The current election in Peru between two extremely opposite candidates is uncannily similar to Ecuador’s on April 11. Nearly at the last minute, the millionaire conservative Guillermo Lasso, former banker and Coca Cola director, won the run-off election over socialistic candidate Andres Arauz, 52.5% to 47.5%.

Arauz had led the pack of 16 presidential candidates during the first round with 32.7% of the vote over Lasso’s 19.74%. Arauz was Union of Hope (UNES) candidate, a new party that former President Rafael Correa (2007-17) and Arauz had started.

Indigenous leader, Yaku Pérez, had come in third during the run-off. His decision that his supporters should vote blank in the run-off made the difference in favor of the millionaire, a sad example of how “identity politics” can be used as a tool for big capital.

While there is no “indigenous identity” third candidate in Peru’s June 6 run-off, the two candidates remaining are as far apart as Lasso and Arauz. The winner will assume the presidency on July 28.

Pedro Castillo propone que los ministros sean elegidos por sus sectores PLTC | La República (larepublica.pe) Foto: John Reyes / La República

Pedro Castillo Terrones, 51, a rural schoolteacher and peasant farmer surprisingly led the race of 18 candidates on election day, April 11. The leftist candidate for Peru Libre (Free Peru) party obtained 19% of the votes. His party’s logo is the teacher’s pencil.

Coming in second place is Keiko Fujimori, 46, with 13.36%. She is one of many rightest candidates. She ran on the Fuerza Popular (Popular Force) party, which she founded in 2011 as a successor to her father’s party. Alberto Fujimori ruled between 1990 and 2000.

Congreso de la República del Perúderivative work: Athenchen (talk) – Keiko_Fujimori.jpg, CC BY 2.0, 

Fujimori’s daughter has remained faithful to her father throughout his presidency and in prison. During Alberto Fujimori’s reign, he ordered death squads to massacre peasant opponents to his dictatorial rule. Charged with 51 crimes, Fujimori received a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity and corruption, which he began serving in 2009.

Although this election had more presidential candidates (18) than ever, 28% of voters do not want any of them, according to a poll by Institute of Peruvian Studies. Seventy percent of the 25,193,971 registered voters cast ballots. In 2016 elections nearly 82% voted.

Peru has 33 million people, 60% of whom are considered mestizos (Indigenous-Spanish mix), 26% are indigenous (15% Quechua descendants of Incas, along with several other original peoples, including half-a-million Aymaras); six percent white; four percent black; and several thousands of Chinese, Japanese, Arabic descent and others.

Peru Libre won 37 seats in the 130-member legislature with 14% of the votes.

Fuerza Popular won 24 seats with 11% of the votes, down from 37 in 2011 elections, and from an absolute majority in 2016 with 73 seats.

Fuerza Popular logo represents only its candidate, Keiko Fujimori

Castillo was able to best another leftist candidate, Veronica Mendoza of Junta (Together with Peru) party because peasants can identify with him, His discourse is that of a “man of the people” while Mendoza’s is more academic. She was also in congress and people are sick of politicians. Castillo led an important teacher’s strike in 2017. His spent only $8000 on his campaign before the run-off.

Castillo advocates an economic model similar to Evo Morales in Bolivia and Rafael Correa in Ecuador. He will nationalize strategic natural resources, and review mining projects. He also proposes a new constitution. He has contradictions socially by arguing against abortion and gay marriage, and is against gender equality as an issue in the educational curriculum.

The media hadn’t counted on Castillo having a chance. However, in the final days of the election, he rose in the polls despite mass media’s depiction of him having links with MOVADEF. (Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights) (1)

Keiko Fujimori is the business class’ “democratic option”. She promotes neo-liberalist policies, and sees the United States as Peru’s strongest ally. Indigenous peoples remember her as the loyal daughter of the president who forced 300,000 indigenous women and 20,000 indigenous men to be sterilized under the so-called “voluntary surgical contraception” program.

According to Wikipedia, Forbes, IMDb & Various Online resources, Keiko Fujimori’s net worth is $1-5 Million at the age of 44 years old. “She is one of the Richest Politicians who was born in Peru…She earned the money being a Professional Politician.” These corporate sources do not mention her criminal involvement in money laundering and bribes she received for which she was imprisoned pending trial.

Major Issues: Political Instability, Covid-19, Recession, Corruption, Immigration

In the last five years, there have been four presidents. Only one, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, was actually elected. In 2015, he renounced his dual U.S. citizenship to run for the presidency. He narrowly beat Fujimori’s daughter, Keiko, in June 2016. Kuczynski resigned in March 2018 after two attempts to impeach him—first for taking moneys illegally from the Brazilian Odebrecht construction company, then another corruption charge plus widespread discontent that he pardoned the mass murdering president, Fujimori, in December 24, 2017, for “humanitarian” reasons.

On October 3, 2018, the Supreme Court overturned the pardon, and Fujimori was returned to prison. Kuczynski was imprisoned in pre-trial detention in April 2019 for receiving bribes from Odebrecht. Later placed in house arrest due to health conditions, some of his property was seized by the court.

Following Kuczynski’s resignation, the first vice-president, Martin Viscarra, replaced him. More independent than most in the legislature, he promoted reforms against corruption in the congress and judiciary causing outrage among politicians and judges.

Peru is one of the worst affected nations in the Americas by the COVID-19 pandemic. Socioeconomic circumstances are a main cause of this. One-third of the population live in overcrowded homes; 70% of the work force have informal jobs with few or no benefits or tax payments; only half of households have refrigerators or freezers and many people must find/buy food on a daily basis.

Due to a second wave of corona infections by January 2021 intensive bed occupancy rose to 90%. Medical workers struck due to harsh work conditions.

President Vizcarra instituted stay-at-home orders. He provided relief funds. GDP fell 30%. Massive inequality, an inadequate health-care system, and corruption in the health ministry in applying vaccines has caused many deaths. Today, nearly two million inhabitants have been infected, and 65,000 have died.

In September 2020 Congress opened impeachment proceedings against Vizcarra on grounds of “moral incapacity”, accusing him of influence peddling. Although there were insufficient votes to remove him, his reputation as an effective leader plummeted.

On November 9, 2020, congress impeached Vizcarra a second time, declaring him “morally incompetent”. This time, he was removed from office. Some of those who voted against him had been targeted for their corruption.

Congressman Manuel Merino succeeded him. There is so much corruption—politicians are infamous for such—that many commentators and ordinary people believed charges against Vizcarra were trumped up. Some media called the process yet another coup. These developments incited massive protests, and grew once policemen murdered two demonstrators. In further protests, police injured demonstrators and three dozen journalists, shooting some with shotgun pellets and tear gas. On the fifth day of Merino’s presidential tenure, he resigned. One of the few congressmen who voted against impeaching Viscarra, Francisco Sagasti, was named president by a split legislature.

Sagasti had been chief of the World Bank’s strategic planning division. As such, the centrist promotes capitalist austerity policies. Sagasti leads the Morado Partido (Purple Party). He has concentrated on improving measures to combat Covid-19. The U.S. approves his economic and foreign policies.

Keiko Fujimori studied business administration in the United States where she lived off and on for many years. Upon returning to Peru, she worked with her father. She took over the position of first lady (1994-2000) once the president divorced his wife, Susana Higuchi. Keiko was in congress from 2006 to 2011 when she ran for the presidency. She came in second place then, as in 2016.

On October 31, 2018, Keiko was sentenced to 36 months preventive imprisonment for obstruction of a judicial investigation into money laundering and bribery with intent to change witness testimony. She was released to house arrest on January 11, 2019. She was later returned to prison. When hospitalized with corona, she was again released to house arrest, and once recovered could campaign for the presidency.

Public prosecutor José Domingo Pérez seeks a 30-year sentence for her accepting $1.2 million from the Odebrecht real estate/construction firm, which illegally financed her political party. An agreement was reached between Odebrecht and Peru’s Justice Ministry in 2019. That agreement would allow Odebrecht to continue working in Peru with public work contracts once it turns over documents and testimonies that show how Keiko Fujimori and ex-presidents received money illegally that they were offered.

According to Wayku, Fuerza Popular congresswoman Martha Chávez is attempting to get the current parliament—largely conservative and rightest—to change that agreement to favor her presidential candidate. “Martha Chavez would have Odebrecht to stop confessing how Keiko received illicit money – Wayka”.

Immigration

On March 9, 2015, President Barak Obama declared Venezuela a threat to national security, and invoked the first of escalating sanctions against hundreds of Venezuelan companies, individuals, vessels and its oil.

Due mainly to increasingly severe sanctions under Trump’s regime, Venezuelans lack food, medicines and other necessities, even oil/petroleum to sustain bare minimum living standards. As such, since 2015 over one million people flee annually to neighboring countries.

Peru has over one million Venezuelan refugees. Peru’s armed forces joined with Ecuador’s under the right-wing Lenin Morena government to prevent more migrations by posting soldiers at their borders to Colombia.

Many people worry that the U.S. will punish them if they back Venezuela’s elected President Nicolás Maduro. Today, U.S. sanctions all Venezuelan exports (92% oil, most of the rest is gold), and most of its imports, as well as freezing its assets in U.S. and England banks. This aggression is compounded by the U.S. (and 70 of its allies) recognizing Juan Guaídó as president of the country.

Guaidó was elected to the 2015 congress on a Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) ticket with 26% of the votes in Vargas state (350,000 population.) On January 23, 2019, the 35 year-old assemblyman simply announced he was taking over the presidency, on an interim basis, without any election.

U.S. and England recognize only Guaidó as having “the right” to use Venezuela’s state funds that they have frozen. The assumption is that he will one day become president, by hook or crook, probably through a U.S.-backed military coup.

Guaidó has called for U.S. military intervention, and there have been a handful of clumsy coup attempts. Recent polls of Venezuelans living in the country showed only 4.1% consider him capable of ruling their nation.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

The mass media and rightest politicians think they can get their candidate, Keiko Fujimori, elected by smearing Castillo as a supporter of Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR) was established by interim president Valentin Paniagua, in November 2000, following Fujimori’s abdication. The dozen investigators are part of the Establishment. They investigated actions by the Shining Path, Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), and the military-police.

At its peak, Shining Path had 10,000 insurgents and dominated nearly half the country. It killed many government police and military but also many peasants not aligned with it.

MRTA’s most ambitious and proclaimed action, and the major cause of its eventual demise, was taking over the Japanese embassy residency. During a party celebrating Japan’s emperor’s birthday on December 17, 1996, 14 members of the guerilla group, led by co-leader Victor Polay Campos, captured 800 dignitaries (politicians, diplomats, military officers and rich businessmen).

During negotiations, the rebels released all women, and most of the men, keeping only 72 hostages. MRTA sought the release of 450 imprisoned members of their organization.

U.S. military in the area assisted the Peruvian army with various rescue plans. Finally, on April 22, 1997, a 140-man Peruvian army commando team raided the residency. The rebels did not wish to kill hostages. The only casualties were themselves, one hostage and two soldiers. All 14 rebels were killed on Fujimori’s orders, half of them executed.

On August 28, 2003, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission “reported on the estimated 70 000 deaths, assassinations, torture, disappearances, displacement, employment of terrorist methods and other human rights violations executed by the State, Shining Path, and MRTA. The report concluded that there is both “institutional and individual accountability, as well as identifying racial and cultural factors that became a catalyst for conflict.” The CVR investigation was financed by some of $360 million discovered in foreign accounts, which had been stolen by Fujimori officials.

A 2019 study disputed CVR casualty figures, reporting instead “a total of 48,000 killings, substantially lower”, and concluded that “the Peruvian State accounts for a significantly larger share than the Shining Path,” more than the 28% attributed to the military and police reported by CVR.

Alberto Fujimori

Although Fujimori won the July 2000 runoff with a bare majority, irregularities led most of the world’s governments to shun his third swearing-in on 28 July. Daily demonstrations took place in front of the presidential palace for many weeks. As a conciliatory gesture, Fujimori appointed former opposition candidate Federico Salas prime minister. Opposition parties in Congress refused to support this move, and former President Toledo led the campaign to have the election annulled.

On 13 November, Fujimori left Peru for a visit to Brunei to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. On 16 November, Valentín Paniagua took over as president after the pro-Fujimori leadership lost a vote of confidence. On 17 November, Fujimori traveled from Brunei to Tokyo where he submitted his presidential resignation via fax. Congress refused to accept his resignation, instead voted 62–9 to remove Fujimori from office on the grounds that he was “permanently morally disabled.” Japan granted him exile status and citizenship. Where and when Fujimori was born is still a contested issue—either in Japan or Peru.

CC Search (creativecommons.org)

Wanted in Peru on charges of corruption and human rights abuses, Fujimori maintained a self-imposed exile until his arrest while visiting Chile in November 2005. Fujimori believed conditions in Peru were favorable for him to run for the presidency. Chilean authorities arrested Fujimori, however, when Peru requested his extradition, which happened on September 22, 2007.

In December 2007, Fujimori was convicted of ordering an illegal search and seizure and was sentenced to six years imprisonment. In April 2009, he was convicted of human rights violations and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for his role in killings and kidnappings by the Grupo Colina death squad. This was the first time that an elected head of state had been extradited to his home country, tried, and convicted of human rights violations.

He faced a third trial in July 2009 over allegations that he illegally gave $15 million in state funds to Vladimiro Montesinos, which the disreputable former president admitted. Fujimori admitted guilt in another corruption trial in September. He received another six-year sentence, however under Peruvian law all prison sentences run concurrently.

Role of the United States

A United States Establishment organization, Council on Foreign Relations, 2009 background piece on Shining Path shows that “Washington pursued a policy of lending money and giving military aid to Peru to help the country’s government wage war against Shining Path. This policy continued even after President Alan Garcia’s administration defaulted on some of its loans, despite a longstanding U.S. policy making a country ineligible for aid if it failed to repay military assistance debt for more than a year.”

Peruvians march in protest of 3,677 U.S. Marines entering their country. Photo: Telesur/Rael Mora.What are U.S. Marines Doing in Peru? | Blogcritics

One of the last measures of President Obama’s reign was a permanent military presence in Peru. In December 2016, President Kuczynski let the U.S. build a military base in the Amazons. The U.S. Southern Command and the company Partenon Contratistas signed off a plan allegedly to assist the country during “natural catastrophes”, “under the sheepskin of the Centre for Operations for Regional Emergency”.

United States domination over Latin America began in 1823 with the “Monroe Doctrine”, part of U.S. “manifest destiny” so declared in 1812: expand America’s white man’s control of lands. In 1846-48, the U.S. warred upon Mexico and stole its northern half, which is now: Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, California, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Just between 1869 and 1897, the U.S. sent naval warships to Latin American harbors to intervene in internal affairs 5,980 times. (2)

“The United States no longer needs to launch wars to conquer and assert its hegemony on Latin American soil; now the region is brought to heel by far subtler means: through initiatives of covert militarization. In addition to its war against terrorism, Washington is using the fight against drug trafficking and its alleged commitment to respecting human rights as covers for intermeddling in the internal affairs of other countries… Peru is a vital platform to enable the United States to consolidate its plan to dominate the whole of South America,” wrote Ariel Noyola Rodríguez.

“Military cooperation between Washington and Lima is not restricted to setting up military bases; the United States has followed up by fully integrating itself into the [Peruvian] security and defense apparatus. Pursuant to authorization by Peru’s Ministry of Defense, special operation units of the Joint Command of Armed Forces, the Command of Intelligence and Joint Special Operations and the Special Unit, VRAEM, received training from U.S. forces between May and September 2016. …In tandem, the Peruvian forces have led countless joint military exercises with the United States.”

President Joe Biden has focused little on Latin America other than to encourage Mexico to prevent migrants from entering the U.S., and to continue sanctions against Venezuela, because of the “tyrant” Nicolás Maduro rule.

Biden’s administrations has not publically taken a position on the current election, but Peruvian activists mean that the “neighbor in the north” is quietly backing Keiko Fujimori. The National Endowment for Democracy, which works to subvert leftist governments worldwide, spent nearly $650,000 in Peru in 2020.

Pedro Castillo seeks an end to U.S.’s domination over its “backyard”. He also proposes to expel the Drug Enforcement Administration, and to end the phony “war against drugs”, which causes massive murders and more drugs. So much sovereignty is not for Keiko Fujimori.

Current Election Campaign

On May Day, the working class’ historic victory day, at Pedro Castillo’s request, he and Keiko Fujimori held an improvised debate in the plaza of his hometown and where he teaches, Choto. The northern city of some 50,000 was lively with mainly Castillo supporters.

The key issues discussed concerned: corruption, corona, the economy and crime. Castillo criticized the neoliberal economy for not providing decent working and living conditions for the majority, for the lack of adequate medical care generally and specially during the corona pandemic. His party will propose a new constitution that would make tax-supported medical care for all a human right.

Fujimori defended the current private health care system and the neo-liberal economy.

Castillo’s government would revise transnational contracts that exploit natural resources. The state, he said, would take 30% of the profits and protect the earth as much as possible. Fujimori said the current recession is not due to neo-liberal policies but to “lack of management”.

Regarding social insecurity and crime, Fujimori proposed greater punishments, while her opponent proposed more and better education.

Free Peru party and Pedro Castillo say they are receiving death threats. Extreme rightest presidential candidate of Popular Renewal party Rafael Lopez Aliaga contends that Pedro Castillo “shall not become president”, as he would never allow elections again. Castillo would be another “authoritarian Maduro” and run Peru like Venezuela and Cuba. Much of the MSM as this one, La Razón, regularly quote right-wingers, who maintain that Castillo is with Sendero Luminoso and its imprisoned leader, Guzman.

Castillo denies this. “We are not terrorists, communists or chavistas” [Hugo Chavez], he asserted.

Center-Liberal Popular Action party decided not to take a position on whom to support.

Keiko y Castillo, cara a cara por primera vez en Chota.. Imagen: EFE Cómo fue el debate en Chota entre Keiko Fujimori y … | Página12 (pagina12.com.ar)

On May 5, Castillo’s Peru Libre and Mendoza’s Junta agreed to cooperate. Veronica Mendoza said: “What is at stake is not only Castillo Terrones’ victory, but of putting a brake on mafia and authoritarianism”, and she asserted that she doesn’t want a government with “people who are able to sabotage even vaccines.”

Castillo later stated that the controversial educational curriculum gender matter is not an issue in his campaign and that the future congress should decide on that, a concession rendered Junta.

On May 1, the average of eight polls gave Castillo a 43% chance of winning over Keiko Fujimori with 35%. The remainder say they will vote blank or are undecided. Two days following the debate, Fujimori had caught up with 37% to her rival’s 38%, an average of 12 polls. On May 12, Castillo was ahead 47% to 32%.

Notes

(1) MOVADEF – Movimiento por Amnistía y Derechos Fundamentales and Elecciones 2021: Pedro Castillo, el dirigente del Conare – Movadef que encabeza el boca de urna de las elecciones | POLITICA | PERU21

The Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights was founded in 2009 to agitate for the release of political prisoners, including members of Shining Path. Its leader, Abimael Guzman, has been in prison since 1992. In 2012, MOVADEF gathered 350,000 signatures on an amnesty petition. The secret police maintain that Castillo is associated with MOVADEF and MSM reports as such. Supporting amnesty for these political prisoners does not necessarily mean one supported crimes of murdering peasants not involved in warfare.

(2) See my book ”The Russian Peace Threat: Pentagon on Alert”, especially chapter 18, “United States Military Empire”. The Russian Peace Threat: Pentagon on Alert: Ridenour, Ron: 9780996487061: Amazon.com: Books

There are only two rational explanations for the outcome of Presidential elections in Ecuador on April 11, ostensibly won by multimillionaire banker Guillermo Lasso. Either the Ecuadorean people are massively masochistic, or the election was stolen following the pattern recently tested in the paragon of political virtue and rule of law to Ecuador’s north. As ancient logicians would say, tertium non datur.

The protagonists of these elections were the putative winner Lasso, with oligarchic credentials that would hardly recommend him as a popular favourite in an economically troubled and socially and racially divided country. The Ecuadorean people, it should be recalled, were not so long ago cruelly hoodwinked by the outgoing President Lenin Moreno, who ran on a social democratic platform only to begin implementing the most extreme and economically damaging neoliberal policies once elected. It was a brazen flip-flop reminiscent of the fraud perpetrated on Argentina by Carlos Menem in the 1990s. That the people of Ecuador, having another option, should have made an informed choice for another five years of the same poison, in the foolish expectation that it would lead to an improvement of their condition, is an insult to their collective intelligence and beyond conceivable.

The other and much healthier option was, of course, economist Andrés Arauz, political ally of populist former president Rafael Correa, whose legacy first Moreno and now Lasso have the task of nullifying in order to make Ecuador safe for international corporations. Just as Arauz led Lasso in the first electoral round by a hefty advantage, on the eve of the election, Arauz was also set to win by a comfortable margin. Then, on election day, something happened. Either the electorate experienced a massive and inexplicable change of mind or some very fishy things occurred in the vote-counting process.

It is extremely unlikely that Lasso won over any voters because on the eve of the polling they decided to read his wishy-washy electoral platform. The principal planks of the Plan Lasso consist of platitudes and nebulosities: “Establish a full democracy; promote an economy of free and prosperous citizens; and empower citizens to freely choose the means to achieve their self-realization.” Yes, that is the psychobabble nonsense on which the supposedly winning candidate in Ecuador ran. If you know Spanish, click on the hyperlink and read it for yourself.

While French analyst Eric Toussaint makes good and realistic points concerning the political weaknesses of the Corréist legacy, of which Andrés Arauz was the anointed champion, his arguments are insufficient to explain the sudden tilt of hundreds of thousands of votes to an exponent of international corporate capital in a country economically broken by precisely the policies that as President Lasso will aggressively continue to pursue, whatever soothing nonsense might be written in his official programme.

While Paul Antonopoulos correctly observes that the Lasso government will not control Ecuador’s legislature (at least not until that situation is “fixed” in the following National Assembly elections) with the election of a “millionaire banker,” as Bloomberg jubilantly put it, even in the near term two cardinal objectives will have been achieved. Ecuador will continue to function, as it has under Moreno, as one of the imperial beachheads in South America. Furthermore, the Lasso regime can be relied upon to continue Moreno’s cosy relationship with IMF by piling more debt to “pay” previously contracted debt, making the entire country ready to be sold off, lock, stock, and barrel, for pennies on the dollar, in the Great Reset that is in the works.

As another of Ecuador’s jubilant “well-wishers,” the New York Times, put it, in his victory speech Lasso “said, ‘we will take on the challenge of changing the destiny of our fatherland. We will work tirelessly.’ Mr. Lasso promised to fulfill the promises made to Indigenous groups, environmentalist activists and women’s right organizations.”

But needless to say that is all fluff and nothing of the sort will ever happen. In particular, no change in Ecuador’s destiny is envisioned or will be permitted, as evidenced by the installation of banking cartel’s poodle Guillermo Lasso in the Presidency. The plan is for the mineral rich Latin American country to be brought back into the imperialist fold, to be ravaged by international corporate interests with the full acquiescence of its neo-colonial government.

Yes, whenever a favourable election outcome seems problematic, the selection of the right vote counting machine will be sure to fix it.

Guillermo Lasso, former banker and Coca Cola Ecuadorian director, surprisingly won the April 11 run-off election over socialistic candidate Andres Arauz, 52.5% to 47.5%.

Arauz had led the pack of 16 presidential candidates during the first round, on February 7, with 32.7% of the vote over Lasso’s 19.74%. Arauz was Union of Hope (UNES) candidate, a new party that former President Rafael Correa (2007-17) and Arauz had started.

This was Lasso’s third time running on the Creating Opportunities (CREO) presidential ticket. He came in second place against Correa in 2013 and again against Lenin Moreno in 2017. During this election, CREO combined with the traditional conservative Social Christian Party (PSC).

“This is a historic day, a day in which all Ecuadoreans have decided their future and expressed with their vote the need for change… Democracy has triumphed,” Lasso told supporters as the results came in. “Ecuadoreans, all of you… have chosen a new path…a very different path from the one Ecuador has followed for the past 14 years.”

Lasso will take the presidential reins on May 24. The National Electoral Council presented the results last night after 98 percent of the votes had been officially counted. A few minutes earlier, the leftist politician publicly congratulated the president-elect. Arauz made no mention of any fraud in the voting process even though polls had indicated he would win the race with a small margin.

Lasso gained a majority, in part, because of promises he made to improve the failed economy under Moreno’s administration by increasing foreign investments, cutting taxes for businesses while raising the minimum wage, and a vow to vaccinate nine million citizens against Covid-19 during his first 100 days in office.

Lasso used his Coca Cola advertising knowledge about the use of “image politics” to capture unsuspecting voters. The 65 year-old campaigned in trendy red trainers, pink three-quarter-length trousers and white jacket. He posts on social media, such as TikTok. His opponent, the 36 year-old Arauz, dressed more like a businessman or economist, which is his work.

Lasso’s image politics apparently appealed to many young voters and to many sexual minorities. Among his supporters are self-declared anarcho-ecologists, including an indigenous leader, Yaku Pérez, who is backed by the U.S. government financially and politically. When Pérez did not get into the run-off, coming in third place, he called upon his supporters to vote blank, which 1.6 million did. (For background, see, U.S.-Backed Ecuador Government Tries Stopping Socialist Electoral Victory — Strategic Culture (strategic-culture.org)

For this writer, Lasso’s victory came as a surprise, a most disappointing one especially for the peoples of Latin America, and for all who struggle for a world without the greed, war violence, and planet pollution that capitalism breeds.

U.S.-backed Lenin Moreno government is trying to stop the new socialistic UNES political party candidate, Andres Arauz, from winning the national elections underway.

Andres Arauz, won first place, 32.7%, on the first round of national elections, February 7. Arauz is the first presidential candidate of UNES, Union of Hope.

Former president Rafael Correa led the formation of this party, Union of Hope (UNES) after he had backed Moreno for president in 2017. Moreno, however, turned against his own party’s program, and went the way of wind blowing from the north.

At first, a U.S.-supported indigenous candidate, Yaku Pérez, took second place with 20.1%, while banker Guerillmo Lasso, also U.S. friendly, came in third with 19.51.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) initial conclusion changed when all the votes were finally counted after four days, and Lasso ended in 2^nd place with 19.74 to Pérez 19.38. Lasso and Pérez met privately with the CNE. Pérez claimed fraud and demanded a total recount. Eighty-one percent of 13 million registered voters had cast votes. Ecuador has 17.3 million population; 1.1 million are indigenous people. Second Round in Ecuador Under Threat: Arauz Denounces Moreno Government Interference in Presidential Elections – Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela

Who actually took 2^nd place, and will run in the final round, scheduled for April 11, is still undecided due to Pérez fraud accusations, President Lenin Moreno’s government intervention, and outside interference.

Continuous resistance en October 2019, as here in Guayaquil at the beginning forced President Lenin Moreno government to restore fuel subsidies he’d stopped. El Universo newspaper photo.

In August 2020, UNES selected the 35-year old economist Arauz for the presidency. He had been Correa’s Minister of Knowledge and Human Talent (2015-17). He planned for Correa to be his vice-president, but a court denied Correa the right to run for political office.

Arauz had hoped Correa could be his vice-president after he had served as president, 2007-17. However, an Ecuador court disallowed his candidacy given that Correa had been found guilty of corruption and sentenced him to eight years prison, in absentia. Correa was living in Belgium following Moreno turn to the right. From there, he denied any wrongdoing. Ecuador ex-president Correa jailed in absentia for corruption – BBC News

The court found Correa, and 19 other defendants, guilty of accepting $7.5 million from private firms in exchange for state contracts. They were also banned from partaking in politics for 25 years.

UNES chose communicator and political analyst Carlo Rabascall Salazar as its vice-president candidate. In his campaign launch event, he condemned Moreno’s decision to make an advance $2 billion payment on the foreign debt during the peak of the corona pandemic. The funds were taken from public health and education systems. Thousands of health workers were fired during this pandemic. This caused the second highest death rate per capita in the world, after Peru.

The Moreno government had not expected that Arauz could acquire such support. He had sacked the CNE of Correa supporters. Many CNE members are now followers of either Lasso or Pérez. Its president, Diana Atamaint, is a member of Pérez’ party, MUPP (Pachakutik Plurinational Unity Movement).

Founded in 1996, MUPP declared its program to support the interests of Indigenous peoples. Yaku Sacha Pérez Guartambel is the son of campesino parents from the Andean region. He changed his name, Carlos, to Yaku Sacha, “mountain water” in his native language of Kichwa.

Pachakutik is the political arm of the Indigenous confederation CONAIE, which protested against Rafael Correa’s government, and formed an unspoken alliance with the country’s right-wing oligarchs in a bid to destabilize and overthrow the socialist president.

“Pachakutik is closely linked to NGOs funded by Washington and EU member states. The party’s leaders have been trained by the U.S. government-funded National Democratic Institute (NDI), a CIA cutout that operates under the auspices of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

“The NED publicly lists more than $5 million in grants for NGOs in Ecuador just in the years from 2016 to 2019. Much of this money has bankrolled anti-Correa opposition groups like Pachakutik and its allies.” How Ecuador’s US-backed, coup-supporting ‘ecosocialist’ candidate Yaku Pérez aids the right-wing | The Grayzone

Following the Lasso-Pérez-CNE private meeting, the CNE decided on a compromise to recount 50% of the votes in 17 of the 24 provinces, singling out provinces where Pérez had done poorly, which raises suspicion of a potential swindle.

Guillermo Lasso presidential candidate. Creative Commons photo.

Guillermo Lasso’s party is the capitalist Creating Creating Opportunities (CREO-PSC). Lasso was the key founder of center-rightest CREO, and stood for its presidency in 2013. CREO combined, in this election, with the Social Christian party (PSC). Founded in 1951, PSC has associate centrist-right parties throughout Latin America and Europe.

Lasso wanted to unite with Pérez to defeat Arauz in the 2^nd round. It seemed that Pérez would agree, but then he changed his mind. On February 17, Pérez tweeted a confusing message. After four years of supporting Lasso’s party’s  political agenda, close to his own, Pèrez blasted the banker, saying that his indigenous supporters will “never support his corruption”. He claimed that Lasso and  even the CNE committed fraud. Ecuador’s Comptroller to Audit Electoral Computer System | News | teleSUR English

U.S., OAS, Colombia, Moreno Intervention

This lay the basis for government intervention. Apparently backing Pérez after he spoke with the U.S. ambassador in Ecuador, Moreno sent in his Comptroller General Pablo Celi. Both Arauz and Lasso rejected the Comptroller’s decision to inspect the National Electoral Council (CNE) computer system. The Network of Electoral Observers also criticized the attempt to affect the electoral calendar with technological excuses.

“Taking copies of the count and recount files is something normal, but taking the computer equipment and impeding the ballot is an attack on democracy,” said Arauz. UNES will send its citizen overseers to scrutinize the process, and the party warned that democracy is under real threat.

“The country needs us united on the same front to make Ecuador a land of opportunities,” Lasso added, rejecting the interference of the Moreno administration in electoral matters.

Ecuador: Indigenous Caravan for Vote Recount Approaches Quito | News | teleSUR English

The CNE stopped its activities after receiving the audit demand from Comptroller Celi. He stated the process should be completed in less than three weeks and should not affect the April 11 ballot.

Ben Norton reports, “The leftist’s overwhelming victory prompted the U.S. State Department, the right-wing government of neighboring Colombia, and the Organization of American States (OAS) to mobilize to prevent him from entering office.” US, OAS, Colombia try to steal Ecuador’s election from popular socialist candidate, while spreading fake news | The Grayzone

The recount will be “overseen by the OAS, which inspired a military coup, November 2019, targeting Bolivia’s elected government.”

“The head of the OAS electoral mission in Ecuador, Isabel de Saint Malo [“Saint Bad” in English] the staunchly conservative former vice-president of Panama, was intimately involved in the US-led coup attempt against Venezuela, working closely with Juan Guaidó and the pro-Washington Lima Group. Guaidó had declared himself president at a news conference without being elected.

“The OAS disseminated lies about Bolivia’s October 2019 election, falsely accusing the government of fraud. Now, the Colombian government is spreading a remarkably similar series of lies about Ecuador’s election and its first-place candidate, Arauz,” Norton wrote.

The Biden administration acting assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Julie Chung, tweeted, “U.S. government applauds the February 12 announcement by [CNE] to verify votes in 17 provinces in Ecuador’s February 7 presidential election. This allows the electoral process to advance with enhanced guarantees to the candidates and citizens alike.”

At the same time, Colombia’s right-wing Iván Duque government intervened. It sent its justice department head, Francisco Barbosa, to Ecuador claiming that Arauz had been funded by “Uriel”, a guerrilla leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN). The lie was revealed by linguistic and forensic experts evaluation of a falsified viral video.

Even Colombia’s ex-president, Ernesto Samper (1994-8) warned that his country’s government was in a plot with the OAS to steal Arauz’ electoral victory. On February 13, the liberal wrote:

“I can confirm that these claims are slander and form part of a dirty game that radical right-wing sectors from both countries are organizing, from inside Colombia, to interfere in the second round of the Ecuadorian presidential elections.”

Nevertheless, Ecuadorian right-wing activists have persisted in spreading the fake news.

“While [Moreno’s] government was busy clamping down on the left in Ecuador, Lenin Moreno himself was in the United States. Just two weeks before the election, he visited DC for several days.

Moreno had a series of meetings with powerful figures, including:

• the director for the Western Hemisphere of the US National Security Council, Juan Sebastian Gonzalez, a special assistant to President Joe Biden;
• the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, who helped oversee a coup against Bolivia’s democratically elected socialist government in 2019;
• the director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva;
• hawkish US Senators Bob Menendez and Ben Cardin;
• and the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Mauricio Claver-Carone.”
• Ecuador’s historic election explained: Inside the Citizens’ Revolution | The Grayzone

During this election, there were 16 candidates for president/vice-president, and the 137-seat legislature. At first round figures, Arauz’ party would have 49 seats.

Taking fourth place in this election was an alleged social democratic party, Left Democrats. Its candidate, Xavier Hervas, won 15.69% of the vote. When young he was a baker, He studied agricultural engineering and turned capitalist. He publicly proposed forming an alliance with Lasso and Pérez. Lasso agreed, but now with Pérez anti-Lasso twist bets are off.

Alianza PAIS candidate Ximena Peña, the only woman running, garnered only 1.5% of the votes compared with 39%, in the first round of 2017 elections. At that time, the PAIS candidate was Lenin Morena, then supported by Correa. After Morena turned sharply rightest, the party split up. Peña went with Moreno, and Correa forces later formed UNES.

UNES Four-year Objectives

1. Justice for life and the reproduction of life
2. Participatory and deliberative democratic justice 3.
3. Productive and economic justice 4.
4. Intergenerational Justice
5. Global Justice, sovereignty and integration
6. De-colonial, pluri-national and inter-cultural justice
7. Ecological Justice and energy transition
8. Equal Justice for women and excluded groups
9. Digital justice and the new economy
10. Cognitive Justice
11. Fair and Impartial Justice

Shortly after UNES candidates Arauz-Rabascall won the first round, Moreno sent a bill to the National Assembly aimed to place the Central Bank under the control of private interest groups. Arauz rejects the “defense of dollarization” bill, which would place corporate-sponsored people on the board of directors of the Central Bank of Ecuador.

“If this pro-bankers bill is approved, the next government will not have effective instruments to make positive changes on issues such as credit management,” Arauz said.

Andrés Arauz in Jan. 5, 2020 Insurgente interview. ECUADOR. Entrevista a Andrés Arauz: “Nuestra prioridad en el cortísimo plazo es recuperarnos de la situación económica devastadora” – insurgente.org . Tu diario de izquierdas

Rafael Correa Presidency

Governments preceding Rafael Correa instituted neoliberal austerity and privatization programs, prompting inequality, poverty and unemployment to soar. Ecuador became one of the poorest and least developed nations in the region. Poverty reached 56% of the population. Two million people fled their country between 1998 and 2003.

Ecuador’s Citizens Revolution arose from popular repudiations of neoliberalism and neocolonialism, similar to Chavista Venezuela and Evo Morales’ Bolivia. It did not reject capitalism entirely but redirected government budgets away from the wealthy for social programs and infrastructure investments to benefit the majority.

Rafael Correa’s rule (2007-17) was characterized by a new constitution, which advanced rights of the indigenous peoples; nationalization of oil/gas companies, which would not share profits with the state; large-scale social welfare spending and infrastructure projects, as well as defaulting on foreign loans and tensions with the U.S. government-military-and capitalist companies. Ecuador’s Accomplishments under the 10 Years of Rafael Correa’s Citizen’s Revolution – COHA

Chile President Michelle Bachelet, President Rafael Correa and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ricard Patiño. Creative Commons photo.

William Blum wrote in Killing Hope that the CIA in Ecuador had “infiltrated, often at the highest levels, almost all political organizations of significance, from the far left to the far right.”  “In virtually every department of the Ecuadorian government could be found men occupying positions high and low who collaborated with the CIA for money.”

Ecuador was saddled with the U.S.’s largest air base in the region at Manta, which was instrumental in the devastatingly murderous Plan Colombia, and in enforcing international banking and corporate rule over Ecuador. The new constitution of 2009, based upon a referendum, banned all foreign military bases on Ecuadorian soil.

“We can negotiate with the U.S. about a base in Manta, if they let us put a military base in Miami,” Correa quipped. These bases are used to assure U.S. control of other nations’ natural resources, and kicking a base out of the country is often met Washington retaliation. (In 2014, U.S. “defense”  department staff was expelled. Ecuador expels US military staff | Ecuador | The Guardian )

A year later, groups of police held violent demonstrations against a law that they claimed cut their benefits. Correa tried to speak to officers at a police barracks, but was physically attacked. After being overcome by tear gas, he was taken to a police hospital where he was basically held captive by police. The Correa government had actually doubled police wages over the past four years. The law would not cut benefits but rather restructure them. This “misunderstanding” was used to rationalize the police protest. Coup in Ecuador thwarted | SocialistWorker.org

“The most extreme attempt at destabilizing Correa’s government came with a violent US-backed coup attempt on September 30, 2010. Defectors from the Ecuadorian police and military occupied the parliament, blocked major streets, took over state institutions, and effectively kidnapped Correa.

How Ecuador’s US-backed, coup-supporting ‘ecosocialist’ candidate Yaku Pérez aids the right-wing | The Grayzone

“Five people were killed in the attempted putsch, and hundreds were wounded. Ecuador’s opposition nearly succeeded in removing the elected president from power.

“One of the main organizations involved in this coup attempt was the Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (CONAIE). CONAIE is an indigenous organization that advances an ultra-leftist, anarchist-inspired politics that is deeply suspicious of the state and industrial development, even if the government is led by a democratically elected socialist.”

Pachakutik published an open call for Correa to be removed from power, expressing public support for the police and soldiers who had defected. Nevertheless, thousands of ordinary Ecuadorians mobilized to defend him, surrounding the hospital. In front of every police station tires were burned causing smoke to could the sky. Citizens and soldiers freed their president.

Many Indigenous people and alliances were outraged at MUPP and Pérez, and then again when he supported the U.S.-backed military coup in Bolivia in November 2019. When Luis Arce won the October 2020 election numerous Ecuadorian Indigenous leaders were invited to the inauguration but Pérez was not.  Pérez had supported the coup. How Ecuador’s US-backed, coup-supporting ‘ecosocialist’ candidate Yaku Pérez aids the right-wing | The Grayzone

Quite similar circumstances to the Ecuadorian coup attempt occurred in Venezuela, on April 11, 2002.  Right-wing groups kidnapped President Hugo Chavez, declared a new government, which the U.S. immediately backed. Within 48 hours, thousands of citizens and loyal soldiers freed Chavez.

Yet again, this time in the original “Banana Republic”, Honduras, November 2009. Nobel Peace Prize recipient Barack Obama recognized the military coup as yet another “change of government” when Pentagon’s trained generals overthrew capitalist rancher President Manuel Zelaya. He had become convinced the poor needed better conditions, and ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America), which he joined, in 2008. History of US intervention in Honduras | Honduras | The Guardian

Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro had founded ALBA , in 2004, hoping to consolidate regional economic integration based on a vision of social welfare, bartering and mutual economic aid. Correa brought Ecuador into ALBA, in 2009. The alliance has stood firm against U.S. subversion in Latin America, and cultivated relations with Russia, China and Iran.

“Correa rejected IMF and World Bank policies, which had made Ecuador numerous loans to entrap the country in debt, a game plan for Western countries to dominate the global economy. Ecuador’s debt was $14 billion in 1980, the country paid back $7 billion, and it still owed $14 billion. The IMF demanded cuts in wages and state budgets, that 80% of the oil revenues go to debt payment, or it would use international courts to seize their fleet and their contents,” wrote Stansfield Smith, a COHA scholar. Ecuador’s Accomplishments under the 10 Years of Rafael Correa’s Citizen’s Revolution – COHA

Correa renounced one-third of the then existing debt as illegitimate interest. He imposed significant taxes on the rich, including on capital flight. These measures generated $1 billion in revenues in three years. He compelled the Central Bank to repatriate billions in assets held abroad, renegotiated more favorable oil contracts with multi-nationals, which he used to triple investments in infrastructure and public services. Correa diversified the economy so that non-oil exports accounted for two-thirds of export income. These measures enabled Ecuador to earn a 4.2% annual growth from 2007-2015, even during the international financial crisis brought on by Wall Street corruption.

Correa’s government invested $20 billion invested in education, making all education free for everyone. Low-income students are given free school supplies, books, uniforms, and meals. More than 300,000 children who used to have to work have gone back to school.

To preserve Original Peoples’ identity, the government provided new schools in native languages, and fostered public TV and radio stations promoting programs in Quechua and other languages. The 2013 Media Law gave the indigenous communities greater access to community media. By December 2014, 14 radio frequencies, combined with funding and training, have been assigned to each of the country’s indigenous groups.

Ecuador’s minimum wage doubled, from $170 a month to $375, one of the highest in Latin America. Companies cannot pay dividends until all employees earn a living wage. The labor of homemakers, contributing to 15% of the GDP, is now legally recognized. Consequently, 1.5 million homemakers receive social security benefits, including disability compensation and a pension.

Correa invested $16 billion in quality free health care. In the 40 years prior to the Citizens Revolution, not one new public hospital was built in any of the main cities. During Correa’s time,  13 new hospitals were constructed and 18 more were underway. This health system added 34,000 medical professionals. Thanks to free health care (still a dream in the U.S.) and greater access and services, visits to the doctor have almost tripled in ten years.

The United Nations recognizes only eight countries as meeting the two minimum criteria for sustainable development. In the Americas, there are only two, Ecuador and Cuba. Ecuador made major advances in converting to renewable energy, one of the highest percentages of renewable energy (85-95%). By 2015, Ecuador had cut the rate of deforestation in half.

It is now illegal for employers to discriminate due to sexual orientation. Same-sex unions are legal and a gender identity law allows citizens to state on their ID their gender identity instead of the sex given at birth.

Affirmative action laws require companies to reserve 4% of jobs for people with disabilities, and other quotas for minority ethnic groups, indigenous and Afro-descendants.

Four of the five TV channels were owned by the four largest banks. Correa’s government backed a referendum that prohibited banks from owning the media. Airwaves were divided into three groupings: a third private, a third state-owned, and one third for community grassroots outlets. A company cannot own more than one AM station, one FM station and one television station.

During 2016, the nation suffered a recessions due to lower oil prices, and a severe earthquake that cost 668 people’s lives and $3.3 billion in damages. Still, when Correa ended his term the growth rate was 3.3. Poverty had been reduced from 37.6% to 22%.

When Correa won power, the richest 10% accounted for 42 times as much wealth as the poorest 10%. At the end of his terms, the gap was cut in half, one of the most dramatic reductions in inequality in Latin America.

Lenin Moreno

Lenin Moreno came from a left-wing middle class mestizo family. His father, who became a senator, admired Vladimir Lenin and named his son after him. Lenin studied public administration and psychology. In 1998, he was shot in a robbery attempt and lost the ability to walk. He has since used a wheel chair.

Moreno was Correa’s vice-president in his first term (2007-13). On October 1, 2016, Correa introduced his candidacy for the party’s 2017 presidency. Lenín Moreno – Wikipedia

Moreno took first place on the February 19, 2017 election with 39.3% of the vote. He was short by less than one percentage point of outright victory, as Ecuador requires in its two-round electoral system. In the April 2017 runoff, he defeated banker Guillermo Lasso with 51.16% of the vote.

Within months of winning the election, Moreno started moving away from his election platform, thus igniting a feud with ex-president Rafael Correa. Moreno reversed several key pieces of legislation passed by the Correa administration that targeted wealthy individuals and banks. He allowed national and international corporations greater profits with less taxes, and let them mine in areas protected by indigenous people’s ecological base culture.

In February 2019, Moreno announced that he had obtained a loan of more than $10 billion from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Lenín Moreno – Wikipedia

U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigated a meeting between former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and President Moreno in Quito shortly after he became president. Moreno talked with Manafort about removing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and his extradition to the United States. Correa had granted Assange citizenship and political asylum in 2012.

June 2018, Moreno met with Vice President Mike Pence to consolidate “security” measures: buying weapons, radar sets, six helicopters, as well as sharing military training and intelligence. They also spoke about Julian Assange, and in August, Moreno withdrew Ecuador from ALBA.

In January 2019, Moreno supported Venezuelan opposition leader, the self-declared president Juan Gauidó. Soon thereafter, IMF approved a $4.2bn loan for Ecuador.  Then the World Bank approved the Social Safety Net Project for Ecuador.

April 11, 2019, Moreno revoked Assange’s citizenship and asylum, allowing British police to drag him in the embassy. Cops threw him in a maximum lock-down prison where he remains. They left his possessions, Wikileaks and legal his documents, which were turned over to U.S. intelligence.

Moreno moved Ecuador’s diplomatic position even closer to U.S. dominance by allowing it to use a military airstrip on the Galápagos Islands. Charles Darwin had studied Galápagos ecosystem, which became an essential part of his Theory of Evolution. Moreno’s government then faced protests from environmentalists after he permitted the U.S. military to use an airbase on Galápagos Islands.

October 2, 2019, Moreno abolished fuel subsidies, sparking the greatest and longest protests in his term. It lost control of the capitol and moved from Quito to Guayaquil. Seven people were killed, and 2,100 arrested. Resistance forced Moreno to restore the subsidies.

Moreno enjoyed a popularity rating as high as 77% shortly after his election in 2017. After the October 2019 Ecuadorian protests, Moreno reached an all-time low approval rate of 7%. He decided not to run again.

Lenin Moreno with Trump, VP Pence, Secretary of State Pompeo as 2021 election campaign unfolds in Ecuador. Creative Commons photo.

Yaku Pérez

Pérez activism is based on limiting mining and fossil fuels. He decided to become a lawyer to fight in court international mining companies from drilling, especially in Indigenous territories. To do so, he has also helped mobilize many people in protests. At the same time, he befriends and supports businessmen, and takes handouts from the U.S. government.

Pérez “supported coups in Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Pachakutik and supposedly ‘left-wing’ environmental campaign is being promoted by right-wing corporate lobbyists,” wrote Norton. How Ecuador’s US-backed, coup-supporting ‘ecosocialist’ candidate Yaku Pérez aids the right-wing | The Grayzone

“Corruption ended the governments of Dilma [Rousseff] and Cristina,” Pérez tweeted approvingly. “Now all that’s missing is for Rafael Correa and Maduro to fall. It is just a matter of time.” In another tweet, he wrote that “Arauz is the Maduro of Ecuador.”

“While the Correista candidate Arauz has proposed giving $1000 checks to one million working-class Ecuadorian families, Pérez has attacked the plan on the grounds that poor citizens would ‘spend all the money on beer in one day,’” Norton wrote.

Some Western ecological organizations, however, which do not take on imperialism or support socialism, such as Extinction Rebellion, oppose the socialist and anti-imperialist UNES and support Pérez. Beth Pitts is such a voice. She wrote that the current election pits “the indigenous defender against the former president who jailed him, [providing] a battleground for two opposing ideologies. On one side, an expansion of extractivism and authoritarianism. On the other, a ground breaking move towards a more democratic and ecological future for Ecuador.” Yaku Pérez: The Indigenous Water Defender Who Might be Ecuador’s Next President – Writers Rebel

No doubt the most pertinent conclusion to come to about such contradictions, and within Ecuadorian “Identity Politics” today is how Ben Norton concluded his piece: “The United States is desperate to prevent the socialist wave that washed across Latin America during the first decade of the 21st century from coming back. And in Washington’s bid to stop the tide, ‘eco-socialist’ figures like Yaku Pérez are perfect tools.”

Yaku Pérez with U.S. Amabassador Michael Fitzpatrick. Photos taken from Respaldado por EEUU, el candidato ‘ecosocialista’ de Ecuador, Yaku Pérez, apoya golpes de estado y ayuda a la derecha | The Grayzone

Conclusion

If Arauz wins the presidency, he may appoint an important economist and ideologist of the “Citizens Revolution” to a government post. Ricardo Patiño was Correa’s first minister of economy, then minister of foreign affairs (2010-16), and defense minister at the end. In the early 1980s, he aided a socialist economic direction desired by Nicaragua’s revolutionary Sandinista government.

Washington DC-based Council of Hemispheric Affairs conducted an interview with him on the day of the current Ecuadorian election. He spoke about the “Citizens Revolution” during the time of Correa’s presidency—what went well and what was lacking. COHA Webinar: Ecuadorian Presidential Elections and the comeback of the Citizens’ Revolution – COHA

“We ran a good government from the top but not enough with the people, and that was a serious mistake, which we must correct”, he explained. “Our political process did not sustain the peoples’ movements. We did not prepare our people to carry out the historic movement.” (Quotations may not be the exact words, as I was taking notes during rapid deliveries, but the essence is correct.)

“When Moreno took power and immediately turned his back on our advances, our population did not have enough consciousness and did not mobilize to undo that betrayal,” not for some time. “Many got confused by Moreno’s lies, which the mass media propagated.”

“We [leaders] must [focus on] a systematic structural basis to aid in strengthening social movements to consolidate, to advance, to become historic agents for [fundamental] change.”

Patiño thinks Arauz understands that damage and will seek to repair it. Patiño believe work to broaden the media base, in order to represent peoples’ needs and movements, is one of the first essential tasks of a new government. More cooperative self-production must become incorporated in the infrastructure. Better education of teachers and students should be a priority, as should be much less dependence on foreign companies and their technology.  (1)

Notes:

1. Given my eight-year long experience as a media worker for Cuba (1988-96), a year in Nicaragua working with the Sandinistas, months in Chavez’ Venezuela and with Morales’ Bolivia, I view Patiño’s judgment to be exactly was has been missing to various degrees with all revolutionary governments. Delivering power from the top to the bottom, with the working class and citizen allies as the key protagonists to provide real leadership, has never occurred. That is a key reason for the dissolution of the Russian Revolution/Soviet Union. Following its dissolution, Most people who were revolutionary minded, also in the major capitalist countries, either gave up trying or reduced visions to “liberalizing” The Establishment.)

A shaft of still weak and vulnerable sunlight is piercing through the gloom that the new Biden administration in Washington has already spread over hopes for a revival of democracy across Latin America.

The first round of voting in Ecuador’s elections on February 7 left the social democratic candidate as the clear frontrunner with 32 percent of the vote, guaranteeing that the vast fake-democratic U.S. liberal-Wall Street consensus pull out all the stops to prevent him winning the second round run-off vote scheduled for April 11.

Social Democrat economist Andres Arauz, the loyal heir of popular outgoing President Rafael Correa and invariably described in U.S.-conditioned Newspeak press reports as “left wing,” won the first round with 32.7 percent of the vote.

Arauz is hardly a revolutionary firebrand: He ran on a platform of increasing taxes on the ultra-rich, improving consumer protections and expanding public banking and local savings and credit organizations. His real crime in the eyes of the global elite is that he wants keep little Ecuador (population around 18 million) out of the clutches of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Biden administration’s clear choice to face off against Arauz in the April run-off vote will be environmentalist lawyer Yaku Perez, 51, a classic puppet front figure in the glorious tradition of Juan Guaido in Venezuela, trailed way behind with 19.38 percent.

However, Perez has already fulfilled his crucial role of splitting the vote and preventing a first round landslide victory for the social democratic forces. Had Perez not run, it is clear, Arauz would have swept home to a landslide election victory over banker and hardline right wing candidate Guillermo Lasso, 65 who only won a derisory 19.74 percent.

Now Perez is battling Lasso for the right to face Arauz in a runoff race on April 11.

Before that, in the mini-battle between Lasso and Perez, National Electoral Council (CNE) president Diana Atamaint said there would have to be a recount of all the votes in Guayas province, the most populous in the country and of half the votes cast for the two candidates in 16 other provinces

Perez, painted as an “environmentalist” would be a much easier sell for the dim, Mainstream Media (MSM) to the brainwashed U.S. suburban middle class with their “Green” romantic obsessions and to similar European popular opinion as a plausible “stop Arauz” candidate than the hapless Lasso.

Statistically, the odds should still strongly favor Arauz, but friends of genuine democracy and social justice across Latin America should watch like hawks for the kind of destabilizing dirty tricks and other U.S.-inspired moves to wreck the economy that have so often been the prelude to military coups and anti-democratic takeovers in other countries across the region from Bolivia to giant Brazil.

Nevertheless, Arauz’s clear first round election victory in Ecuador, coming so soon after the return of true democracy and freedom in Bolivia to the south shows that a new specter is haunting all of Latin America to the horror of Wall Street and U.S. policy planners: It is the specter and threat of genuine Social Democracy.

In Bolivia, on October 18, 2020, Movement for Socialism (MAS) leader and former economics minister Luis Arce won an election landslide with 55 percent of the vote and clear majorities in both chambers of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly.

The return of popular democracy to Bolivia, now followed by Arauz’s initial success in Ecuador, fills the paranoid policymakers of Washington’s endless termite mounds (usually inaccurately described as think tanks) and the Artificial Intelligence-guided Platonic Philosopher Moguls of Silicon Valley with genuine horror, loathing and outright fear.

Any return of communism does not bother them at all. Fascism, they have eagerly fanned across the world – and always more than ever across Spanish and Portuguese speaking America – for more than 70 years. Radical, extremist Islam, they have never feared: Rather, they have eagerly used it and continue to do so to fan the flames of hatred against first Russia and now also China. But Social Democracy? That has always been their most hated and feared enemy.

Back in 1954, the CIA, with the full approval and enthusiastic support of the now-deified Dwight D. Eisenhower, toppled the genuine democratic government of President Jacobo Árbenz in Guatemala and unleashed a dark age of continued slaughter, torture, rape and pillage on the Mayan and other indigenous peoples of Central America.

In the 1970s, the truly neo-Nazi military dictatorship in Argentina tortured, raped and slaughtered tens of thousands of its own citizens with the full support of successive U.S. administrations including the supposedly saintly and sweet (another lie of Goebbels proportions) Jimmy Carter.

They might have turned Argentina into a permanent Nazi state complete with its own local genocides for Jews, native peoples and other minorities had President (and former death squad commander) General Leopoldo Galtieri not made the mortal error of seizing the Falkland Islands in 1982 from previously enfeebled Britain at a time when it was being run by the far-from-enfeebled Iron Lady herself – Margaret Thatcher.

Even then, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeanne Kirkpatrick, still revered across the West because of her hatred for the Soviet Union, passionately urged President Ronald Reagan to support the mass murdering Argentine leader rather than America’s supposedly closest ally.

The U.S. war on genuine free and fair elections and on peaceful, democratic elected left of center governments across the Western hemisphere therefore long antedated President Donald Trump and his outrageous and bullying CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

During current President Joe Biden’s eight years as vice president to Barack Obama, he had no objection or worries when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton bizarrely demanded that the CIA collect DNA samples of leaders around the world. Nor did Biden ever express any sympathy or regret, let alone suspicion, when two Social Democratic presidents of Brazil in a row and the democratically elected president of Venezuela all came down with virulent and sometimes extremely rare cancers.

As I noted in these columns on February 16, Biden loyal as ever to the dim and contemptible foreign policy record of his old boss Obama, initially appears determined to continue this contemptible record in deliberate know-nothing hypocrisy.

Biden and his foreign policy team are clearly passively going along with the campaign they inherited from Trump to topple repeatedly democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. And neo-fascist President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, a particular favorite of Trump and Pompeo, looks assured of Biden’s support as long as he mutters a few incoherent empty promises to “respect the environment” as he completes the annihilation of the Amazon rain forest.

Against this dark history and bleak present, the hope of sunlight in Ecuador appears frail indeed, but let us be thankful for small mercies rather than none at all.