STATEMENT OPPOSING OPPOSITION VIOLENCE IN ECUADOR

On Wednesday 17th September, a series of violent street protests took place in Ecuador. Centring on schools and universities in Quito, the disturbances resulted in injuries to 34 police officers (with no reported injuries to the demonstrators) and damage to historic public buildings. The violence is suspected to be a result of a far-right infiltration, and neo-nazi drawings were found at the scene.

The violence took place during a demonstration against proposals for a series of constitutional changes including measures that would allow President Correa to stand for election again should he choose to, and proposals for a progressive new labour law aimed at reducing wage inequality. If passed, the labour law will grant new economic rights for women and provide protection against discrimination at work for disabled people, African-Ecuadorians and the LGBT community. It will also set a new maximum wage to follow on from the measures already taken on banker bonuses.

President Rafael Correa has called the destabilisation attempts a ‘conservative onslaught’ designed to undermine a democratically elected government, and derail Ecuador’s Citizens’ Revolution. Describing it as part of an international movement to break progress in Latin America, he said the disturbances were: “A test to find out if they can do to us as they did to Venezuela: A ‘soft coup’, a long term war that consists in weakening the government with national and international support.“ You can watch a video of President Correa’s reaction here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYdYJHNVLQo

As in other parts of Latin America, Ecuador is faced with threats to its sovereignty due to external interference. A series of cables recently released shows repeated attempts by the United States to interfere with Ecuador’s government and oppose President Correa from the beginning. A cable from the US Ambassador in 2006 stated: “we have warned our political, economic, and media contacts of the threat Correa represents to Ecuador's future, and have actively discouraged potential alliances which could balance Correa's perceived radicalism.”

The events of 17th September stir memories of a violent coup attempt against President Correa on 30th September 2010. Carried out by a conservative section of the police force, the violence left eight dead, 274 wounded, and almost succeeded in toppling a democratically elected government. Sections of the mainstream private media had privileged information about the events and presented misleading information about the scale of support for the coup.

Since President Correa assumed office in 2007, Ecuador has reduced inequality four times faster than the average in Latin America, provided free healthcare and education to its citizens for the first time, and dramatically increased wage levels while reducing unemployment. Key to these gains has been taking on powerful vested interests on issues such as tax evasion, outsourcing, oil revenues and low-quality private schools. In a speech after the disturbances, President Correa said “Those who destroyed education are now talking about rescuing it, and those who allowed the theft of our oil, now call us traitors”

These tactics are designed to destabilise a popular, progressive government which, since 2006, has won ten consecutive elections including two presidential elections in the first round. The annual Latinbarometro poll places Ecuador first in support for democracy, fairness in the distribution of wealth and trust in the State, and approval ratings for the government are consistently over 70%. This is despite the mainstream private media consistently distorting events to portray a negative image of President Correa and the Citizens’ Revolution.

We therefore:

- Condemn the violence perpetrated by right-wing infiltrators during the opposition demonstration, and condemn any undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional actions against the democratically elected and constitutional government of President Rafael Correa.
- Reject attempts by external forces such as the United States to undermine the sovereignty of the Ecuadorian people and destabilise Ecuador’s government.
- Express our support for President Rafael Correa and his democratically elected government, and commend the outstanding progressive social achievements of Ecuador’s Citizens Revolution.

Please send statements of support to friendsofecuadoruk@gmail.com

RIP David Haines

The shocking and brutal murder of David Haines is yet another outrage against humanity by the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or ISIL.

For them to claim that their pitiless acts of barbarism are committed in the name of Islam is a grotesque twisting of Islamic teaching and a blasphemy against Islam.

David Haines was a humanitarian aid worker. What kind of sick minds are capable of sadistically murdering someone whose prime motivation was compassion and humanitarianism?

And the fact that David's killer was apparently British makes the horror even more difficult to comprehend.

These murderers should not be dignified by referring to them as jihadists, they are savage serial killers.

The UK’s first priority must therefore be to stop any more young British people succumbing to this warped ideology and work with allies to cut off ISIL’s access to military hardware.

But Britain will also have to talk to Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria to ensure ISIL is ultimately defeated.