Indigenous people of Ecuador deny the president’s accusation that they finance themselves with drug traffickers

​Ecuador’s main indigenous organization denied on Saturday that drug trafficking had financed its recent protest against the government, as affirmed by the conservative president Guillermo Lasso after the deactivation of the demonstrations that he calls a coup attempt.

“We reject the absurd accusations of Guillermo Lasso about the financing of legitimate social protest”said the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) in a statement in relation to the demonstrations that ended on June 30 with a balance of six dead and more than 600 wounded, between agents and civilians.

“Cornered by the figures of rejection of his management and the inability to govern, he issues false accusations and irresponsible, aggravating the social and political upheaval caused by the government itself,” he added.

Conaie protested for almost three weeks against the high cost of living with roadblocks nationwide and marches in various cities such as Quito, where Some 10,000 demonstrators mobilized and clashed with the public force.

15 million dollars from the narco

Lasso told the Argentine digital newspaper Infobae this week that the aborigines, the political front led by former opposition leader Rafael Correa (2007-2017) and drug traffickers came together to “manufacturing a violent protest for political ends to overthrow a legally constituted government.”

“This is an alliance with Correismo and a third actor participates in this alliance, who is the one who puts up the money for the protests, who they will have cost close to 15 million dollars over 18 days. This actor is drug trafficking in Ecuador,” he declared.

The government and Conaie signed a “peace act” with the mediation of the Catholic Church, in which Lasso, with 17% acceptance,It agreed to lower the prices of the most used fuels by a maximum of 8%.

On July 1, the gallon of diesel went from 1.90 to 1.75 dollars and that of regular gasoline from 2.55 to 2.40 dollars.

On Thursday, a 90-day negotiation process began between the parties, in which a series of requests from Conaie and other native organizations will be analyzed, which previously demanded fuel reductions of up to 21%.

The indigenous sue Lasso, who drags a 17% acceptance rate but has military support, more fuel subsidies in a centralized way for the inhabitants of the rural area.

Conaie pointed out on Saturday that “the national strike was sustained in minga (community work) collective and solidarity with the peasant production of the Coast, Sierra and Amazon” and other sectors such as universities and citizens.

He warned that “Mr. Lasso’s malicious attitude casts doubt on the signed act” and maintained that the Executive “sabotages” the negotiation process.

Amid the protests, Lasso – a former right-wing banker who took office 13 months ago – he was saved from being impeached by Congress, where a majority but divided opposition that blamed him for the political crisis could not gather enough votes to dismiss him.

Union for Hope (Unes, left), the main legislative force with 47 of the 137 seats, ipromoted the constitutional removal of the ruler. That movement is akin to Correa.

Lasso maintains a war against drug trafficking, to which he attributes a wave of violence inside and outside the prisons.

Clashes between gangs linked to foreign cartels They leave about 400 deceased prisoners since February 2021 in penitentiaries in Ecuador, in prison massacres that are among the worst in Latin America.