MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Indians seek to increase power in Ecuadorian elections

Ecuador's Indians, who - depending on who's counting - make up between a quarter and nearly half the Andean nation's population of 12 million, hope their recent efforts to better organize will pay off with increased influence resulting from Sunday's elections.

The Indian community, disproportionately poor, is a significant voting bloc that the traditional political parties have not yet been able to attract.

Ecuadorian Indians, who were isolated from the country's political life for centuries, began playing a bigger role during the administration of social democrat Rodrigo Borja. Toward the end of Borja's 1988-1992 term in office, Indians carried out an uprising that led to the legal recognition of indigenous territories.

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), the country's largest social organization, decided not to sponsor a candidate of its own in Sunday's elections, saying it preferred to marshal forces for a future run at the presidency.

But former Conaie Chairman Antonio Vargas, who was removed from the group for not abiding by that decision, will be the country's first-ever Indian presidential candidate.

Vargas, with the support of rebel colonels, led the Indian uprising that overthrew President Jamil Mahuad in January 2000.

During the coup, Vargas formed part of a junta that held power for just three hours before being dissolved to make way for the new administration of Gustavo Noboa, Mahuad's erstwhile vice president.

Vargas said at the time that the Indians were prepared to assume power, although his fleeting stint in office ended up eroding his base of popular support.

Conaie refused to support Vargas' candidacy, although he did receive the backing of the Amauta Jatari movement and Amazonian Indians.

Without a candidate of its own, Conaie decided to join its political arm - the Pachakutik Movement - in supporting former army Col. Lucio Gutierrez.

Gutierrez, who was cashiered for taking part in the 2000 coup, has managed to win the support of Conaie and several leftist groups as well as influential social organizations. Conaie Chairman Leonidas Iza told that the group had put up candidates for provincial and municipal elections.

For now, the organization is not concerned with winning elections, but instead demonstrating "that it has electoral strength and also the ability to mobilize," Iza said. Iza said Conaie would go to the polls on Sunday "with a borrowed candidate" that will allow them to grow and consolidate their strength.

Iza said he was confident Gutierrez would garner enough votes to be able to compete in a runoff, set for Nov. 24, and that it was a mistake for politicians to "minimize" Conaie's ability to bring out the Indian vote.

Other main contenders include two former presidents and a banana magnate. Borja, 67, is participating in his fifth presidential election.

Former President Osvaldo Hurtado, who served for most of the 1980-1984 term of Jaime Rodos after the latter died in a plane crash, is running under the banner of the newly-formed Patriotic Solidarity Movement.

Banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa, of the Independent Renewal Party, has sought to capitalize on the poor reputation of Ecuadorian politicians by insisting that he is a businessman, not a politico.

Iza said, meanwhile, that whichever candidate is elected will have to reach out to Conaie. "Conaie will continue to engage in dialogue but, if the next administration does not reciprocate, we'll have to mobilize.

Unfortunately, governments only listen to the people's ideas if they mobilize," Iza said.