Quito, January 23 (EFE). – The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) has asked the country's president, Daniel Noboa, to be transparent about the agreements that could be reached with the United States within the framework of the “internal armed conflict” that he is waging against organized crime explained in order to avoid a repeat of the “failure” of Plan Colombia in the neighboring country.
Conaie's statement follows the visit that a delegation from the Government of Washington is paying to the country these days to support Ecuador in the fight against crime and violence emanating from organized crime organizations linked to international drug cartels to the authorities.
The U.S. delegation includes Special Presidential Adviser for the Americas Christopher Dodd, Southern Command Director Laura Richardson, and representatives from the United States Office of International Counternarcotics and Law Enforcement Assistance.
“We call on President Noboa and his government to make transparent the signed agreements” as well as “the extent of US interference in the decisions of the Ecuadorian state,” the governing council of Conaie, the largest social organization, noted in a statement. important for Ecuador.
“The failure of Plan Colombia is an experience that we cannot repeat,” warned Conaie of this program, which has been used since 1999 to end the internal armed conflict on Colombian territory, but which has been criticized by social groups, politicians and defenders. of human rights.
Regarding this program, Conaie listed the alleged riots that were reported as “cases of human rights violations, false alarms, massacres of farmers, illegal exploitation of natural resources and promotion of paramilitary groups.”
These problems “are situations that we must avoid in our country,” Conaie added in his letter, in which he also recalled recent comments by the head of the Southern Command about the U.S. vision for South America's natural resources.
The US military chief, according to Conaie, highlighted the so-called Lithium Triangle between Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, the oil reserves of Venezuela and Guyana, and the riches of the Amazon jungle as the “lungs of the world,” or the region containing 31% of the planet's fresh water.
For Conaie, in his January 2023 statement, Richardson warns of the interest that the United States has in the region's resources and that, according to him, it has to do “with the national security” of the United States to meet the needs of the North American country it must strengthen its commitment to the region.
For the indigenous movement, “Ecuador needs truth and justice with full respect for national sovereignty,” in addition to protecting national interests from possible pressure that North American power might exert. EFE
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