RE: [Marxism] Interesting view on Ecuador events

[Joaquín Bustelo <jbustelo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Very interesting articles from ipslatam, especially the account of the
demands of the indigenous movement:

*  *  *

Luis Macas, the president of the powerful Confederation of Indigenous
Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), said his organisation would continue to
press for compliance with its demands, even though Gutiérrez was ousted.

"We are demanding that the country suspend the negotiation of a free trade
agreement with the United States, close the Manta military base, and oppose
the country's involvement in Plan Colombia," the U.S.-financed
counterinsurgency and anti-drug strategy implemented in war-torn
neighbouring Colombia, said Macas.

*  *  *

An important question, one that needs to be thought about deeply, is why
both this movement and the similar movement in Bolivia have been unable to
come up with a governmental alternative at decisive moments of political
crisis. 

Of course, the facile answer is "there was no revolutionary party," but this
completely begs the question, if for no other reason that there are left
parties, tons of them.

In Venezuela, with ONLY the underlying elements of an Ecuador or
Bolivia-type crisis (i.e., generalized repudiation of traditional
politicians and revulsion at the state of the nation, i.e., its subservience
to foreign interests and the conditions faced by the people, the big
majority) a leadership emerged which was even able to take advantage of
bourgeois elections and a constituent assembly to unleash a process that, at
least thus far, has largely consolidated a revolutionary government based on
the toilers, posed the question of a social transformation, and begun to
take what appear to be significant measures in that direction.

In these two other cases --and they are not the only ones (Argentina
obviously comes to mind)-- even an open revolutionary political crisis has
not called forth a leadership capable of at least posing a governmental
alternative, even though clearly this is what was called for.

There is a need for a political instrument, as Marta Harnecker argues, to
articulate the social movements and turn them into a coherent governmental
alternative. Latin America is striving to discover what those forms might
be.

Joaquín


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