(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Lucio Gutierrez was the colonel who emerged from the great nothing during the chaotic rebel days in Ecuador in January 2000. Within a few hours, the people had; Indians, workers, peasants and students, took control in the vacuum that arose after the downfall of the corrupt Mahaumad. But after some talks between the US embassy and some senior officers who claimed they were on the people's side, the Ecuadorians were explained that power would be left to the country's Congress. Colonel Lucio Gutierrez was imprisoned, and as a result: his prestige considerably strengthened. One year later, he is accused of participating in a political game set in the scene by the CIA.
The sun is burning, despite the fact that it is only 25 degrees. But at an altitude of 2650 meters it is like a mackerel; it literally chops. Protesters have gathered at the country's congress building, shouting "traitor Gutierrez." The man they presented as their representative; he was to throw the Yankees out of the Manta military base and burn the dollar bills that had been forced on Ecuador by the US-controlled international financial institutions; he was thus to cross and do the exact opposite.
Support from the oligarchs
A few weeks before I arrive in Ecuador, President Gutierrez has expelled the Pachakutik Native American organization, with its four ministers, from the government. Before that, the Left Party MPD (Movimiento Popular Democratico) has left the government and the Ministry of the Environment.
- Already during the second election reason, we sensed owls in the bog, when we saw that the oligarchs pumped money into Gutierrez 'campaign.
That's what Luis Villacis Maldonado, one of the MPD MPs, says. He accepts in the central bank's large building near Quito's historic center, and looks like a central bank boss with neat shirt and tie. But his words are revolutionary.
MPD is a front organization formed 24 years ago by PCEML, the country's Maoist party. It is Ecuador's best-organized left-wing party. But it is not a sectarian party. The youth group JRE, Ecuador's Revolutionary Youth, is by far the country's largest youth movement. The party as such dominates the national organization UGT and the country's largest trade union with 130.000 teachers. Lucio Gutierrez realized early on the importance of drawing MPD and PCEML into the government to neutralize them. But they were not as easy to buy as other political figures and parties.
- The MPD's work is about conquering political power and creating a democratic, revolutionary government with the aim of building socialism. We thus pose a danger to the United States and the Ecuadorian oligarchy. That is why they are trying to isolate us from the working class and the poorest in Ecuador.
Behind the MPD leader hangs a portrait of Jaime Hurtado, the black leader and MPD MP who was assassinated on February 17, 1999 by people identified as state security agents. Several other leaders have also fallen victim to what the MPD and PCEML refer to as "state terrorism."
- But the bourgeoisie has not succeeded. Contrary to what they hoped, we were strengthened after the murder of Jaime, says Villacis.
Luis Villacis was himself a presidential candidate, nominated by a broad movement that included everything from PCEML, student and trade unions, as well as farmers and Native American organizations. But when an even broader front put forward Lucio Gutierrez as an alternative to the corrupt parties, the MPD withdrew its candidate. It was this decision that led to Gutierrez becoming president.
The election campaign was about poverty, emigration and unemployment. But there was also a demand that one must defend national sovereignty and not fall on one's knees for the monetary fund. Social issues should be at the forefront.
- The oligarchy's various election options suffered defeat while the people put all their trust in Gutierrez, Villacis emphasizes.
The people most important
In the election campaign, Gutierrez promised more for education and health. But nothing happened, and the teachers' team, with its 130.000 members and led by the MPD, went on general strike.
- Before the election, we demanded 150 million dollars more for education. Gutierrez had even signed on to this. But with Mauricio Pozo at the helm, they prioritize paying loans and interest to the IMF. We told Gutierrez: this is not what we agreed on. After a four-week strike, Congress was forced to increase the limit by $ 165 million.
The strike paved the way for other groups of workers. The government's attempt to privatize the country's most important resource, oil, prompted oil workers' union Fetrapec to take up the fight. On the streets today, the trade union movement is demonstrating against the president; the man who financed his election campaign with money from the workers. Six months after the election, Gutierrez issued an arrest warrant for a dozen professional leaders and launched a witch hunt against those who led many to go underground.
- For 26 years we have been fighting against a neoliberalism that wants to privatize companies like Petroecuador. But when the president signed the agreement with the monetary fund on February 10 this year, he was also determined to privatize the refineries. They were closed, and the army was sent in an attempt to avoid actions by the workers.
So says Faustin Valencia, general secretary of Fetrapec, who just days before my arrival has left his secret hiding place "underground." But he looks ready to fight when he starts talking about the profitable oil industry that brings in 45 percent of the country's revenue but which, like in Venezuela, has been a giant dairy cow for the corrupt parasites who have stolen billions of dollars from the people.
Does not contribute anything
For the IMF and the major transnational oil companies, Petroecuador is an aerial mirror that they would like to materialize through privatization. Over the past thirty years, the oil industry has contributed $ 60 billion to the Ecuadorian Treasury. Companies such as Texaco, Gulf, YFP and OXY have also become rich in extraction, primarily through the sale of knowledge technology.
Why then is it not better for these companies to take care of oil extraction in Ecuador? The numbers speak for themselves:
- While the state oil company contributes twenty dollars per. barrels to the Treasury, private companies pay 0.40 dollars per. fat. While the oil company in Argentina previously contributed billions of dollars to infrastructure, education and health, the Spanish Repsol, which now controls the oil sector there, pays barely a single peso. The gain instead goes into the pockets of the shareholders.
It was against such a background that the oil union in Ecuador went on strike. The strike was met with brutal police force, initiated by the president whom the workers had supported and believed in and whose election campaign they had also funded.
The country's energy minister did as his colleagues have done in a number of other countries. He accused the workers of "sabotage." A dozen labor leaders went underground. From their secret hiding places, they led the strike for 55 days. Then they surrendered. During the next 48 hours, everyone was released. But the Gutierrez government had shown its political color. An alliance was broken.
With Uribe and the United States
In several interviews during and after the arrest, Lucio Gutierrez expressed understanding for the armed struggle in Colombia – a result of the social and political situation in the country. Well installed as president, he stated that Ecuador could act as a mediator in the neighboring country. This did not go down well with Colombia's new president, Alvaro Uribe. It also did not help that Foreign Minister Nina Pacari from Pachakutik would not characterize the FARC guerrillas as terrorists. Bogota and Washington sent spears and bile against the Quito government.
During the spring, the tone changed. When the "Rio group" met in Cusco on May 24 this year, Gutierrez had changed his mind. One day before the meeting, he announced his plan for peace in Colombia. It meant that the UN would force the FARC to lay down its arms and enter into talks – with the UN, not the Uribe government. If that did not happen, the UN would send a military force to Colombia to fight on the side of the bloodied Colombian army.
As I walk the streets of Quito, I see painted slogans everywhere: no to plan Colombia – no to the visit of the fascist Uribe.
- There is hardly a single Ecuadorian who is for Uribe or plan Colombia. What Uribe hopes to achieve during its visit here is to regionalize Colombia's plan and draw Ecuador into the war there. That is also the goal of the United States, says Alexis Ponce, head of APDH – the permanent committee on human rights in Ecuador.
Andes Mountains Ariel Sharon
The day after the protests against the president, Quito has been invaded by 26.000 police soldiers who are holding the city in an iron grip.
Alvaro Uribe's speech in Congress is about one issue; that the political conflict in his country is due to a war against evil drug terrorists that not only threatens democracy in Colombia, but can at any time turn the peace of neighboring countries into a battlefield. That is why Colombia and Ecuador need each other.
A regionalization of the war against the left-wing guerrillas in Colombia is something that worries Ecuadorians. Uribe, whom Alexis Ponce calls "Ariel Sharon of the Andes," does not miss a single opportunity to pressure neighboring countries to join the crusade against the FARC guerrillas.
Gutierrez is currently being criticized for not closing the US air base Manta, just a two-minute flight from the Colombian border. "Manta is nothing more than a military base aimed at guerrillas in Colombia," said Luis Villacis. – Instead of closing it, Gutierrez has expanded it.
When I leave the central bank and go up to Congress, thousands of workers, Indians and students have joined the cry "traitor" when the president's name is mentioned. They are bitter and disappointed after decades of deception and betrayal. But twice Ecuadorians have overthrown corrupt rulers, and now they are joined by their brothers and sisters in Bolivia. It does not bode well for President George W. Bush.
