourage human rights abuses in the ecologically and culturally diverse South American country. "It is very concerning, this news," said Zenaida Yasacama, acting president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), which represents 10,000 communities, in a teleconference interview from Quito. "We've not been consulted as Indigenous Peoples, and we believe that this process is a violation of our rights," she told CBC Indigenous in Spanish. Canada and Ecuador announced the end of negotiations last week. Amid threats of crushing tariffs from the United States, Global Affairs Canada is touting the elimination of trade barriers on $1.4 billion in bilateral merchandise and the diversification of partnerships. Opponents, however, say that explanation is opportunistic, arguing the arrangement would mainly benefit Canada's mining sector, the main source of $4.4 billion in direct Canadian investment in Ecuador in 2023. "This trade agreement is, in our view, focused on expanding mining activity in Ecuador, and this will have many destructive impacts," said Yasacama, who belongs to the Kichwa people of Pakayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon. "This is our huge concern and this is why we will resist, as we have for more than 500 years. We believe that there will be more assassinations and criminalization as we engage in resistance." The deal still needs to be ratified. In Ecuador, general elections were held on Sunday but failed to deliver a clear winner, prompting a runoff vote slated for April. CONAIE has opposed what it calls "extractive and neoliberal policies" from the conservative-leaning incumbent, Daniel Noboa. Noboa, the son of a wealthy banana exporting magnate, has sought to entice foreign investment shore up security, declaring an internal armed conflict against organized crime groups, prompting reports of serious human rights violations. "It's very sad and it's lamentable, in fact, that this agreement has been negotiated," said Hortencia Zhagüi by Zoom from her home in the Azuay province in southern Ecuador. "Our rights have been violated, our rights under our own constitution. The president has gone over our heads, behind our backs, negotiated secretly, in a hidden way." Zhagüi is a representative of the Board of Potable Water Administrators of Victoria del Portete and Tarqui. The group is concerned about mining operations potentially leaching arsenic into groundwater in the high-altitude wetland area in Azuay province. "It's very sad to say that Canada is respecting Indigenous rights, Indigenous peoples and human rights. It's false because we are living another reality," said Zhagüi. Yasacama and Zhagüi were part of an Ecuadorian women's delegation that toured Canada last fall, though they remain uncertain whether Canadian leaders acted on their concerns. A spokesperson for Trade Minister Mary Ng didn't respond to requests for comment. In a statement, Global Affairs said the agreement includes a chapter on Indigenous Peoples and trade "that aims to uphold and advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples under applicable law." The deal also includes clauses committing Canada and Ecuador not to weaken or reduce the rights of workers, women or Indigenous people, the statement said. Concerns with arbitration Civil society groups are also raising red flags about the inclusion of a controversial system of international arbitration used in the past by Canadian firms, even some accused of human rights abuses. "We are outraged," said Viviana Herrera, Latin American program co-ordinator at Mining Watch Canada. "What is reflected in the document that they published is very clear: that this agreement is about protecting investment and not protecting people." Known as investor-state dispute settlement, or ISDS, the arbitration system would allow Canadian companies to sue Ecuador at private tribunals rather than in the domestic courts. Ecuador banned this system in 2008 and rejected it again in a 2024 popular referendum. The system is seen as biased and unjust in Ecuador following a string of bad experiences, said Stuart Trew, a trade researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. "It really is an anti-democratic, very unaccountable system and it needs to go," he said in an interview, calling it disappointing that Canada would agree to it. "It puts a thumb on the scales on behalf of the companies in the event that there is resistance — which of course there is in Ecuador. There's massive resistance to mining. This can only go badly. This can only go badly for the states. It's going to result in massive, massive lawsuits." In the late 2000s, for instance, the Ecuadorian government revoked Vancouver-headquartered Copper Mesa Mining's licence, after it was accused of trying to advance a project through intimidation, violence and subterfuge. Copper Mesa then sued Ecuador through the arbitration system. Despite concluding senior personnel in Quito were guilty of directing an organized campaign of criminal violence against anti-mining groups, a tribunal awarded the company $24 million USD in compensation in 2016. In another case, Ecuador cancelled a contract with U.S-based Occidental Petroleum Corp., alleging it had illegally sold a large stake in the project to a Canadian company. Occidental sued for arbitration, securing $1.77 billion USD in 2012. Trew said the threat of these enormous, damaging lawsuits would give Canadian companies great leverage when projects don't go their way.
Al Jazeera
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
A test for 'mano dura' politics?
Noboa has continued to weather controversy about the limits of his authority through the end of his latest campaign. Ecuador's constitution requires that public officials take a leave of absence to run for re-election. But Noboa instead signed two executive decrees to avoid transferring power to his vice president, Veronica Abad, with whom he is feuding. Just this week, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador declared both unconstitutional. After the ruling, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), a powerful Indigenous rights coalition, blasted Noboa for treating the presidency like 'a private hacienda'. 'No authoritarian manoeuvre can hide the truth: Noboa's government is riddled with irregularities, abuses and contempt for democracy,' CONAIE wrote in a statement. 'We have never trusted this government,' the acting president of CONAIE, Zenaida Yasacama, told Al Jazeera. 'As a woman, his treatment of his vice president has hurt me.' Still, Noboa has campaigned for a second, full term on the basis that he will declare war against 'the old politics' of Ecuador. On advertisements, Noboa stands in a white T-shirt against a purple background, next to slogans for 'one single round' — an appeal to voters to make Sunday's victory so massive, no run-off election is needed. It's a pointedly informal look, one designed to appeal to Ecuador's younger generations. Garcia Nice explained that young voters are particularly fond of Noboa. Some even carry cardboard cut-outs of the leader. In a country where the average voting age is 28 and 16-year-old teenagers are eligible to vote, that demographic could provide a significant advantage at the polls. Yet, Noboa's charisma as a young leader will only take him so far, Hurtado warned. If he succeeds in winning a full four-year term this year, he will no longer enjoy the benefit of the doubt that comes with being a relative newcomer to politics.
