In face of the upcomming elections we publish these three articles from Ecuador:

Bloody inter-bourgeois contradictions before the elections. People of Ecuador, do not vote, boycott the elections

We publish an unofficial translation of the article of Frente de Defensa de Luchas del Pueblo en el Ecuador [Defense Front of Struggles of the People of Ecuador] found here.

The crisis of the old bureaucratic-big-landlord State is sharpening. Everything is contaminated by the drug trafficking and organized crime. Police, FFAA, ministries, presidency; corruption is a panacea. Now, they have entered another moment of dispute, of belligerence, where attacks and murders are the means used to solve their contradictions.

Who is behind the elections? Yankee imperialism, definitely. It urgently needs a new positioning and reinforcing its presence in the region. The conflict in Ukraine has put into tension the Inter-imperialist contradictions between the US and Russia/China.

To think that the electoral process in the country is far from to this scenario is tremendously wrong.

The internal contradictions between the two factions of the big bourgeoisie; the comprador bourgeoisie and the bureaucratic bourgeoisie have been stoked, taken to extremes whose final conclusion has been the murder of the candidate of the comprador bourgeoisie, Fernando Villavicencio. All this serves imperialism, those are actions that in one way or another are related.

The inter-bourgeois contradiction even led sectors of the domesticated Marxist left, such as the PCMLE, UP, PSE, PCE and others to assume a position for one of the candidates, Yaku Pérez; Gonzales, strengthened by correism; and thus, a distribution of consciences that also compromises the indigenous and union movement that the only thing they have ended up doing is strengthening that stupid and subjective dichotomy between correists and non-correists. For these short-sighted politicians, for these miserable opportunists, there is nothing else in the country than these two political fronts.

Villavicencio, a clear CIA agent in the country, was sacrificed to make way for the claims of imperialism. His murder is not only the work of a criminal gang against another drug gang; It is deeper, it is much more than that, here the interests of imperialism interact to position their warmongering, interventionist policies. If the gangs killed Villavicencio, the ones pulling the strings of his murderers are the gringos. Hasn’t the idea of increasing the US military presence in the country with military bases gained momentum in the country? Hasn’t the idea spread that the country ends up being a US protectorate because the rulers can’t control the serious internal disturbances? Isn’t the country calling for a military dictatorship knowing that the militaries are strategic operators of the gangs and that they are at the service of imperialism?

And in the midst of all this, they pecuniary encourage us to vote, to attend the polls. They are so democratic that if we don’t go to the polls, they fine us, take away our civil rights.

The electoral offers came back, as in the market, in the bazaar. Old verbiage that no longer convinces anyone. There are those who support that we vote null, as if that was the solution. They support it because for now they do not have their candidate intervening in the electoral pantomime. With all certainty, the invalid vote will change to vote in 2025 for your presidential candidate best positioned in the electoral scenario. It is a matter of scenarios, no more. Still, it’s opportunism.

What should we do? DO NOT VOTE! BOYCOTT THE ELECTIONS! Not only as a way to delegitimize the elections as an instrument of deception and subjugation of the masses, but also as an expression of rejection of everything that is happening in the country. Two years ago the majorities once again returned to the polls, and dark forces allied to the tamed left put the banker at the head of the country’s bureaucratic apparatus. The results are obvious; he has led us to this maelstrom of hunger, unemployment and violence. In short, by voting we achieve nothing, absolutely nothing, it has always been like that, because elections have a class character and serve, logically, the class that holds power.

That the two factions of the big bourgeoisie settle their contradictions with blood, hit-men, murders, etc., it’s fine that they kill each other, but let’s not allow the masses to take sides with either of the two bourgeois currents. Let us remember, the comprador bourgeoisie, allied with bankers, importeurs, the financial system and big landlords; the bureaucratic bourgeoisie, the one that needs to be close to the bureaucratic apparatus to reproduce itself, not only politically, but economically, such is the case of Correa and similar currents.

The masses must get out of that circuit of evil, of violence, of shady deal, of electoral traffic; the masses have no other path than the People’s War, the New Democratic Revolution.

People of Ecuador, stop believing those who are only concerned about the number of votes. It doesn’t matter if they fly red flags accompanied by revolutionary chants. It is a farce, a vile lie. It does not matter if they use ponchos, wiphalas or come with an ecological or cultural discourse. They are the same, they want to take advantage of the elections to traffic with the misery of our people. Let’s not get carried away by the rambos, or the guarichas [translator’s note: young indigenous women] that today show themselves as sad widows for the death of their candidate; they want to play with emotions to continue with their electoral spiel. DO NOT VOTE, BOYCOTT THE ELECTIONS IS THE PATH OF THE PEOPLE.

PEOPLE OF ECUADOR: DO NOT VOTE!

ONLY WITH STRUGGLE RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS ARE CONQUERED!

THE PEOPLE’S CONSULTATION ON THE ITT AND THE CHOCO ANDINO, ONE MORE HOAX OF THE OLD STATE

We publish an unofficial translation of an article of the Frente de Defensa de Luchas del Pueblo en el Ecuador [Defense Front of Struggles of the People of Ecuador] found here.

The mining exploitation in what today corresponds to the territories of Ecuador is not new; on the contrary, it is since the old ages. It is estimated that mines have been exploited in our territories for 3,500 years, in the Late Valdivia period.

Throughout history, mining has been linked to a specific event; the development of the productive forces.

In the Kingdom of Quito, in the pre-Inca stage, gold and silver were already exploited. Beyond the religious/cultural valuation, certain metals such as platinum and copper were incorporated into production, as tools, and later, as weapons. With the Incas, the use of mining was not different, although they developed the use of metals more and this somehow explains why their superiority at the moment of submitting us and implementing a slave regime.

With the Spanish colony, mining took on another rhythm and another meaning; It does not respond to the needs of our peoples, but to sustain the feudal power and the crown.

At the end of the 19th century, mining exploitation in the country was monopolized by the English, who positioned themselves in this production for a long time, exploitation that eventually had certain changes or fronts with the predatory presence of the United States, Canada, Australia, even until our days, where mining exploitation has put into tension various capitalist and imperialist powers that struggle to hegemonize the exploitation and commercialization of hydrocarbons and mining of metals, stealing the national wealth.

Is mining bad? No! Definitely not, the bad thing is that its exploitation does not respond to the needs of our country, to a correct and necessary process and industrialization and development of its productive forces. Everything that is exploited leaves the country, leaves us, in exchange infertile, devastated lands; in addition, deep social conflicts. Mining by itself is not harmful; what is more, imperialism rationalizes mining within its borders, but in third world countries they do it with predatory airs, because they reduce costs and they don’t give a shit about the damage they cause.

So far in the 21st century, mining exploitation in the country has increased. With the Correa regime we entered into a process of re-primarizing the economy, that is, returning to the primary sector, to mining, fishing, forestry, and agricultural exploitation; stoking the contradictions between the State and the indigenous territories; increased speculation and land grabbing, concession of millions of hectares to large mining companies; excessive increase in the agricultural frontier, etc., but, above all, deepening and evolving semi-feudalism.

In Ecuador during the last third of the 19th century, imperialism developed capitalism in a feudal society, without this implying the democratization of the productive forces and means of production; there was not and there is no development of the industry, consequently of mining. This capitalism intermingled with feudal relations is called bureaucratic capitalism. We produce raw material, which is why mining is not beneficial for the country as a whole. This is an objective position that contradicts antagonistically with the revisionist verbiage that indicates that the country is capitalist.

The labor force has evolved, it presents itself acquiring new forms. Entire communities, families are incorporated into the mining exploitation under the premise of generating work and community help (the social operators of the mining companies implement hookups or deceit with the community, developing projects for raising small animals, recycling, etc.), not only in the informal sector, but also in the formal one. Forced child labor in informal mining is evident. Today, in Ecuador, the workers have to reproduced under the tutelage of large, medium and small mining companies.

The regime of the comprador-bourgeois Lasso, taking advantage of the presidential elections, has called for a referendum to “decide” whether to exploit oil in the Yasuní reservation and minerals in the Chocó Andino.

Beyond the consultation, it is quite evident that if the old State, encouraged by the transnationals, wants to exploit the ITT in Yasuní and destroy the Chocó Andino, it will do so with or without consultation; it will do so with or without prior, free and informed consultation, as they have already done in the provinces of Cotopaxi, Bolívar, Azuay and Imbabura, where despite the refusal of the population to mine exploitation, the penetration of companies is a fact and has already caused irreparable ecological and social damage.

Environmentalists are strongly opposed to mining exploitation. However, within the indigenous communities in the Amazonia, in various provinces of the country, the land and alluvial soils are exploited to search for gold. In the end, it is more profitable to extract a few grams of gold than what one hectare of cassava produces or any other product. Could an indigenous/peasant who digs the gold that earns him more income in relation to anemic agricultural production be accused of being illegal? Of course not.

We communists oppose the exploitation of oil and metals in the country; and our opposition does not go through an environmental argument, and this does not mean that it is not important, but that there are other elements of greater weight to confront; the fundamental thing is that this exploitation ends up in the hands of the transnationals and imperialism; it does not benefit the vast majorities at all, except for certain corrupt rulers, officials and businessmen.

For us communists, to oppose big mining is to oppose imperialism, it is fundamental. It is assuming a position of direct and on the ground struggle against imperialism. The struggle against the big mining company is part of the national liberation struggle, because it favors the defeat and expulsion of imperialism, in all its facets, from the country.

We do not agree with the exploitation of the ITT, of the Chocó Andino, or any other deposit in the country, because it directly benefits imperialism. And, on the contrary, we agree that artisan mining production should be respected and supported, because it benefits poor, landless peasants, artisan miners who have to work hard to be able to bring the crust of bread to their homes. To oppose this mining is to favor the big mining company linked to imperialism or continue relegating the problem of land and its use. The agrarian problem must be attended to and resolved right away, now.

That the artisan company, which is stigmatized as illegal, is infiltrated by drug traffickers, gangs, etc.? Of course; as well as the big mining company that makes nameless alliances to sustain its production and seize land from the community members and poor peasants. It is enough to see the “security cordons” that the large mining companies have that sustain the economic nerve of the violent groups in the country so that they “clear” the granting lands or the presence of artisan miners.

We claim the right to fight for the expulsion of the large mining companies, because they take away natural resources, because they destroy the jungles, moors and others; also because they dissociate communities, corrupt public officials and because it does not contribute anything to national development. But we also claim the right of poor, artisan miners to work, to exploit the land with the same right that the old State gives or concessions territories to transnationals.

NO TO HYDROCARBON EXPLOITATION IN THE YASUINÍ AND IN THE CHOCÓ ANDINO is the slogan, the same one that should not necessarily be exposed and “defended” in the popular consultation raised by the regime, but rather as a conscious combative action against imperialism on the ground, in the mines, in the granting lands; What’s more, that these lands, which are over three million hectares, are expropriated and pass into the hands of the landless peasants, so that they can argue their subsistence.

The communists oppose the referendum, because, like the elections, they try to make us believe that from this “democratic” act we are deciding on the designs of the country, in this case, what to do with the minerals, the territories and the social relations within it. NO! That is one more hoax. We must oppose the consultation and those who promote it, be it from the interests of the old State, or from the tiring peroration of environmentalists whose discourse is shackled to the defense of the environment above the defense of the interests that peasants have on land and work.

If we don’t want large-scale mining – well, let’s struggle to expel it, and even so it is insufficient, because the great Ecuadorian bourgeoisie will take over from it.

We must precipitate the New Democratic Revolution, only in this way can we promote responsible mining, which is in accordance with the needs of the new society, its industrialization, its defense.

Let’s not be naive thinking that mining in the country will contribute to the benefit of the vast majority, not at all. It is a trap, not different from how it has been presented with the exploitation of hydrocarbons. Nor do we fall into the discourse of ecologists and other reformists, converted into the rangers of the old State, they do not understand the dynamics of the survival of the peasant masses, the sub-proletariat and the mining proletariat that tries to argue their existence in low-scale mining exploitation; but, above all, let us not fall into the ambush of the consultation of the people, because the State belongs to a specific class and we are far from making or influencing this type of transcendental decisions.

NO TO THE PEOPLE’S CONSULTATION, YES TO THE EXPULSION OF THE BIG MINING COMPANIES!

FOR THE DEFENSE OF ARTISAN MINERS AND THEIR RIGHT TO WORK!

ORGANIZE, COMBAT AND RESIST!

ETERNAL HONOR AND GLORY FOR COMRADE JAIME RANGEL!

We publish an unofficial translation of the article of Communist Party of Ecuador – Red Sun found here.

With deep sorrow we have received the news of the death of comrade Jaime Rangel, founder of the Unión Obrera Comunista de Colombia.

Although it is true that our Party has some controversies and theoretical and ideological disagreements with the comrades of the UOC, in no way do we see them as part of the other hill, of the one that disdains the revolution, ideology, Marxism-Leninism-Maoism; on the contrary, the dialogue with the comrades has allowed us to carry out an important two-line struggle, the motor of the ideological development of MLM; therefore, we have no qualms in maintaining that we have agreed on important pronouncements, such as that one about the struggle against Revisionism and Centrism and, in a particular way, recognize in comrade Rangel his loquacity, his great capacity for analysis, his profound knowledge of the scientific theory of the proletariat, MLM; but above all his exemplary life dedicated to the World Proletarian Revolution.

In a first-contact-meeting that our organizations carried out some years ago we had the opportunity to be with him. Although it is true, we could not seal agreements that allow us to struggle in the same direction, we always had the conviction of having dealt with an honest, serious, intelligent communist deeply committed to the revolutionary transformation of his country.

Our party, the PCE-Red Sun stands in solidarity with the comrades of the UOC, with the class and the people of Colombia, without a doubt, they have lost a courageous communist who has set the pace of the ideological struggle in a country like Colombia, where the diversity of criteria and positions has not allowed to anchor a point of unity in the ideology that allows them to advance in the only possible task that the proletariat has: the revolution.

Comrade Rangel has a place in the history of the international proletariat and with total certainty we maintain that he will live in the hearts and struggles of the class and the oppressed peoples of the world!

ETERNAL HONOR AND GLORY FOR COMRADE JAIME RANGEL!

LONG LIVE MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM!

CONQUER THE RED SUN OF LIBERATION: COMMUNISM!