by: JOE EMERSBERGER
Critics contend that Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno (L) is seeking to reverse the progressive achievements of his leftist predecessor. PHOTO/Reuters
Critics contend that Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno (L) is seeking to reverse the progressive achievements of his leftist predecessor. | Photo: Reuters
Critics say Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno is seeking to reverse the progressive achievements of his leftist predecessor and move the country to the right.
“CONAIE and CREO direct the new National Electoral Council,” announces a recent headline in the right-wing Ecuadorean newspaper El Universo.
CONAIE is a self-declared “left” federation representing Indigenous peoples in Ecuador. CREO is the party of the “defeated” right-wing presidential candidate in 2017.
I put “defeated” in quotes because CREO’s electoral defeat – which they stupidly claimed was due to fraud – quickly morphed into a resounding victory as Moreno ruthlessly pushed through CREO’s electoral platform and trashed his own.
Rafael Correa’s left-wing government (2007-2017) delivered major social gains to Ecuador. Like Bolivia under Evo Morales, Ecuador under Correa avoided the macroeconomic blunders made by left governments in Venezuela and Brazil. However, Correa’s party was too naive and relaxed about imposters and opportunists within its ranks (most importantly Lenin Moreno) and for that reason has become another kind of cautionary tale.
Illegally Fired
Ecuador’s National Electoral Council (CNE) was illegally fired this year by Moreno’s handpicked Transitory Council of Citizen Participation (CPCCS-T) – an illegally appointed body that has (illegally, of course, like everything about it) assumed the powers of a constituent assembly.
Correa’s recent op-ed about all of this is very good. Moreno’s CPCCS-T has been used to criminalize Correa’s movement. It is easy to see why creating the CPCCS-T was crucial to doing this. Correa explained:
“Can you imagine a ‘democracy’ in which the president handpicks a council that proceeds to dismiss the Constitutional Court, the Judicial Council which oversees the judiciary, the National Electoral Council, the Attorney General, the ombudsman, and all six major regulators (superintendents)?”
It sparked international scandal when President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela called for the election of a constituent assembly in 2017. The Venezuelan opposition (backed by the usual suspects: big NGOs, Western media, various governments such as Canada’s that ape the U.S. line on Venezuela) boycotted the vote and refused to run candidates.
Extravagant Praise
Moreno, in contrast, has actually been praised by the likes of Jose Miguel Vivanco of Human Rights Watch for creating the CPCCS-T. No such thing exists in Ecuador’s constitution, and Moreno simply picked its members. Vivanco has singled out the CPCCS-T in particular for extravagant praise.
Telesur for more