The Council of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador CONAIE announced the organization’s withdrawal from the dialogue with the government on the preparation of a new decree on fuel subsidies, one of the reasons was the persecution by the authorities, the organization’s president, Jaime Vargas, said.
“There is no space for dialogue. We cannot sit at the negotiating table while we are being persecuted”, – said Vargas, whose video of the speech was published by Comercio.
Earlier, the country’s Prosecutor’s office launched an investigation because of the statements of Vargas, who on October 19 urged supporters at a speech in the Amazon “to organize together with former combatants their own army, which would protect the people and their own security of our communities”.
According to representatives of the Confederation, after leaving the dialogue with the government, they will develop their own reform agenda, which, in addition to fuel subsidies, will include the revision of contracts for the development of oil fields and the terms of cooperation with state-owned companies.
In early October, in Ecuador, mass demonstrations of dissatisfied with economic reforms took place. A mobilization of indigenous representatives was announced to protest the government’s economic policies. The protesters, among other things, blocked the work of five oil fields, which led to the shutdown of the Transandino oil pipeline. The President of Ecuador declared a state of emergency and moved his headquarters from Quito to the city of Guayaquil.