STATE

OF EMERGENCY: WHY DID INDIGENOUS RIGHTS ACTIVISTS PROTEST IN JUNE 2022 IN ECUADOR?

In June of 22, protesters took to the streets in cities around Ecuador.

As of June 24th, four people were dead, four had disappeared, and over a hundred were injured.

(Brown & Schmidt, 2022)

“The protesters burned a police station and patrol cars, tried to loot a bank and attacked civilians, [Interior Minister Patricio] Carrillo told journalists, blaming the incidents on radical groups.

‘We cannot guarantee public safety in Puyo right now – they have burned the entire police infrastructure and the entrance to the city is under siege, ’he said.”

(Reuters in Quito, June 22, 2022)

WHAT DO THEY WANT?

First, let’s take a look at WHO is protesting. Indigenous people are demanding their rights under the banner of an organization called CONAIE.

What is CONAIE, and why was the leader of the organization arrested?

CONAIE is the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, led by Leonidas Iza. CONAIE has led the protests, and on June 14th, Iza was arrested (Plummer, 2022). The police accused him of sabotage. He was released less than a day later (Al Jazeera, 2022)..

Meanwhile, protestors blocked roads leading to the country’s capital, Quito, using piles of dirt, tree branches, and flaming tires.

CONAIE is powerful–they have been responsible for chasing three presidents out of office from 1997-2005, and they now have Ecuador’s current conservative president, Guillermo Lasso, in their sights (Al Jazeera, 2022)..