Ecuador: Vice-President Vicuña Quits and the Political Crisis Deepens

The process that began in our country when Lenin Moreno took office and the obvious tensions between the left and right wings of Correismo ended with the defeat of the progressive wing and the consolidation of the right wing in the government and the political instrument. Once in control, this sector began a process of reversal and dismantling of the appartus built by the Citizen Revolution in the last 10 years.

The new government, led by Lenin Moreno (former MIR), that allied with sectors from the oligarchic national right wing, accelerated a process of return to neo-liberalism through the privatization of strategic branches of the economy, the forgiving of corporate debts (4,5 billion dollars), elimination of taxes, specifically on capital outflow and a deep liberalization of economy.

This model, promoted by Moreno, altered the functioning of the state, which, due to the loss of income, could not sustain its previous expenditure or social investment. This led to the firing of around 75,000 public workers, fast-rising unemployment caused by the impossibility of competing with imported production, which has led to mobilizations of artisans, small producers and farmers, demanding protection measures, which had allowed a significant development of this sector during the last 10 years.

The budget that has just been rejected by the Parliament, was stopped, in part, by the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of students against the reduction of the education budget, unions and even the environmental groups that until recently supported it, because of Moreno’s decision to initiate oil extraction in the Yasunit National Park, despite the fact that a referendum this February voted to ban the exploitation of this protected area.

A trapped and sick Moreno is preparing his succession, however, the current vice-president María Alejandra Vicuña (ex PC) has just resigned, cornered by allegations of corruption, and that space will surely be occupied by a representative of the Ecuadorian right to try to consolidate the reactionary turn.

Far from the siren songs with which Lenin Moreno got into office, as the population begins to suffer the consequences of his austerity measures, strikingly similar to those applied in any country of our continent, a regroupment of active representatives of the different social sectors begins to confront the government.

This regroupment is an ongoing process that allows us to bring together all those who recognize some of the many advances made during the past decade, but also need to draw conclusions to overcome the limitations, defeat the Lenin Moreno government and make progress in the fundamental changes that are indispensable for our people.