Σχετικό: Ισημερινός: Οι αυτόχθονες κήρυξαν πόλεμο στον Μορένο και το ΔΝΤ
Αντιμέτωπος με συνεχιζόμενες μαζικές απεργίες και την εξέγερση των αυτοχθόνων, ο πρόεδρος του Ισημερινού Λένιν Μορένο διέταξε τη μετακίνηση της έδρας της κυβέρνησης από την πρωτεύουσα Κίτο, στην παραλιακή πόλη Γκουαγιακίλ, από όπου διέταξε την απαγόρευση κυκλοφορίας στη χώρα.
Ecuador’s president retreats from capital in face of growing mass protests
By Andrea Lobo
9 October 2019
In the face of a continuing strike and a mass indigenous mobilization against an IMF-dictated austerity package, Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno moved his government from the capital of Quito to the coastal city of Guayaquil, where he is now directing a police-state crackdown.
This retreat from Ecuador’s Andean capital, unprecedented in the country’s history, is a measure of the intensity of social and political unrest as Ecuador enters a second week of demonstrations against the draconian austerity program unveiled by the Moreno government on October 1.
Anti-government protesters clash with police near the National Assembly in Quito, Ecuador [Credit: AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa]
On Tuesday, indigenous demonstrators marched through the streets of Quito and occupied the national congress as well as other government buildings.
Late on Tuesday, Moreno decreed a partial curfew near “strategic zones” like government buildings, which will be overseen by the armed forces. Heavily armed troops have been deployed to the streets of Quito, deploying razor-wire barricades to block protesters.
The government has responded to the resistance with increasingly dictatorial measures. It has suspended the right to assembly and strike and deployed the military after declaring a state of exception last Wednesday. Emergency rule was ratified by the Supreme Court, despite reducing it from 60 to 30 days. The repression has resulted in one death, the wounding of dozens of demonstrators attacked with rubber bullets, tear gas and baton charges, along with 570 arrests. Several detainees, including the leader of the taxi drivers’ union, face three-year sentences for “paralyzing public services.”
Schools have remained closed since Thursday. There were roadblocks Tuesday in 17 of the 24 provinces. On Sunday, a demonstrator named Raúl Chilpe was killed by a driver attempting to run over a roadblock in the Azuay province.
On Monday, Moreno said he would not “turn back” on his decisions and portrayed the protests as “looting, vandalism and violence” aimed at “destabilizing the government.” He alleged—without providing a shred of evidence—that the mass protests had been instigated and financed by his predecessor Rafael Correa and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Moreno’s chief of staff, Juan Sebastián Roldán contradicted his boss, declaring: “What is happening and what may happen is the sole and exclusive responsibility of the indigenous leaders who have lost control of the situation.”
Across the eastern and southern provinces, indigenous protesters have captured several military and police convoys, with at least one group of 50 soldiers and five policemen held prisoner until Monday, when they were freed. The oil ministry reported that three state-owned PetroAmazonas oilfields in the northeastern provinces had been “occupied by people not related to the operation,” leading to a 12 percent fall in national production.
Workers, students and indigenous communities have mobilized massively in roadblocks and during the nationwide strike last Thursday and Friday, demanding an immediate end to austerity and the resignation of the Moreno government.
On the other hand, despite claiming to reject any talks with Moreno until the austerity package is cancelled, the organizations leading the protests—most prominently the trade union confederation United Workers Front (FUT), the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) and the Stalinist-led Popular Front—are appealing for intermittent, “gradual” protests and “national unity.”
Dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of a $4.2 billion loan agreement approved in February, the most severe measure is the elimination of $1.3 billion in fuel subsidies, which have resulted in the more than doubling of gas and diesel prices. This in turn has triggered a spiraling of prices of basic necessities.
The decision to scrap the fuel subsidies—which even the most right-wing governments had shied away from for the last four decades—marks a new stage in the efforts of the Ecuadorian ruling class to ingratiate itself with US and European capital. The international banks and financial institutions have persistently demanded the elimination of the subsidies, which were created by the CIA-backed military dictatorship during the 1970s.
A June 2019 study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) found that the greatest beneficiaries of the subsidies were oil companies and the businesses in general; however, their elimination will cut the incomes of the poorest 40 percent of the population by 4.5 to 5 percent. The proceeds extracted through the intensification of poverty and hunger will be channeled to Wall Street as well as wealthy bondholders within Ecuador itself.
Other diktats of globalized finance announced by Moreno on October 1 include cuts to tariffs and taxes on certain imports, a labor reform to facilitate “flexible” contracts, a 20 percent wage cut for new-hires in the public sector and a reduction from 30 to 15 yearly vacation days. This comes on top of the firing of 20,000 public employees that has been carried out since May 2017.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/09/ecua-o09.html
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"O σιωπών δοκεί συναινείν"
Αντιμέτωπος με συνεχιζόμενες μαζικές απεργίες και την εξέγερση των αυτοχθόνων, ο πρόεδρος του Ισημερινού Λένιν Μορένο διέταξε τη μετακίνηση της έδρας της κυβέρνησης από την πρωτεύουσα Κίτο, στην παραλιακή πόλη Γκουαγιακίλ, από όπου διέταξε την απαγόρευση κυκλοφορίας στη χώρα.
Η πρωτοφανής αυτή κίνηση υποχώρησης (που στους μύστες της κωμωδίας θυμίζει το Monty Python Tactical Manoeuvre), υποδεικνύει την ένταση των αντιδράσεων στο πρόγραμμα λιτότητας που ανακοίνωσε η κυβέρνηση Μορένο την 1η Οκτωβρίου, σε συνεργασία με το ΔΝΤ.
Την Τρίτη, μαζικές διαδηλώσεις αυτοχθόνων από τον Βορρά της χώρας, έφτασαν στην πρωτεύουσα, καταλαμβάνοντας την Εθνοσυνέλευση και άλλα κυβερνητικά κτίρια, και αναγκάζοντας την κυβέρνηση να τραπεί σε φυγή προς τον Νότο και να αφήσει «στο πόδι της» μονάχα δυνάμεις του Στρατού και της Αστυνομίας.
Η κυβέρνηση έχει αντιδράσει με δρακόντεια μέτρα αστυνόμευσης και περιορισμού των δικαιωμάτων της συνάθροισης και της κυκλοφορίας. Η κατάσταση εκτάκτου ανάγκης που κήρυξε ο Μορένο, επιβεβαιώθηκε από το Ανώτατο Δικαστήριο του Ισημερινού, αν και η διάρκειά της μειώθηκε από τις 60 στις 30 ημέρες.
Η κυβερνητική καταστολή έχει μέχρι στιγμής αποτέλεσμα έναν νεκρό, δεκάδες τραυματίες από πλαστικές σφαίρες, δακρυγόνα και κλομπ, και τη σύλληψη τουλάχιστον 570 ανθρώπων. Μεταξύ αυτών και ηγετικά στελέχη του συνδικαλιστικού κινήματος του Εκουαδόρ, που αντιμετωπίζουν ποινές φυλάκισης έως τρία χρόνια, για «παράλυση δημόσιων υπηρεσιών».
Τα σχολεία σε μεγάλο μέρος της χώρας έχουν παραμείνει κλειστά, ενώ οι διαδηλωτές έχουν στήσει οδοφράγματα σε 17 από τις 24 επαρχίες της χώρας. ...
Σε δηλώσεις του τη Δευτέρα, ο πρόεδρος Μορένο είπε πως «δεν θα κάνει πίσω» και έβαψε με μελανά χρώματα τους διαδηλωτές λέγοντας ότι «ενδιαφέρονται μόνο για τη λεηλασία, την καταστροφή και την αποσταθεροποίηση της κυβέρνησης». Χωρίς ίχνος αποδείξεων, κατηγόρησε τον προκάτοχό του Ραφαέλ Κορέα και τον πρόεδρο της Βενεζουέλας Νικολάς Μαδούρο, ως ενορχηστρωτές των διαδηλώσεων.
Σε δηλώσεις του τη Δευτέρα, ο πρόεδρος Μορένο είπε πως «δεν θα κάνει πίσω» και έβαψε με μελανά χρώματα τους διαδηλωτές λέγοντας ότι «ενδιαφέρονται μόνο για τη λεηλασία, την καταστροφή και την αποσταθεροποίηση της κυβέρνησης». Χωρίς ίχνος αποδείξεων, κατηγόρησε τον προκάτοχό του Ραφαέλ Κορέα και τον πρόεδρο της Βενεζουέλας Νικολάς Μαδούρο, ως ενορχηστρωτές των διαδηλώσεων.
Με πληροφορίες από: telesur
Ecuador’s president retreats from capital in face of growing mass protests
By Andrea Lobo
9 October 2019
In the face of a continuing strike and a mass indigenous mobilization against an IMF-dictated austerity package, Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno moved his government from the capital of Quito to the coastal city of Guayaquil, where he is now directing a police-state crackdown.
This retreat from Ecuador’s Andean capital, unprecedented in the country’s history, is a measure of the intensity of social and political unrest as Ecuador enters a second week of demonstrations against the draconian austerity program unveiled by the Moreno government on October 1.
Anti-government protesters clash with police near the National Assembly in Quito, Ecuador [Credit: AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa]
On Tuesday, indigenous demonstrators marched through the streets of Quito and occupied the national congress as well as other government buildings.
Late on Tuesday, Moreno decreed a partial curfew near “strategic zones” like government buildings, which will be overseen by the armed forces. Heavily armed troops have been deployed to the streets of Quito, deploying razor-wire barricades to block protesters.
The government has responded to the resistance with increasingly dictatorial measures. It has suspended the right to assembly and strike and deployed the military after declaring a state of exception last Wednesday. Emergency rule was ratified by the Supreme Court, despite reducing it from 60 to 30 days. The repression has resulted in one death, the wounding of dozens of demonstrators attacked with rubber bullets, tear gas and baton charges, along with 570 arrests. Several detainees, including the leader of the taxi drivers’ union, face three-year sentences for “paralyzing public services.”
Schools have remained closed since Thursday. There were roadblocks Tuesday in 17 of the 24 provinces. On Sunday, a demonstrator named Raúl Chilpe was killed by a driver attempting to run over a roadblock in the Azuay province.
On Monday, Moreno said he would not “turn back” on his decisions and portrayed the protests as “looting, vandalism and violence” aimed at “destabilizing the government.” He alleged—without providing a shred of evidence—that the mass protests had been instigated and financed by his predecessor Rafael Correa and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Moreno’s chief of staff, Juan Sebastián Roldán contradicted his boss, declaring: “What is happening and what may happen is the sole and exclusive responsibility of the indigenous leaders who have lost control of the situation.”
Across the eastern and southern provinces, indigenous protesters have captured several military and police convoys, with at least one group of 50 soldiers and five policemen held prisoner until Monday, when they were freed. The oil ministry reported that three state-owned PetroAmazonas oilfields in the northeastern provinces had been “occupied by people not related to the operation,” leading to a 12 percent fall in national production.
Workers, students and indigenous communities have mobilized massively in roadblocks and during the nationwide strike last Thursday and Friday, demanding an immediate end to austerity and the resignation of the Moreno government.
On the other hand, despite claiming to reject any talks with Moreno until the austerity package is cancelled, the organizations leading the protests—most prominently the trade union confederation United Workers Front (FUT), the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) and the Stalinist-led Popular Front—are appealing for intermittent, “gradual” protests and “national unity.”
Dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of a $4.2 billion loan agreement approved in February, the most severe measure is the elimination of $1.3 billion in fuel subsidies, which have resulted in the more than doubling of gas and diesel prices. This in turn has triggered a spiraling of prices of basic necessities.
The decision to scrap the fuel subsidies—which even the most right-wing governments had shied away from for the last four decades—marks a new stage in the efforts of the Ecuadorian ruling class to ingratiate itself with US and European capital. The international banks and financial institutions have persistently demanded the elimination of the subsidies, which were created by the CIA-backed military dictatorship during the 1970s.
A June 2019 study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) found that the greatest beneficiaries of the subsidies were oil companies and the businesses in general; however, their elimination will cut the incomes of the poorest 40 percent of the population by 4.5 to 5 percent. The proceeds extracted through the intensification of poverty and hunger will be channeled to Wall Street as well as wealthy bondholders within Ecuador itself.
Other diktats of globalized finance announced by Moreno on October 1 include cuts to tariffs and taxes on certain imports, a labor reform to facilitate “flexible” contracts, a 20 percent wage cut for new-hires in the public sector and a reduction from 30 to 15 yearly vacation days. This comes on top of the firing of 20,000 public employees that has been carried out since May 2017.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/09/ecua-o09.html
=====================
"O σιωπών δοκεί συναινείν"
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