Five things to know about Ecuador’s largest indigenous organization
Here’s what Ecuador’s largest indigenous organization wants from President Daniel Noboa.
All eyes are on Ecuador’s new President Daniel Noboa as he attempts to address increased violence linked to drug trafficking, and meanwhile works to tamp down the country’s national debt while mitigating an energy crisis.
But another challenge for Noboa will be navigating his relationship with Ecuador’s largest indigenous organization, The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE). The group has helped organize widespread protests since the 1990s that have contributed to policy changes and even the ousting of presidents.
Noboa, a businessman and heir to his family’s conglomerate Grupo Noboa, took over Ecuador’s top job on 23 November 2023 after his predecessor left the role early. Former president Guillermo Lasso faced possible impeachment after a widespread investigation from local media outlet La Posta alleged a connection between Lasso’s brother-in-law and the Albanian mafia (both denied the allegations). Noboa, whose campaign centered on promises to combat unemployment and violence, will serve a shortened term until 2025. Noboa announced plans to seek reelection last year, local outlet Primicias reported.
In addition to a host of complex national issues, Noboa has also inherited demands from CONAIE that range from upholding limitations on the mining industry and collecting tax debts from large businesses.
While CONAIE has publicly voiced its dissatisfaction with several of Noboa’s early policies, it has not proposed any strike actions or widespread demonstrations. But tensions could rise depending on how Noboa implements austerity measures to lower the country’s national debt. This has only become more urgent in recent weeks as the president seeks more money to fund the country’s “internal armed conflict” against gangs he declared “terrorist organizations.”
In a Bloomberg interview, Ecuador’s Economy and Finance Minister Juan Carlos Vega said the country aims to cut spending equal to about 2% of its GDP and seeks new IMF support. He also noted that the country’s available cash fell to an 18-year low of USD95 million in early December. The country would need about USD14.5 billion this year to cover its deficit, debt repayments, and arrears, local outlet El Universo reported.
As these plans shake out, a major question will be whether any of Noboa’s proposals could be a tipping point for tensions to arise with CONAIE. Fuel subsidies, a topic that has prompted CONAIE-led demonstrations in the past, could again play a central role in escalating tensions depending on whether Noboa chooses to eliminate or modify them to help with his fiscal plan. Noboa recently said in an interview that fuel subsidies now cost Ecuador about $4 billion per year. The indigenous movement is also pressing Noboa to comply with an August referendum in favor of shutting down an Amazon-based oil block, Reuters reported, threatening action such as bringing the case to Ecuador’s highest court.
Here are five things you should know about CONAIE, and the organization’s influence on Ecuadorian politics.
1. What is CONAIE?
CONAIE is the largest indigenous rights organization in Ecuador, with a platform that is generally against neoliberalist policies and resource extraction (with some exceptions).
CONAIE was formed in 1986 during the first congress held by a previously formed organization, The National Coordination Council of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONACNIE). CONAIE represents 18 indigenous communities and 15 nationalities throughout the country, with regional groups in the Coastal, Sierra and Amazon regions.
In a 2021 article, Central University of Ecuador political scientist Andrea Guillem describes CONAIE as a “heterogeneous, complex organization that emerged as a political force in Ecuador in the 1990s, filling the gap left by the disarticulation of the worker's movement.” CONAIE is not uniquely aligned with the left nor the right, Guillem added.
CONAIE is led by Leonidas Iza, who was formerly in charge of the Indigenous and Peasants’ Movement of Cotopaxi (MICC). He was arrested and released within a day after leading the country’s 2022 protests against then-president Guillermo Lasso. Its governing council is also made up of nine other members:
Vice President — Zenaida Yasacama
Organizational and Political Strengthening Director — Agustín Cachipuendo
Communications Director — Estefanía Lalvay
Education Director — Franklin Casicana
Women and Family — Alicia Cahuiya
International Relations Director — Eduardo Mendúa
Youth, Culture and Sports — Patricia Calderón
Heath and Nutrition — Jessica Isacha
Territories and National Resources — Roberto Wachapá
CONAIE has political representation in Congress through the left-wing Pachakutik party, whose coordinator is Guillermo Churuchumbi. Ecuador’s 137-member National Assembly includes five Pachakutik party members: Carmen Yolanda Tiupul Urquizo (Chimborazo province), Fabiola Maribel Sanmartín Parra (Cañar), Mariana Yumbay Yallico (Bolívar), Luzmila Abad Morocho (Morona Santiago) and Rosa Cecilia Baltazar Yucailla (Tungurahua).
“Electoral support for the indigenous movement is concentrated mainly in the rural sector, which has been a constant throughout its history, Central University of Ecuador researcher and teacher Lenín Miranda Maldonado told Southern Pulse in Spanish. “However, a significant increase has been seen in urban areas, mainly in the capital, which is the national political center.”
However, Miranda notes that CONAIE and the Pachakutik party have had strong political differences. While CONAIE’s Iza has consistently opposed right-wing governments, Pachakutik has had leaders with very different visions that depart from traditional left-wing discourse. “This generated very strong divisions within the movement,” he said. But Miranda believes the indigenous movement will now become stronger because the Pachakutik party’s new coordinator Churuchumbi shares Iza’s positions.
2. What is CONAIE demanding?
CONAIE has a history of bringing a list of demands to presidential administrations, and Noboa’s is no exception. Just three days after Noboa won Ecuador’s run-off elections on 16 October 2023, the indigenous group publicly issued 15 demands for the new president to implement during his 18-month term. These largely center on mining, collecting taxes from large businesses and strengthening social programs.
CONAIE noted in its announcement that these points arose from the 2019 and 2022 protests. The demands broadly fall into three main categories:
Limitations on Mining Industry
CONAIE presented two demands to Noboa that would affect Ecuador’s growing mining industry if considered. Mining exports reached USD2.78 billion in 2022 based on government figures, Reuters reported.
CONAIE has demanded immediate compliance with the referendum on banning oil drilling in the Yasuní National Park and mining in the Chocó Andino region.
It also called for a “moratorium and comprehensive audit” of mining concessions guaranteeing “collective and environmental rights.”
El Universo reported that Noboa voted to leave the Yasuní oil in the ground, but he more recently told news channel Teleamazonas on 22 January that he wouldn’t rule out delaying the closure of the Yasuní ITT oil fields. CONAIE and the Yasunidos collective have threatened legal action if Noboa does not comply, Reuters reported. Ecuador’s mining cadastre has been closed since 2017, although Lasso had planned to reopen it to bolster the sector during his administration.
Economy and Public Finance
CONAIE’s economic and financial demands include:
Not promoting privatization processes of “strategic sectors” and public services
Auditing the public debt and recovering funds from corruption
Collecting tax debts from “large economic groups”
Suspending free-trade agreements and making negotiations and agreements transparent
Price controls for essential products and guaranteed access to market basket goods
Limiting “abuse” of private banks through measures such as reducing interest rates and debt forgiveness
Social Issues and Policies
Strengthening public education, the national health system and social security
Guarantees for titling ancestral territories and protecting community lands
Fiscal policies to support peasant farmers
Rejecting labor reforms that worsen working conditions
“Purifying” security institutions and fighting against drug trafficking and crime
3. How has CONAIE responded to Noboa’s policies so far?
CONAIE has not announced any national strike actions. However, CONAIE and the Pachakutik party have expressed some early opposition to Noboa’s policies as the president tries to address the country’s most pressing issues.
Security
After Noboa declared an “internal armed conflict” in Ecuador on 9 January 2024, CONAIE stated its view that the organized crime wave “is the result of a structural problem, originating from the radicalization of neoliberal politics that have destroyed the state and its institutions, leaving them without response capacity.” It urged the government and National Assembly to not use the crisis as an excuse to approve unpopular laws or policies affecting the majority of the population.
CONAIE’s Amazon-based arm also rejected Noboa’s plan to construct a maximum-security prison in Pastaza province.
In early January, Noboa announced he would be proposing a referendum with questions largely focused on public safety, one of citizens’ top concerns. The Pachakutik party criticized the referendum, saying it “doesn’t solve anything” and claimed it would require spending an “unjustified” USD60 to 70 million, news outlet Primicias reported.
Tax Reform
Ecuador’s National Assembly recently passed Noboa’s tax reform. Reuters reported that it offers companies tax discounts for hiring young workers, and tax amnesty to waive interest and fines on taxpayers’ debts.
While Reuters noted that the reform is expected to generate more than USD830 million, CONAIE issued a statement against it.
“This law hides a series of reforms that exclusively favor large economic groups [and] facilitates the privatization of public companies and strategic sectors while undermining the rights of workers and the sovereignty of the country,” CONAIE announced on Twitter.
The banana business owned by Noboa’s father owes more than USD89 million in past-due taxes, according to government calculations cited by Reuters. The president’s father Álvaro Noboa is one of the richest men in Ecuador.
Energy Law
Noboa sent an electricity law to Congress to address the country’s power shortages on 20 December 2023, which lawmakers approved on January 10. The law seeks to attract foreign investment and develop new technologies. However, the Pachakutik movement responded with a press release criticizing the proposal because, in part, it “grants full freedom to private companies.”
“The current government's bill wants to solve the electricity crisis only by privatizing and benefiting the private sector; nowhere in the bill are structural solutions proposed,” the party said.
Ecuador’s GDP will take an estimated hit of more than USD600 million in 2023 due to losses from the energy crisis, BNAmericas reported. That would be equivalent to about a half percent of Ecuador’s GDP if using recent calculations from the Quito-based Observatorio de la Política Fiscal.
4. What influence could CONAIE have during Noboa’s administration?
There have been no signs so far this year that CONAIE is planning any widespread strike actions, but the group’s ability to plan far-reaching demonstrations has profoundly influenced several past administrations.
As Noboa makes quick decisions about how to balance the budget in light of the security crisis, tensions could rise between the president and indigenous groups. How much depends partly on the way Noboa implements urgent austerity measures.
What CONAIE thinks of Noboa’s planned austerity measures
Noboa proposed raising the value-added tax (VAT) on certain common products from 12% to 15% to help deal with the security crisis. CONAIE rejected the idea, claiming it does not have to do with the fight against narco-trafficking but instead “simply a way to finance tax cuts for the most privileged.” Noboa later told local news outlet La Posta that he would consider a “mixed” VAT increase where two percentage points would be temporary and one permanent.
Eleven-day protests in October 2019 erupted after former president Lenín Moreno announced a plan to cut fuel subsidies, which he ultimately had to walk back. The plan was part of the austerity measures required to get a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), BBC noted.
Noboa has not yet acted on slashing fuel subsidies. However, he recently told La Posta that he would consider targeting fuel subsidies so that sectors such as public transport and taxi drivers would not be affected by any plans to remove them. He hopes to reduce fuel subsidy costs this way by at least 25%, he added.
Although CONAIE has long proposed targeting fuel subsidies, some tensions between the indigenous organization and Noboa are evident. When Noboa told television station Teleamazonas that he would not rule out implementing targeted subsidies, he said: “We have to be quite clear…because if not we are giving Leonidas Iza the pleasure of lying to the people.” The president underscored that any plan to target subsidies would not affect the people.
CONAIE responded by saying that Noboa’s statements show “his ignorance and lack of respect” for the indigenous and peasant movements, and called to eliminate subsidies for large shrimp, tuna, and mining companies. Iza reminded the president that CONAIE proposed the idea of targeted subsidies during Lasso’s administration that were “signed and not fulfilled.” A public back-and-forth between Noboa and CONAIE about how to move forward with these dialogues has started.
Exchanges such as these beg the question of what could trigger CONAIE to shift from a dialogue-focused strategy to more disruptive action to demonstrate their discontent with the Noboa administration. Noboa does not seem to be too concerned about this potential to date, at least publicly.
CONAIE has a long history of organizing protests
The 2019 strikes were far from the only demonstrations CONAIE has participated in or led since the 1990s. There have been two other notable demonstrations in recent years: 2015 protests against former president Rafael Correa over policies including new tax laws and an amendment to eliminate presidential term limits, and the 2022 mobilization against conservative former president Guillermo Lasso largely driven by rising fuel and food prices.
The 18-day strike in 2022 resulted in more than USD110 million in economic damages by government estimates, the New York Times reported. CONAIE encouraged impeachment hearings against Lasso in March 2023. In May 2023, the president called to dissolve the National Assembly through a mechanism known as muerte cruzada. This led to the snap elections in October 2023 which Noboa ultimately won.
5. How is CONAIE funded?
CONAIE does not publicly disclose how it is funded. However, El Universo reported in July 2022 that CONAIE receives support from organizations in Ecuador that receive international financing. It said these donations have ranged from USD3,000 to USD1 million and support programs to strengthen the institution and its social programs.
El Universo identified the following CONAIE funding sources:
CONAIE received funding through the Ecuadorian human rights organization Inredh (Fundación Regional de Asesoría en Derechos Humanos). Inredh audits show the EU provided about USD1 million for a program that ended several years ago, an Inredh official told the outlet. The EU also funded CONAIE’s VII Conference through the Inredh in 2021. In 2021, Inredh spent USD25,000 on food and “indigenous mobilization” for Conaie, El Universo reported.
Environmental organization Fundación Pachamama, funded by the U.S.-based Pachamama Alliance, told El Universo that it was providing CONAIE with monthly funds of USD3,500 for various office-related supplies and meeting costs.
Germany-funded FES ILDS has provided CONAIE with about USD11,000 in funding to translate COVID-19 information and cover “fee payments,” and also donated personal protective equipment and other items. However, a spokesperson said the financing did not go directly into CONAIE’s accounts.
Looking Ahead
While CONAIE has expressed dissatisfaction with several of the Noboa administration’s proposals, it has not yet taken or called for any disruptive action to date. However, tensions could increase depending on how Noboa handles the country’s dire security situation, energy crisis, and economic issues. Possible changes to fuel subsidies could increase tensions, as well as proposals to increase VAT and delay action on shutting down oil drilling in the Yasuní. Monitoring Noboa’s relationship with CONAIE will be a crucial part of understanding Ecuador’s state of affairs in 2024.
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