Ecuador: Indigenous Peoples Demand Amnesty for Social Leaders

On Tuesday, Ecuador's Indigenous Peoples Confederation (CONAIE) presented an amnesty bill for freeing 260 social leaders who took part in demonstrations against illegal mining and in the 2019 protests against President Lenin Moreno (2017-2021).

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"Our comrades are not criminals. They are fighters harassed by the State and large mining companies. We have the right to support them and raise our voices against any policies affecting the Ecuadorean people," CONAIE President Leonidas Iza stated.

"President Guillermo Lasso pledged to curb political persecution in our country. We will take his word," said the Congress President Guadalupe Llori, who was who was elected with the vote of the Indigenous peoples.

To process the bill, the Congress Technical Unit will review the requirements' fulfillment of the amnesty applications, which the Pachakutik Plurinational Unity Movement (PPUM) and Kichwa People Confederation (KPC) also supported.

The Ecuadorean congress will also resolve the NGO amnesties requests for the Pichincha Governor Paola Pabon and lawmaker Virgilio Hernandez, who were prosecuted for alledgedly paralyzing public services during the 2019 protests.

On October 4, Iza will attend a meeting with the Lasso administration to demand the freezing of fuel prices, a one-year moratorium on the credit payments of farmers and small producers, and the cessation of mining and oil exploitation in Indigenous territories.

Although the Indigenous leader pointed out it is preferable to resolve conflicts through dialogue, he warned that there would be a social reaction if Lasso did not respond to the CONAIE requests. "We need safe spaces to exercise our constitutional rights. We will not stop fighting until we achieve them," Iza stated.