The 3rd Congress of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador- CONAIE – concluded with the election of new authorities.

During the event, which began on January 10th and took place in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas, the atmosphere was characterized by unconformity towards the regime’s policies involving indigenous peoples. The splendid president of the organization, Marlon Santi, in declarations to ALAI, expressed that the government of Rafael Correa “does not include in its agenda the indigenous movement’s demands. To them, we are all citizens but Ecuador, from the standpoint of its peoples and nationalities, is “plurinational” and “pluricultural”; they would like to erase those words. I say, we are citizens in diversity, we are diverse, with different cultural expressions, ways of life and territorial spaces, and the government must respect that diversity, which is the origin of the Ecuadorian State, before the creation of the Republic”.
The future vice-president of CONAIE, Miguel Guatemal, reminds us that the plan to organize a Constituent Assembly originated from the indigenous movement, in the early 90s. He also points out that “just in the last campaign [the idea] was picked up by Correa who, nonetheless, wants to put everyone in the same place, without making distinctions, without respecting our identities”.
Miguel Guatemal asks, for example: “what will happen with natural resources? During the political campaign, the nationalization of natural resources was mentioned; today however, he [Correa] is talking about the development of natural resources. But how is he currently carrying out development? He is negotiating with Japan. But is he consulting the Huaroni, is he consulting the Shuar, Achuar?” These are some of the topics that the CONAIE wants to see included in the new Constitution, currently in the process of being elaborated.

A Call for Unity
The Congress, which registered 1300 delegates from the 14 Nationalities and 18 Peoples of Ecuador, was characterized by the will to renew leaderships, with a greater inclusion of different nationalities and peoples, achieving a balance between the Sierra (mountain region), the Amazon, and the Coast; goal that is expressed by the new board of directors. The election by consensus of the new president, Marlon Santi, gives a clear message of such need. His election was not only an expression of unity, but also a point of reference acknowledging his formation through land struggles and resistance against oil companies in the emblematic Sarayacu, located in the Amazon region.
Precisely, the two challenges that Santi mentioned when he became president included, on the one hand, “the agglutination of all nationalities: a call for unity, transforming once again the CONAIE into a strong movement in Latin America”. For this purpose he has proposed to “walk from base to base, from people to people”. On the other hand, he mentioned the CONAIE’s struggle “against transnational companies that are invading indigenous territories”. He states: “we will fight against them because that is our life space, the future of our children, the future of our grandchildren, the future of humanity”.
Among the foremost Congress’ resolutions, stands out the need for the CONAIE to propel the recovery and defence of ancestral lands, the annulment of oil concessions, as well as mining, wood, hydroelectricity and other concessions that affect the nationalities and peoples of Ecuador. He also encourages studies of environmental impact and indemnification for the damages. The peoples’ control over natural resources and the democratization of access to water, as well as the demilitarization of indigenous territories are also topics of foremost importance.

Source: ALAI