1 12 1 https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/0ddd4b6fcd140b0ddcd65036b55c120b.pdf 00ca4c215dfc802619cc94fd725c133c PDF Text Text 5 E l F 0 E T E R M I N A T I 0 N A N D --. ' .- T E _.,'-.!' l ..c._,"'--'R-''--- - - - - - - - - - - - - R Rc..!.. T O " Y PachakutikNuevo Pais: Breaking New Ground in Ecuadorean Politics In an historic moment, Luis Macas, former president of CONAl£ (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador) ran as a candidate to the National Congress in Ecuador's last presidential elections and won a seat as National Deputy on the Pachakutik-Nuevo Pais (New Country) ticket. This was the first time in recent Ecuadorian history that an Indigenous leader sought election to a national office. In this interview, we talk with Luis Macas about CONAl£ and the future of the Indigenous movement in Ecuador. f~~wMt. Luis Macas lufs Macas during a recent visit to SAIIC. Our fundamental objective was to consolidate a social base in our country. united with workers, Afro- We wanted to consolidate a strategic Ecuadorians, women. youth, profes- base of Ecuadorian peoples for the near sionals, teachers, human rights work- and long range futu re. Y have to ou ers, and the grassroots Christian com- remember we had an absolute disad· munity. That is to say. all the inhabi· vantage facing political panics of the dida1cs? tams of our country who anxiously right, parties that have invested milor the Indigenous movement want change, transfomuuion. and bet· lions of dollars in their campaigns: the Social Christian Pany, the Roldosista it is an extremely valuable ter days for our nation and people. The fact we will forge this great Ecuadorian Party, the Popular experience. \Ve have experi· cnccd triumph and gains in movement, achieving the unity of Democracy party, the Conservative many forms. Firs1, the Ecuadorian peoples. is really a tri- Party. and the party led by Mr. Noboa. increased coverage of the Indigenous umph. For us. it means an historic All have invested money. and what they movement's struggle, the extension of step. It signifies having initiated a dif- want is to get back, with interest. their the Indigenous movement's political ferent process in the country. and one investments in the political campaigns. realm to other social sectors. and the that is unique in Latin America. I However, they are not the only ones formation of the Movimiento Unidad· would say this time we believe we have who personaH)' make investments but Plurinacional Pachakutic-Nuevo Pafs. gained a lot. also other businessmen. I would say In general , could you cvalua1e 1he For us, this is a move forward. Now, election process from the poi•u of view of the Indigenous w'inncrs- not just the significance of the number of votes, but also of this e lection and of the participation of Indigenous can· Indigenous peoples are not alone. but F 18 Abya Y News ala �SELF DE T ERMIHATIOH this is how corruption in electoral cam- meaning between a traditional cam- paigns begins. Once they are in power, the debts accumulated b)' the electoral machine have 10 be paid 10 the businessmen. In this last election, it was an incredible machine, as never before in the history of Ecuador. paign and the traditional fonn in which the political parties have driven their electoral campaigns. First, we focused AHD TERR I TORY on contenl. It was obvious to rely on Ecuadorian people a government program. Everyone has to submit 10 what they think. There is no consultation abou11he needs of the people, the community. So thats another difference. the candidates at a local, provincial and Theirs is an individual effort, the work national level. \Ve favored a govern* \¥e were also at a disadvantage con- ment program. \Ve didn't want to imi· cerning time, but the Indigenous candidates quickly achieved a national presence with people in positions a1 a local, provincial. and national level. In two months and two weeks. we saw the election of approximately seventy authorities at a national level. For us, this is a triumph. I tate the traditional political ways: the cheap offers 10 the Ecuadorian people of an aristocracy that scorns the people. Another difference is in electoral spending. They have spent millions of dollars in this electOral process. In my in an attempt to convince them and opinion they raised an offensive cam- auract their votes. the discourse of paign what everyone is accustomed to. don 't want to say we are in second or third place. We believe we are the first political force at a national level. Ours is a political force that lsn·t necessarily sponsored by any political party. Civil society expressed its political will with decision. I would say that in this game the lndigenous movement has played an important role. Before the convoking of the Indigenous movement, all the social forces, all the popular forces of our coumry decided 10 organize a national minga (communal work) to build something different, something that hasn·t been seen in the history of our patria. What were sonte of the differences between the campaigning style of t he Pachakutik movement and that of the traditio nal political parties? How did you implement the campaign? There is a radical difference in Vol. 10 No. 2 against the political clientelism, and nothing more. This clientelism is The difference is our proposals don't originate from the presidential candidate, nor from the candidates for deputies. Our proposals come from the people. We have been working on them for years. They are a collective effort, a collective force. They are the Ecuadorian peoples-an aggressive campaign. They have appeared on television and on the radio puuing out a series of lies to our peoples. They use these publicity spots to appear together with a poor woman or with a poor child. With these images the)' try to make an impression on the people. Also, the other urban sectOrs that see them are definitely affected. It may not reach the majority of the people, but it reaches a wide social sector "We didn't want to imitate the traditional political ways: the cheap offers to the Ecuadorian p eople in an attempt to convince them and attract their votes, the discourse of political clientelism, and nothing more." result of uprisings, struggles, and the marches of our peoples. This then 1ransfonns itself into a political proposal, into a government program. This isn't how Mr. Nebot proceeded. who only presented his political proposal, or Mr. Rodrigo Paz. What they do is sit down at a desk with their two specialists. write whatever, and show the of the country. If we had 10 describe our country right now. we would say that there it is absolutely covered in paint. The walls, trees, rocks, and paths are covered with posters. Everything is covered. We can observe the differences in the campaign proceedings. There are posters everywhere. Where did this 19 �S E L F DETERMINATION A N D TERRITORY paign to every last corner of our country- from the last community in the Amazon region, to the last plateau in the sierra region, to the last beaches in the coastal region. This has been our way of running a campaign. \ Ve have had to walk. We have been accompanied by these people. We anended meetings in plaz.1s. many of which were designed by the people. Because they asked . we had to walk to such places. \\1c had w auend serninars in such places. Everything was done in a collective and coordinated way. in common agreement , in a great minga. These are the differences we were able to establish. money come from, we ask ourselves? ence. A very wealthy campaign facing a These expenses> There, I would say, is campaign of programs that visits the where the corruption of the politics of communilies. How have we instituted our count ry is initiated. The aristocrats our candidacy> We have gone to the of national politics have an under- communities. We have gone to the standing of political work. What. for neighborhoods. We have gone to the families. We have gone to the coopera- me, personally is a sacred act, for them it is a civic act, transformed into one of buying and selling, of business. Because, neither at a provincial nor at a national level can you explain the polit- ical staying power of these men. I would be ashamed. For example, Nebot is a candidate for the second time. This is his second electoral cam- paign. For Abdala Bucaram. this is his third time. Even though the Ecuadorian people don't want them, nevertheless. these men keep appearing in our politics. There we established another differ- 20 tives. That is, we have gone to the peo- ple. We have gone to our peoples. to the Indigenous communities. V/e have • gone with a message. wilh a proposal. Our campaign has been absolutely differenL \ Vith this government program, what we have done is hold workshops. seminars, assemblies. Thankfully, the Indigenous movement has a national structure, as do the workers and some campesino organizations that are part of the Movimiento UnidadPiurinacional-Pachakutik. These struc· tures have helped us to bring the cam- What does your new pOSlltOn in Ecuadorian national politics imply for the project of establis hing a plur'i-national s tate in Ecuador? ls it compatible? Or, if it isn't, what is the principle objective of CON AI E now? I believe that parallel to the beginning of this process, to the great calling of the Indigenous movement in Ecuador, there has been a great answer from the Ecuadorian peoples. But what was the proposal? \Vhat was the content of this political process that called ian peoples? It is preto the Ecuado1 cisely this proposal. one of the construction of a modem state and a sHne that responds to the needs of all Ecuadorians. We have said that in Ecuador the legislation provides for-i n theory at least- individual rights, rights of the citizens, rights of the family, but it doesn't consider collective rights, the rights of Indigenous peoples. We are going to insist that it is time. in the ough in stage our country is living thr latin America, for a change, a qualitative transfonnation in the way we conceive the state and the nation, to put ourselves at the height of the advances humanity has achieved in these recent times. The construction of a plurinational state responds to this-to raise. to dignif)' the rights of Indigenous peoples. However, we are not only talking about benefits for Indigenous peoples. We Abya Y News ala �SELf wam to stan to revise the trndmonal, archaic legoslauon. We think ours Is a Constitution that doesn\ respond to this era. this information age. It absolutely does not respond. It benefits only a few groups in power in our country. In this, we have a great backing. h os because of this that we arc now a grc::n pohtical force in our coun· try. Secause there never was one before. all the Ecuadonan peoples have assomolated themselves to this proposal. Before. no polotical pany was capable of doing It, nor did they ever intend to change our country. Therefore. things only changed liule by little. We are going to continue fighting in the Nauonal Congress with or without sup.pon. Obvoously, we are going to look for the necess:>ry suppon in different sectors and progressive poliucal mo,·emcnts. We will buold a polhocal fooce on the parhament so that the interests of the people, and those of the Indigenous peoples. can be defended. What would you say to someone who Ignores the potential benefits of the CONAIE proposals and the general project o f the Pacha.k utikl How would you lnvite other sectors to unite: with P:tcha_ utik? k Our proposal is a national one. although ot has not been finished and presented to the others. What we want Is a nauonal debate. Everyone should particip:ltc in this. First, in our countr)'• we think the changes should be global and structural. The changes can't apply to only a minimal sector or society. one \vith economic or political power. \Ve want all Ecuadorian people to assess actl\'ely panocipatong in the neohberal model. Thos polocy is agaonst the Ecuadorian people. What we want IS to g1''e d1gmty to politics in our countr)'· We thonk the structure and traditional ways of doing politics in our country should be changed. This representative democracy has to transform itself Into a participatory democracy. Could there possibly be equality without participation in Congress? No. Haven't Vol. 10 No. 2 DETERMINATION lndogenous peoples htStoncally been o solated from Congress? I definitely believe that of we don' begin to understand ourselves. in the framework or mutual respect. if we don't begin to be conscious of each sector and it's particularities. our country Is finished. We believe It is necessary ond imponant that everyone have the opponunlty to panlcopate on the benefits tht statt can gl\·c: thtm. Htrt, we are obviously speakong not only of bettcnng the lives in the lndoos and the campesinos. but also of all Ecuador's citizens. On the other hand. we arc called to AND TERRITORY political institutions or the s tate: deputies, advisers. mayors. etc. How do you think this will change Lhe future of the Indigenous movement? I think this question is very important. The Indigenous movement is going through a cruclol stoge, precisely because of our great achievements. First. I would say there are people we have struggled Mth: regional organizations. grassroots organtzattons. provincial organtz.at•ons. communities. And, at least for me. this makes me think the Indigenous movement in Ecuador in general and CONAIE will undergo a great development. "I will continue working on the proposals that come from organizations and not just those from myself and from the National Congress. Proposals from underneath, from the communities, will be delivered to the National Congress. Only like this can we speak from a parliamentary level, instead of an individual one." a great chore. We have to search for an ideological focus point. I beheve the fundamental issue all Ecuadorians have spoken to us about IS odentny. Thos is onother of the cnses we hve \vith. Although in recent years we ho,·c seen an appropriate response to thos problem, there still isn't the rccognotion of human vnlues in ourselves. We arc not going to be able to change politically :md economically because we are living in o global crisis. Thos crisis is the absence of self-recognition. the absence of the recognouon of the human values in one's self. as well as the \oalues of the collecuve group. Therdore. we are also m0\'10& towards thts odea. What the lndogenous movement proposed years ago 1sn't an empty discourse. We believe the resources ror the development of our people are in ourselves. There are various elected Indigenous people who 'vill occu py places in the Second. our fundamental objective wasn't only tO win positions in these last elections at a local. provincial, and national level. Our fundamental objec11\'e was searchang ror a. way to consol· idate our organazatrons. Here l belie,·e we have taken an amponant step. This will serve to strengthen the organizations in their respective levels. We think that if there Is a collective decision our peoples will respond to the correct needs. At least, I personally think I shouldn' seule down and I won't. For example. I will cominue working on the proposals that come from organozatoons and n01 just those from myself and from the N3lional Congress. Proposals from underneath, from the communities. \viii be delivered to the National Congress. Only like this can we speak from a parliamentary level. instead of an individual one. This is what we propose. Because of this. I think it os a dofficult challenge. but we ha,·e to take it on. 't 21 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 2 (Summer 1996) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Pachakutik-Nuevo Pais: Breaking Ground in Ecuadorean Politics Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1996 Language A language of the resource English English Zotero Title Pachakutik-Nuevo Pais: Breaking Ground in Ecuadorean Politics Item Type Journal Article Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 18-21 Publication Title Abya Yala News: Journal of the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC) ISSN 1071-3182 Date Summer 1996 Language English Abstract Note Historically, Indigenous leaders have not been elected into national government positions. This article details the election of Luis Macas, and indigenous leader, to the national government and his fight to give indigenous peoples rights. Attachment Title Pachakutik_Nuevo_Pais.pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Ecuadorean Politics Election Indigenous Leader