6 Feb. 2001
Ecuador, the "free" trade development model, & repression
Below, you will find a series of articles and information concerning
a most recent wave of serious upheaval in Ecuador. Please consider
signing on to the letter, referred to below, or sending you
own letters, as discussed below. Reproduce and distribute this information
to your own networks. For information about education and activism
work related to the Quebec "Summit" meeting and the FTAA ["Free"
Trade Area of the Americas], see below.
Intro (below)
Article
Letter
Sign-on letter
Summit and Speaking tour
The government of Ecuador is on its way to the April 2001 meeting
in Quebec City, about "free" trade and the FTAA (Free Trade Area
of the Americas).
The government of Ecuador - in defense and promotion of the IMF's
"free" trade economic measures -- is widely violating the rights
of its own people. Will the ongoing situation in Ecuador --systemic
impoverishment of a majority of the population; environmental degradation;
discrimination against the indigenous population-- be discussed
in Quebec city? Will officials and delegates in Quebec City say
that endemic poverty, discrimination, repression and environmental
destruction have nothing to do with the "free" development economic
model?
WHAT IS THIS URGENT ACTION ABOUT? That imposed poverty in
Ecuador, is linked directly to repression in Ecuador. That violations
of economic, social and cultural rights in Ecuador, are linked directly
to violations of political and civil rights. Concern for human rights
should include attention to all rights. That the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), an intergovernmental agency, is contributing directly
and indirectly to violations of political, civil, economic, social
and cultural rights in Ecuador; and is doing so with impunity. Concern
for human rights should include attention to all actors (national
or international; governmental, intergovernmental, or private) that
contribute directly or indirectly to the violations.
ECUADOR WAKES UP UNDER A STATE OF EMERGENCY
-- by Accion Ecologia
This morning, February 3, 2001, Ecuador woke up under a State of
Emergency. Freedom of association has been suspended, private homes
can be invaded, and citizens can be detained without warning. In
short, the Ecuadorian people have lost their constitutional rights.
The State of Emergency, under the Law of National Security, declared
Friday night by the government of Gustavo Noboa, is the latest step
in a series of acts of violence and repression undertaken over the
past week.
This step by the government is aimed at punishing the indigenous
people who have demanded an end to the violence and a repeal of
economic policies which have brought the country to the brink of
destruction. The economic policies include, among other things,
the construction of a new oil pipeline, the spurring along of the
mining industry, privatization of the water supply, an increase
in taxes, the return of kerosene as a fuel for home use, and an
increase in the bus fares.
This most recent indigenous uprising, which began last week, has
included the blockading of the nation's highways and a march of
10,000 indigenous people from the countryside in the Capital of
Quito. Currently, 6,000 indigenous activists are concentrated inside
the Universidad Politecnica Salesiana, surrounded and constantly
attacked by the police every time they try to march from the university
campus.
In the face of this situation, and the refusal of the government
to enter into a dialogue, 50 activists from the indigenous and peasant
communities, who grow and provide the country's food, have decided
to launch a hunger strike, as a way of being heard. Every hour,
50 more indigenous people will join the hunger strike. The business
sector of the country, such as the flower cultivators, have supported
the violence and "hard repression" out of fear that they will lose
export business for the 14th of February - Valentine's Day.
Paradoxically, a new delegation of the International Monetary Fund
is in the country to evaluate another failure of their economic
policies.
In Ecuador, we need your help - letters, telephone calls, public
declarations, and any other type of actions which let the government
know that the world is watching. These acts of international solidarity
are a way of preventing even worse abuses and violations of the
fundamental rights of the Ecuadorian people, and a protest against
institutionalized racism against indigenous people.
Intro
Article
Letter
Sign-on letter
Summit and Speaking tour
|
