CAYAMBE, Ecuador (Reuters) – Ecuador’s indigenous leaders, emboldened by their success in derailing IMF-backed fuel-subsidy cuts, have set their sights on high office, but experts say they face formidable obstacles – a small population, infighting and struggles with campaign finance.
On Monday, after days of violent indigenous-led protests, President Lenin Moreno abandoned a measure to end decades-old fuel subsidies aimed at getting the country’s finances in check.
Moreno’s backtracking was a major victory for Ecuador’s indigenous peoples, who have led uprisings that helped topple at least three governments but have struggled to make a mark in day-to-day politics.
Jaime Vargas, one of the protest leaders from the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, or CONAIE, said he was mobbed as he left a market this week. “I couldn’t get out of there because everyone was coming up to me, saying ‘Jaime Vargas for president,’” he told Reuters in an interview. “‘If you say so,’” he said he told them. “‘If you decide, I’m willing.’”
The indigenous officially represent 7% of Ecuador’s 17 million people, but activists say the true figure, obscured by how the census measures the long-marginalized population, could be as high as 40%.
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