teleSUR — Ecuador Government Reveals More Details on Opposition Violence

Ecuador’s Justice Minister provided further details on the violent attacks by opponents of the government that took place on Thursday night during protests in the nation's capital. 

The violence followed revelations that the right-wing opposition supporters, in collaboration with former Chief of Military Intelligence, were seeking to use Thursday's protests as cover to take over the presidential palace as part of actions that also included blockading the nation's major airports, as well as the bridges located on the Colombian and Peruvian borders....

The Minister said that despite attempts by the right-wing to force out the Correa government “we will continue in this process of change in the country” In recent weeks, a wave of opposition protests, initially only calling for the ending of new tax laws on the wealthiest, have increasingly turned violent, with many demanding the ousting of the Correa government. President Correa announced June 15 the temporary withdrawal of the tax laws and the start of a national dialogue on the future of the Ecuadorean economy.

teleSUR
Ecuador Government Reveals More Details on Opposition Violence

teleSUR spoke to some of the thousands of people who filled the plaza, to support the government of President Rafael Correa in the face of right-wing destabilization attempts. Michelle Moreano told teleSUR English, "Coup plotters will not come near us. This is something that was planned a long time ago. President Correa already knew about this. And we are the people here defending this revolution, defending what is ours, principally what are the inheritance and capital gains laws.
Because this does not affect the middle class. It is only 2% of the population." Government supporter Moises Obando told teleSUR English, “The opposition will never be able to break through these barriers which we, the Ecuadorean people, have put up. They are against millions of Ecuadoreans who support this process of the Citizen's Revolution. This is a government which has served the interests of the poorest, of the oppressed, and of the popular classes."

Meanwhile, leaders of the opposition such as Mayor of Guayaquil Jaime Nebot, Mayor of Quito Mauricio Rodas and head of the Azuay province government Paul Carrasco met in Guayaquil Thursday and told the press that they are planning for marches to continue following the visit of Pope Francis to the country from July 5 to 8. Mayor of Quito Mauricio Rodas told the press, "If they are not able to respond to the demands of the people of Quito and of other cities in Ecuador, if the voices of citizens are not taken into account, if they are not considered, or valued, we will convoke a massive march in the city of Quito."

Correa Supporters Defiant as Opposition Violence Hits Quito

The same playbill in different countries headed by left-wing governments.

Furthermore, evidence from WikiLeaks cables show that those who are heading today's protests in Ecuador are closely linked to the U.S. government and intelligence services....

For several years now, left-wing and progressive movements and parties have been gaining ground throughout the region.

With the failure of neoliberal policies that were applied throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, the right wing has found itself isolated as the mainstream consensus drifts to the left.

Largely divided and debilitated, the right wing throughout the region is beginning to re-accommodate, to re-organize, and to understand the current situation and the ways in which it can go back to power — by any means necessary.

Correa has put forward the theory that violence is being deliberately employed in order to provoke a response from security officials in order to accuse the government of having violated civil rights in order to invite foreign intervention in the form of sanctions, as was done to Venezuela in earlier this year when the U.S. government labeled Venezuela as a threat to its national security.

President Correa has warned that coups are still a very real threat in the region and violent street protests are part of a coordinated and deliberate campaign by right-wing forces in the region to destabilize the progressive and revolutionary governments of Latin America.

Ecuador's Opposition and Right-Wing Strategies in the Region