CONAIE in the Face of Ecuador’s Election Results

Elections are, above all, a barometer of a social conscience. The results indicate the direction that beliefs, expectations, fears, and hopes are taking. The Ecuadorian people spoke on February 17. We, as an organization representative of peoples and nationalities, deeply respect the popular will of Ecuadorians.

It is for this reason that we fight for a different democracy, one where people make decisions on core issues and where society plays a protagonistic role. For this reason, we will continue our historic struggle for the construction of a Plurinational State and for the Sumak Kawsay (Good Living) as a model for fairness and equality that expands democratic freedoms, favors the de-privatization of water and its consequent redistribution, implements land reform to revive agrarian production, and strengthens Latin American unity.

In this regard we wish luck to President Rafael Correa who was elected for another term as head of government. As an Indigenous movement, we hope that he complies with transcendent issues such as the water law, the agrarian law, the democratization and socialization of the economy, and the protection and halt to the exploitation of oil fields in Yasuní ITT.

We hope that the criminalization and terrorism charges against Indigenous and popular leaders come to an end, and that concessions of Indigenous territories are no longer granted arbitrarily to transnational corporations. The manner in which these issues are resolved will shed light on the true dimensions of the type of government that we have. For our part we will continue committed to defend our rights as peoples and nationalities, in the hope of a country of justice, solidarity, and sovereignty.

For the Governing Council

Humberto Cholango
President of CONAIE