Assessment for Indigenous Highland Peoples in Ecuador

Risk Assessment | Analytic Summary | References

Risk Assessment

Economic and political discrimination against indigenous people seems likely to continue. One can infer, based on earlier patterns of organization and mobilization, that highland Indians will continue to protest and mobilize for their demands and have some success with this mobilization (POLDIS00-01 = 3; POLDIS02-03 = 1). Violent protest is also a possibility, yet may be reduced, if the movement can maintain its Parliamentary seats and political voice, which has continued to increase over the past decade. Future mobilization by Ecuador's indigenous groups is likely at all levels – local, national, and international – but its effectiveness remains unproven. The indigenous communities of Ecuador have become adept at using international organizations and resources to voice their concerns on both the local and global levels.

Analytic Summary

The Central Highlands of Ecuador contain the largest population in the country of indigenous peoples, particularly the states of Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, and Bolivar. Chimborazo suffers from the most extreme rural poverty in the country in addition to being the state with the highest concentration of indigenous peoples (GROUPCON = 3). Sierra Indians tend to be migrants and wage laborers in contrast to the mestizos of the highlands who are market-oriented farmers or workers. Studies show that migratory workers are poorer than those that participate in market labor. While the Sierra Indians produce traditional foodstuffs for domestic markets, the Coastal Indians participate in export-oriented agriculture and live in a region with a higher concentration of mestizos. This has lead to a decline in the amount of available arable land (MIGSTR99 = 2), forcing Indians in the Highlands to migrate to the cities or to the Coastal regions (MIGRANT = 6).

The Sierra Indian (Quechua) culture dates to pre-Columbian times; their earliest remains date back to 1000 BCE. The Incas conquered their agricultural culture in the mid-15th century and set up a second capital in Quito. The later Spanish encomienda labor system brought many separate tribes living together, where they eventually developed similar customs (ETHDIFXX = 5). The most distinct group today are the Otavalos, who are known for their wool weavings. Most Sierra Indians still live in villages smaller than 2,500 persons. The majority depend on subsistence farming of vegetable products and grains, including barley, corn, and wheat. The Coastal Indians (Colorados and Cayapas) speak a language called Chibchan (LANG = 1). Both groups have also integrated with non-indigenous groups and are quickly losing their traditional customs. They live mainly by hunting, fishing, and agriculture, although they are quickly entering the market economy, which is changing their original settlements and villages. Indians from both the Sierra and the Coast have integrated with the market economy and mixed with non-indigenous peoples (RACE = 2), as opposed to the Amazonian Indians who have remained separate and less integrated in the Ecuadorian society and market. Sierra and Coastal Indians also tend to be Roman Catholic, with a mixture of indigenous and tribal traditions. The Sierra Indians and Coastal Indians are among the poorest, least-educated members of Ecuadorian society. Many do not speak Spanish, but native languages such as Quichua.

Political groups in the Sierra have organized primarily in response to agrarian land reforms in the 1960s (GOJPA03 = 2). The first, the Ecuadorian Indigenous Federation (FEI), was established in 1944 by the Ecuadorian Communist Party. In 1972, the Catholic Church sponsored the first regional meeting of the Sierra Indian communities, which established ECUARUNARI (Ecuador Runacunapac Riccharimui). The group has since abandoned affiliation with the Church and now functions as a federation of local Indian communities. The national Indian organization of Ecuador is CONAIE, formed by the union of ECUARUNARI and CONFENAIE in 1980. Shortly afterwards, the coastal Indian communities formed the regional group COICE (Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Coast of Ecuador); it later joined CONAIE. CONAIE has very strong leadership through its president (Luis Macas) and secretaries for various issue areas, such as human rights, women, health, and education. As the national representative for the indigenous people of Ecuador (ORG00SUP = 4), CONAIE has a set of sixteen goals. They include demands to end the "subjugation of indigenous peoples," land distribution and economic development, investment in the infrastructure and the removal of barriers put in place by the state to impede indigenous economic development (e.g., debt, lack of credit, regressive taxation, and a price structure biased against Indian products) (ECDIS00-03 = 3), cultural rights for bilingual education, control of indigenous archeological sites, and government support for native medicine. They have also called for Ecuador to be recognized as a "plurinational, multi-ethnic" state. CONAIE has received resources from international groups including anthropological and environmental organizations, OXFAM, the Inter-American Foundation, the Rainforest Action Network, in addition tovarious community support organizations. Organized at local, regional, national, and international levels, CONAIE is able to acquire resources and mobilize effectively.

Various international and transnational organizations have sought to help the indigenous communities save their territories in Ecuador - the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues and Amnesty International have both supported Indian environmental and human rights concerns, in addition to making international media announcements protesting abuses in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Environmental groups have criticized the World Bank for its new Global Environmental Facility (GEF) grant to protect Ecuador's forest and indigenous territories. Indian communities are also organizing international funds to persuade the government to agree to a debt-for-land swap.

In 1990, a series of indigenous uprisings occurred throughout the highland region. Churches and regional capitals were occupied, widespread roadblocks and the voluntary closure of Indian-run markets dramatically reduced available food supplies. Organized by CONAIE and other highland groups, the protests effectively "shut down" the country for more than a week as a way to remind Ecuadorians of their dependency on indigenous farmers. The government responded by deploying heavily armed troops throughout the Sierra, often using teargas on protesters. Amnesty International later reported that "heavily armed paramilitary groups, acting with official acquiescence or the direct cooperation of local official forces" committed human rights abuses against Indians. To date, these officials have not been prosecuted.

After Sixto Duran won the presidential election of 1992, he attempted to renege on a bilingual education agreement the government had earlier negotiated with CONAIE, only to back down after widespread protests. He later named the indigenous intellectual Jose Qiumbo to a national Indian affairs office, but failed to provide funding to the office. Over the next two years, his administration attempted to implement a range of neoliberal policies, including agrarian reform that allegedly included an end to communal land holdings. CONAIE organized a wave of protests that included blockades and sporadic violence. The government declared a state of siege, which only spurred the uprising further – scores were reported killed. An end to hostilities was eventually negotiated under the auspices of the Church.

Indigenous candidates won a tenth of total parliamentary seats in the election of 1996, introducing the first ever indigenous representatives. However, the election also marked a split between highland and lowland Indians, with the former opposing Bucaram's presidential bid. The rift appeared healed by 1997, when indigenous groups across Ecuador mobilized to protest economic austerity measures and Bucaram's perceived corruption. Following a two-day strike and an unsuccessful state of siege, the president was declared mentally incompetent by the Ecuadorian Congress in early February. In 1998, constitutional reforms explicitly increased minorities rights, though the congress has only been partially successful at passing legislation that implements these rights.

In 2000, indigenous protesters again attempted to reverse reforms ("dollarization" of the economy, in particular) and oust Bucaram's successor, Jamil Mahuad (PROT00 = 4). They appeared to succeed when the military supported their claims in an effort to defuse protests. However, the military soon backed out of that agreement, reportedly after US officials threatened to withdraw foreign aid. Though Mahuad was forced to resign, his vice-president Gustavo Noboa was installed as Ecuador's head of state. He went on to complete the dollarization program later that year. Massive protests against government policies by the indigenous in 2001 resulted in mass arrests, violence, and death. In 2003, indigenous candidates to parliament and municipal governments took over 12 percent of the vote. However, a coalition between President Lucio Gutierrez and indigenous groups (such as Pachakutik) broke down over disagreements on economic policy. Pachakutik organized protests, though they did not result in either massive unrest, or in the resignation of Gutierrez.

References

"Human Rights Violations Against Indigenous Peoples." Amnesty International. New York. October 1992.

Psacharopoulos, Goerge and Harry Anthony Patrinos. Indigenous People and Poverty in Latin America. Washington, D.C. World Bank. 1994.

Salacuse, Maria. "The Revisionist Analysis of the Indigenous Movement of Resistence in Ecuador: From the Spanish Conquest to the Present." Latin American Certificate Thesis. May 5, 1993.

Selverston, Melina H. "Indigenous Peoples and the State in Ecuador." In D. Van Cott, Indigenous Peoples and Democracy in Latin America. New York. St. Martin's Press. 1994.

Well, Thomas., Jan Knippers Black, Howard I. Blutstein, David McMorris, Mildred Gill Mersereau, Frederick P. Munson, Kathryn E. Parachini. Area Handbook for Ecuador. 1973.

Zamosc, Leon. "Agrarian Proteset and the Indian Movement in the Ecuadorian Highlands." Latin American Research Review. 29(30): 37-68. 1994.

U.S. Department of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - Ecuador 2001-2003.

Lexis Nexis, all news reports, 2001-2003.

New Internationalist, May, 2003, (356) My'03 pg 27-28; ISSN: 0305-9529, 5623744, 1409 words, Growing from the grassroots: Pachakutik, a new alliance of indigenous people with the urban and rural poor, is now part of the Government in Ecuador. Luis Angel Saavedra explains the background - and the dilemmas an increasingly prominent indigenous movement now faces. http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/ Date accessed: 11/30/2004.

BBC Monitoring Latin America, April 16, 2003, "Ecuador: Pachakutik Demands Greater Decision-Making Role In Government," http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/ Date accessed: 11/30/2004.

Latin America Weekly Report, February 6, 2001, "Wavering Response To 'Uprising'; Repression, Negotiation, Then Army Call-Out," http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/ Date accessed: 11/30/2004.

Brazil Report, September 9, 2003, "Gutierrez Capitalises On Conaie-Pachakutik Split," http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/ Date accessed: 11/30/2004.

** In addition to Reuter's News Service, InterPress News Service, and El Comercio News Service.