20,000 march in Quito to protest Ecuador’s president

More than 20,000 people from all over the country marched in Quito on April 16 to protest President Lenín Moreno’s betrayal of his party, the national sovereignty of Ecuador, and his policies of privatization and political repression.

Students, Indigenous and precarious sectors of Ecuadorian society were repressed by police using gas, clubs and horses, resulting in many injuries and arrests.

The marchers called the demonstration “16A Not One Right Less.” 16A refers to the devastating coastal earthquake of April 16, 2016. As a chant, it is a condemnation of Moreno’s unwillingness to continue former President Rafael Correa’s popular program of reconstruction that was managed by his Vice President Jorge Glas, who is currently a political prisoner.

Thousands of banners and chants raised the slogans: “Moreno, puppet of U.S. imperialism,” “Out, Moreno get out,” “Bring back the homeland, not the IMF” [International Monetary Fund], “Freedom for Assange!” “Privatize your mother,” ”No flexibilization [removal of worker protection],” “Moreno, show your INA bank account.” A favorite was: “What’s this bullsh-t! Money for Moreno’s INA, nothing for the people!” Wikileaks has exposed that Moreno has an account in the INA Investment Corporation, a bank located in Panama.

Moreno has sold out to the bankers and the IMF. Correa’s call to march against repression and privatization was echoed in the city streets of Europe and the U.S., with hundreds more people coming out. Julian Assange was raised because he has suffered a fate similar to that of Vice President Jorge Glas, who was framed and sentenced to six years in prison after he exposed Moreno’s corruption in August 2017.

This march is the biggest expression of Ecuadorian discontent with “Morenismo” to date. The struggle is growing in the popular neighborhoods, Indigenous communities and social networks on the internet.

Moreno’s “judicial system” is prosecuting political opponents [called “Lawfare” in Ecuador], forcing former officials into exile, and dismantling the “Correista” welfare state, with daily trashing of the Constitution and of international asylum conventions in the case of Julian Assange.