The Ecuadorian people mobilize against latest coup attempt in South America

Rally welcoming Correa on June 15th

Drew Garvie

On June 15th, thousands of supporters of Ecuador’s “Citizens’ Revolution” convened outside the Plaza Grande in Quito to welcome Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa back to the country. The night before right-wing opponents of the Ecuadorian government made some attempts to block traffic from the airport to prevent Correa’s arrival in Quito. The President was returning from CELAC-EU meetings in Belgium.

Last week, a series of demonstrations occurred, spurred on by support from opposition politicians with ties to Ecuador’s old neo-liberal regime friendly to US interests. The initial pretenses for the protests, was a newly tabled “Wealth Redistribution Law”. The corporate media in the country claimed that the new taxes would negatively impact working class families and small businesses, however the new inheritance taxes being introduced will only have an effect on the wealthiest 2 percent of the population. Telesur has reported on the details of the proposed laws:

Ecuador's Citizen's Revolution

J. Boyden,
Rebel Youth Magazine

Delegates headed to the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students in Quito, Ecuador this December are being invited to learn about a “Citizen’s Revolution” in motion throughout the country.

At the centre of these major transformations are a comprehensive series of anti-poverty, pro-democratic, and pro-environmental measures which have not only begun to re-assert the Republic Ecuador’s sovereignty but also put the country on the map internationally as a key player in the struggle between the United States and the new Latin America.

If the motor of these changes has been the active support of a broad sweep of progressive Ecuadorian society especially the rural poor, urban workers, labour movement, and indigenous communities, the driver has come from perhaps an unlikely source, the “PAIS alliance” lead by an economist educated at an US Ivy-League school who speaks four languages including indigenous Quichua.

WFDY on Ecuador

Solidarity with Ecuador!

The World Federation of Democratic Youth has received the news of the attempted coup d’etat that is taking place in Ecuador by the police forces, the air force and the patriotic forces lead by Lucio Gutierrez, attempting to defeat the process of change that has been taking place in the country.

We are facing an attempt to repeat what took place in Honduras and we are sure that it is the US imperialism, hand by hand with the submissive bourgeoisie of the country, that is behind all these maneuvers to destroy the process of change lead by President Correa.

WFDY expresses it total rejection and condemnation of this attempt of coup d’etat and underlines its full support to the Ecuadorian government, calling upon all its member and friendly organizations to join the worldwide solidarity and demonstrate in front of all Ecuadorian embassies in support of the Citizen Revolution lead by President Correa and the people of Ecuador that struggles to build a better society with wide participation of all!