DATE=2/8/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=ECUADOR INDIANS, PART TWO
NUMBER=5-45405
BYLINE=BILL RODGERS
DATELINE=OTAVALO, ECUADOR
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Ecuador's Indians, historically the nation's
poorest and one of its least influential groups,
surprised many people when they succeeded in helping to
overthrow the country's unpopular president last month.
But as Indian leaders work to capitalize on their
achievement, some observers believe the Indian movement
may have lost more than it gained. V-O-A's Bill
Rodgers, who was in Ecuador recently, filed this
report.
TEXT:
///SFX: WOMAN TALKING ///
Nina Pacari, one of four indigenous representatives in
Ecuador's Congress, has a warning for the country's new
leaders: Take the Indian movement seriously before
making your decisions. This is not a small movement,
she says, nor is it a token movement, or one that is
isolated. Ms. Pacari says the government should think
twice before it acts, especially if it wants to rebuild
the country.
Ms. Pacari's warning, made during a recent V-O-A
interview, came just a few days after an Indian
uprising in Quito triggered the overthrow of the
country's unpopular President, Jamil Mahuad. The event
empowered an Indian movement that began less than a
dozen years ago, with increasingly strident calls for
bilingual education and territorial autonomy.
Some of these demands have been enshrined in Ecuador's
1998 constitution. But Antonio Vargas, who led last
month's Indian protest and heads the national Indian
federation called CONAIE [pron: koh-`NIGH; Spanish
acronym for the Confederation of Indigenous
Nationalities of Ecuador], notes the constitutional
provisions on Indian rights have never been carried
out.
/// VARGAS ACT IN SPANISH-ESTABLISH, FADE UNDER
///
He says the 1998 constitution contains chapters on land
rights and recognizes the rights of Indians for
bilingual education, and health, but all of these have
yet to be put in practice. Mr Vargas says, "We are
asking the government to devote part of its budget to
implement these constitutional rights." This has been
the problem, he says.
Some of these basic demands were at the root of the
massive protest that began in Quito during the week of
January 16th. But by January 21st, the Indian
protesters were calling for the overthrow of President
Mahuad, and they seized the Congress and other
government buildings to press for his ouster. Joined
by elements of the military, Mr. Mahuad was forced to
step down. But the armed forces high command withheld
its support from a three-man junta that was formed
which included Mr. Vargas. Instead, Ecuador's top
generals backed the country's vice president, Gustavo
Noboa, to replace the ousted Ecuadorian leader.
University Rector [Eds: Universidad Andina Simon
Bolivar] Enrique Ayala says the Indian protesters and
the military had a common objective -- the overthrow of
President Mahuad. But after this was achieved, Mr.
Ayala says the goals of the two groups diverged, and
the Indians were excluded from power, in large part
because they did not have enough support from the rest
of Ecuadorian society.
/// 1st AYALA ACT ///
They wanted to have an alliance with the
military. They wanted to consolidate a political
bloc with the military; that was the intention.
But they didn't want to be subordinated to the
military. Instead they wanted an agreement to
overthrow the government and set up another one.
[But] with the ethnic weight or face of this
movement, it was very difficult for them to find
ample bases of support. They were unable to do so
here in Quito, and in the majority of the
country, they were unable to gain the confidence
of other sectors of Ecuadorian society.
/// END ACT ///
Because of this, Mr. Ayala -- a historian who
specializes in Ecuador's indigenous peoples -- says
Ecuador's Indian movement may have isolated itself
further. While the overthrow of President Mahuad may
have empowered the indigenous movement, the university
head fears it also may have provoked a negative
reaction from the rest of Ecuadorian society.
/// 2nd AYALA ACT ///
The Indians have demonstrated they can overthrow
a government, that they are real force. They are
conscious of that they are a real power in this
country...I think in this sense, the movement has
become stronger, and they have gained internal
unity. But on the other hand, the honeymoon with
the middle class, the press, the trade unions and
the social groups that existed after 1992, the
500th anniversary of the discovery of America,
that honeymoon is over. There is a wave of
racism in the press, in the middle class and in
public opinion. I think that is a setback and I
deplore it.
/// END ACT ///
But in the indigenous community of Otavalo, some 120
kilometers north of Quito, local Indian leaders see
only the positive aspects of the January uprising.
Carmen Yamberla, who heads the Indigenous and Peasant
Federation of Imbabura province [Federacion Indigena y
Campesina de Imbabura], notes that one real
accomplishment was that their objectives were achieved
peacefully, without bloodshed.
/// YAMBERLA ACT IN SPANISH-IN AND FADE UNDER ///
She says, "The problems and the struggles of indigenous
peoples in other nations are similar to ours. Only the
strategies are different. In our case," she says,
"we've shown that we can achieve our objectives
peacefully -- not through violence -- and this is a
strategy others can use as well.
///SFX: INDIAN MARKETPLACE MUSIC-ESTABLISH, FADE UNDER
& HOLD ///
But in the Indian marketplace of Otavalo, these
arguments may seem remote. The vendors stand with
tables overflowing with handicrafts and woolen goods --
all unsold, victims of the depressed Ecuadorian
economy. The Indian vendors are among the lucky ones,
because in a good week they can earn 12 dollars or
more, compared to the Indians who earn far less toiling
in the fields surrounding the town and throughout
Ecuador's mountain highlands. For now, Ecuador's
indigenous people can only wait and hope the new
government will address their needs. If not, the time-
honored strategy of forsaking violence may be discarded
by leaders of future Indian uprisings.
/// MUSIC UP & OUT///
(Signed)
NEB/WFR/WTW/gm
08-Feb-2000 14:06 PM EDT (08-Feb-2000 1906 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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