The Ecuadorian Government announced this Sunday that “there are no conditions to continue with the dialogue process” with the indigenous movements of the province of Imbabura, the epicenter of the protests, with whose leaders they had agreed last Wednesday on a truce in the demonstrations and the beginning of some tables to analyze their requests.
In a statement, the Ministry of Government indicated that The process was stopped by “the claims and impositions established by certain sectors of indigenous organizations and movements.”
“These demands alter the previously agreed terms, change the actors involved in the dialogue and violate the commitments built with responsibility and good faith in previous meetings,” said the State portfolio without giving more details of the supposed new requests.
Furthermore, he indicated that “the roads have not been cleared”that the protesters have not withdrawn and that they “maintain violent actions”, so “what was agreed has not been fulfilled.”
“The Government will not accept pressure or blackmail; “will act firmly, within the framework of the law, to guarantee the rights of the majority of Ecuadorians who want to live in peace,” the ministry indicated.
Last Wednesday, Minister of the Interior John Reimberg met with representatives of the Union of Indigenous Peasant Organizations of Cotacachi (Unorcac), of the Federation of Kichwa Peoples of the Sierra Norte of Ecuador (FICI) in the municipality of Otavalo, belonging to Imbabura, and subsequently announced a cessation of protests and the start of dialogue tables this Monday.
“Today the strike is lifted, today the roads are opened,” Reimberg said in front of the media and the leaders with whom he had met.
However, that decision was not accepted by the communities, who the next day indicated that “the strike continues,” something that was also supported by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), which called for protests almost a month ago after the elimination of the diesel subsidy, and whose leaders were not part of those conversations.
The blockades due to the demonstrations have continued over the following days and this Sunday thirteen roads were still closed in three provinces of the country, most of them in Imbabura.
In addition, this Sunday there were also intense clashes between security forces and protesters in communities located north of Quito, the country’s capital.
Although the indigenous protests began with the rejection of the increase in the price of diesel, Conaie later included the demand for a three-point reduction in the Value Added Tax (VAT) to 12% and the release of those detained during the demonstrations.
Likewise, Conaie added to the strike its rejection of the referendum on November 16, in which, among other things, it will ask – at the initiative of President Noboa – about the installation of a Constituent Assembly to draft a new Constitution, which has led the Government to label the protest as “political.”
(with information from EFE)
