Communist Internet Thursday 1st May 2000 9.30pm gmt Indigenous peoples seek plebiscite . Explains Ricardo Ulcuango, vice president of the Indigenous Nationalities Confederation of Ecuador BY RAISA PAGES (Granma International staff writer) "WE are calling for a referendum so that people can express their opinions on a range of subjects, particularly on dollarization. We are collecting up to one million signatures, the figure representing the proportion of the electorate required for a plebiscite." In an interview with Granma International, Ricardo Ulcuango, vice president of the Indigenous Nationalities Confederation of Ecuador, noted that the plebiscite deals with the amnesty of the 300 persons involved in the January 21 mobilization and who are now awaiting trial, and those who are still in prison (20 civilians and an equal number of military personnel). The plebiscite's objective is to allow people to express their opinion on the external debt (standing at more than $16 million USD); the privatization of public health care, education, social security and oil; the restructuring of Congress; the executive; and the legal sector. Over 300,000 Ecuadorans have emigrated to the United States and Spain as a result of the conditions of poverty in the country, stated Ulcuango, whose federation groups 12 nationalities from 28 towns. VIOLATING THE CONSTITUTION Food prices have risen by more than 300%, charges for basic services are up by 100% and the same has happened with education and hospital costs, Ulcuango added, explaining that the government has no economic or social policy. "The neoliberal policies implemented in my country are steadily crushing the people. Dollarization is restricting economic, political and fiscal decisions, and our national identity is being eliminated. "With the complicity of the government and the executive branch, agreements were signed with the International Monetary Fund behind the backs of the Ecuadoran people, for the elimination of subsidies in basic services to the population. "We want to know if people are in favor of the U.S. base in Mantua, authorized by the Ecuadoran government for a 10-year period, and which extends over a large area in a significant location." Virtually all Ecuador's private banks have closed and the very few remaining financial institutions are in the hands of the state. "Our actions are peaceful, but crushing. The indigenous movements in Ecuador have brought about the resignation of two presidents," he noted. "We are demanding policies to protect education and health services for the indigenous populations. The state must protect its communities through a development... http://www.billkath.demon.co.uk/cw/indigenous/indigenous.html
