Ecuadorian Presidential Inauguration:
Indigenous Political Figures at the Top and on the Ground
By Theodore Macdonald
Published in Cultural Survival Quarterly (27.1) Spring 2003

An historical event took place on January 15, 2003, barely noted by speculative international observers. As Lucio Gutierrez took the oath of office as President of Ecuador, and later repeated his campaign promises to eliminate Ecuador's infamous corruption and alleviate its extraordinary rural poverty, international press services focused on the guests at the inauguration ceremony, particularly Cuba's Fidel Castro, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez." The inauguration was thus a significant event because "it was the first time that Castro, da Silva and Chavez -- all of them leftists -- and Gutierrez, who describes himself as center-left but enjoyed the support of leftist groups during his campaign, had gathered in the same place." Also noted was the coincidence and irony that three years ago, on January 21, 2000, then-Army colonel Gutierrez, led a coup attempt which ousted President Jamil Mahuad and left Gutierrez cashiered and jailed. It's still too early to pass judgment on the rise of a populist left in Latin America or the magical realism of Ecuadorian politics, but other patterns at the inauguration illustrate truly significant social and political change in the Andean republic.

As in January 2000, news reports of the inauguration and the elections simply noted that President Gutierrez obtained much of his support from Ecuador's indigenous peoples (nearly 40% of the population in Ecaudor) and their organizations. That is putting it mildly. Though they felt betrayed in 2000 when the military high command simply replaced the ousted President Mahuad with his relatively conservative Vice President Gustavo Noboa, the national Indian organization, CONAIE, and the largely indigenous political party, Movimiento Pachakutik - Nuevo País, continued their work steadily and astutely to increase the political space and respect that Ecuador's indigenous movement had accumulated over the last 25 years through consistent, non-violent, political consolidation and periodic, highly symbolic mobilizations.

Both CONAIE and Pachacutik made major leaps in the elections of November 2002 and the subsequent maneuvering for high-level cabinet positions in the Gutierrez administration. Last Summer, acknowledging that their chosen presidential candidate, Indian mayor Auki Tituaña was still unlikely to be elected president of Ecuador, the leaders of CONAIE and Pachacutik backed Gutierrez. The indigenous voters who make up both organizations provided him with enough votes to move into and eventually win the November run-off elections.

Unlike all previous elections in Ecuador, the Indian vote was neither mustered nor seduced by paternalistic promises. The 2002 elections were seen as a way to advance what the indigenous leadership has called "plurinationalism," the recognition that Ecuador's numerous cultures, indigenous and other, will remain distinct but that each must contribute to and benefit from all public policy as equals. Such ideas would probably remain as utopian dreams if the indigenous movement relied on the Ecuadorian congress, in which the combined votes of Gutierrez's Sociedad Patriotica Party (PSP) and the indigenous Pachakutik are now dwarfed by those of the traditional parties, and thus foreshadow, at least, complex political negotiation, and perhaps chaos. Nevertheless, indigenous candidates won nine congressional seats, placed nine members in powerful provincial councils, and took fifty-five seats in municipal councils. This is significant and consistent with the plan to increase participatory democracy by beginning at the local level.

But it is President Gutierrez 's cabinet that is truly revolutionary. He selected two of Ecuador's most prominent, respected, educated, and outspoken Native American leaders, and the co-founders of Pachacutik. Nina Pacari, a lawyer and congresswoman from the Otavalo region, now sits as Ecuador's --and the world's -- first Native American woman Minister of Foreign Relations. With her, and heading the equally important Ministry of Agriculture, is Luis Macas, a linguist and lawyer, one of the founders and ex-President of CONAIE, and Ecuador's first indigenous congressman. If anyone thinks these two are token or quiescent appointments, they need only wait and watch.

Their impact will be both national and international, and comes at a critical time in Latin America. These indigenous leaders already serve as highly visible and vocal bellwethers for United States policy and practices in the region. Pacari has been a strong critic of United States' use of the air base at Manabi for its logistic support to Plan Colombia. Even though she has agreed not to try to dismantle the base, she will lead a chorus of those already concerned with US military presence in the region. Macas, in turn, has been highly critical of the displacement of traditional indigenous agriculturalists by extensive agri-business estates that feed only international markets. Neither Minister sees any benefit for Ecuador's poor farmers through the proposed Free Trade in the Americas Agreement. Yet neither is so shortsighted or cavalier as to suggest that Ecuador simply write off the over $11 billion dollar foreign debt the Gutierrez government has now inherited.

While Ecuador remains a minor regional political and economic power, Pachacutik's familiar rainbow flag now stands as a highly symbolic beacon to be watched for further movements within two of the world's most timely issues - multiculturalism and globalization. Whichever way that light turns it will illustrate what happens when previously marginalized populations move, in a democratic and nonviolent manner, to the core of public life and debate. The elites of other oil producing nations would be well advised to watch, and perhaps work to emulate such actions.