FDLP – ECUADOR: REJECTION OF THE PRESENCE OF FOREIGN TROOPS AND THE NEW STATE OF EMERGENCY IN ECUADOR
We hereby share an unofficial translation of a statement published by the Defense Front of the People’s Struggles in Ecuador (FDLP-EC) on June 23rd.
The Defense Front of the People’s Struggles in Ecuador express their firmest and categorical rejection of the measures adopted by the fascist government of Noboa, through which it intends to deepen the militarization of the country, open the doors to the presence of foreign mercenaries in national territory, and apply, once again, the state of emergency in ten provinces of the country.
Noboa – in servile fashion and with shameless lip service to the imperialist policy that was directed today by Trump – persists in his policies of national subordination, in an increasing surrender of what little remains of sovereignty, and of submission to the interests of Yankee plunder.
As we warned, the referendum against the installation of foreign military bases, the transfer of national facilities to foreign armed forces or mercenaries, and any form of intervention that compromises national sovereignty, proved largely ineffective. It was evident that Noboa was going to ignore that decision, expressed in a mechanism that, like the consultation, does not represent the true democratic calling of our people. On the contrary, it has been used as a tool to “put out fires” and has also fueled opportunism to launch its defiant rhetoric against the current government.
It is clear: no foreign force can operate in Ecuador. And we maintain this position far above what the Constitution and the laws of the old State may say. We maintain it on the basis of our right to be a sovereign, dignified, anti-imperialist country, capable of shaping its future based on the interests of the broad masses of the people.
We also categorically reject the proposal by Noboa, the lackey of imperialism, to grant immunity, privileges, or exceptional treatment to foreign troops, agents, advisors, or personnel operating in Ecuador. In other words, we reject giving free rein to violence, crimes, and persecution—actions not necessarily directed against criminal groups created by imperialism itself and used to foment internal conflicts, but against the population, which now demands not only security but also rebellion.
We also reject the new state of emergency declared in ten provinces and three cantons of the country, a measure that suspends fundamental rights such as the inviolability of the home and correspondence, and that expands the powers of the police and military over the daily life of the population, particularly the poor and peasant masses who remain firm in the fight against imperialism and the large mining transnationals, as is the case in the canton of Las Naves, province of Bolivar.
The state of emergency has become a punitive, coercive and repressive tool of the government. It is used to militarize neighborhoods, communities, roads, peasant territories and popular areas; to normalize criminal bombings of the peasant population, raids, controls, arrests, surveillance, repressive abuse; and to regularize the threat of the repressive apparatus of the State.
It is enough to remember how, in the month of March, in the middle of a state of emergency and “curfew”, particularly in the province of Los Ríos and Bolívar, that the Armed Forces took advantage of the situation to raid the homes and farms of leaders of the resistance against the mining companies, intimidate the population and try to neutralize the popular struggle.
The violence that hits the masses is a product of the aggressive penetration of Yankee imperialism, the crisis of bureaucratic capitalism and the unbridled voracity of a regime servile to the big bourgeoisie and the big landlords, particularly the comprador bourgeoisie, the sector of the ruling classes to which the fascist Noboa belongs.
The foreign presence in national territory has always been accompanied by greater social precariousness, as it encourages child prostitution, drug consumption and various crimes committed by the occupying forces. Furthermore, it brings with it espionage, political control, economic conditioning, persecution of people and forced alignment with the regional strategies of imperialism.
The masses of the country must understand that the constitutional mirages that opportunism politically spurs are taking us nowhere. It already happened with the referendum, precisely, among other issues, with that related to the presence of foreign bases and troops in the country. Noboa ‘cleansed’ himself with that statement. Will it be different with the campaign to recall the mandate? Not at all. He will do the same, without a doubt. Meanwhile, opportunism will have ended up weakening the few spaces, groups, unions, organizations and collectives that remain firm in the slogan that the fascist is not overthrown at the polls or with signatures, but in the streets and in the countryside, with struggle, with rebellion and with correct ideological leadership.
Therefore, we declare the following:
– We stand in solidarity with the broad peasant and popular masses of the country, victims of the repressive policy of the old State and the comprador government.
– We stand in solidarity with the community members, peasants and other masses of the Las Naves canton, once again targeted by the State and imperialism.
– We demand the repeal of any provision that allows the presence of troops, military, police, intelligence or foreign security forces in the national territory.
– We demand the elimination of all forms of immunity, legal privilege, special jurisdiction or exceptional treatment for foreign personnel operating in Ecuador.
– We demand the immediate lifting of the new state of emergency in the ten provinces and three municipalities affected.
– We demand the end of the suspension of constitutional rights and the militarization of society, especially in the popular sectors.
– We reject all forms of imperialist interference, direct or covert, in the internal affairs of Ecuador.
It corresponds to the conscious element of the class and the people, to organize the defense of the territories, ports, institutions, natural resources, strategic infrastructure, and sovereign decisions of the country against any attempt at foreign control.
We call on popular, union, peasant, indigenous, student, neighborhood, women’s, self-employed, and human rights organizations to speak out, organize and mobilize in defense of national sovereignty and the fundamental rights of the people.
We warn the Ecuadorian people not to be deceived by the official discourse that lashes out with military campaigns under the pretext of “combating crime”, or against the acidic sediments of the followers of Correa, used to distract the masses from the crisis of bureaucratic capitalism and the surrender of the country to Yankee imperialism.
FOREIGN TROOPS OUT OF ECUADOR!
NO TO IMMUNITY FOR FOREIGN FORCES!
NO TO THE PERMANENT STATE OF EMERGENCY!
NO TO IMPERIALIST INTERVENTION IN OUR TERRITORY!
FOR NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY AND THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE!
THE FASCIST IS OVERTHROWN WITH STRUGGLE, NOT WITH VOTES OR SIGNATURES!
LONG LIVE THE RESISTANCE OF THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS OF LAS NAVES!
ORGANIZE, COMBAT, AND RESIST!
IT IS RIGHT TO REBEL!
