Quito (AFP)

In Ecuador, the natives have already, in the past, caused the fall of several presidents: today, they are fighting against the rise in the price of gasoline caused by the agreement of the head of state Lenin Moreno with the IMF.

- Who are they?

With 13 different "nationalities", they make Ecuador a multicultural and multilingual country. They represent 25% of the 17.3 million inhabitants.

Living mainly in the Andes and the Amazon, they have become increasingly influential in politics since 1990. A Shuar native, Diana Atamaint, now chairs the National Electoral Council.

They were also ministers, ambassadors and judges. "We are + + longos + (arrogant native word pejorative) but we have a brain," says AFP Arturo Culqui, 23, came from the province of Chimborazo (south) in Quito to demonstrate.

But many indigenous communities remain without access to clean water and electricity. Half of children under four suffer from chronic undernutrition, according to the Ministry of Health.

"The indigenous world has historically been divided, as a response to the racism they experience on a daily basis," says Pablo Romero, an expert at Salesiana University in Quito, and "they trust only their peers."

The majority are part of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), the origin of the first indigenous uprising in 1990, with thousands of them mobilized in Quito. Becoming more visible, they obtained 2.3 million hectares of land.

Conaie, which groups together Ecuarunari (Andes) and Confeniae (Amazonia), created its left-wing political party, Pachakutik, in 1995. It currently has five of the 137 seats of deputies, but has managed to occupy up to 10 % of Parliament in the past.

Allying with other political groups and unions, the natives managed to mobilize massively against unpopular measures and cause the fall of several presidents: Abdala Bucaram (1997), Jamil Mahuad (2000) and Lucio Gutiérrez (2005) .

- How are they affected by the measures?

In Ecuador, 68% of the poor are indigenous. And reforms imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) imply the end of fuel subsidies of 1.3 billion dollars.

Gasoline prices rose more than 100%, raising fears of widespread inflation. While the natives work mainly in agriculture and trade, the measure means a rise in the prices of what they produce such as potatoes, wheat, barley ...

In the countryside, they use trucks and vans to transport their goods, which will now cost them more. And public transport fares have risen by 30%, a disaster for indigenous families, usually many.

"In my case, we are seven brothers and sisters and the price of bus tickets is huge with the rise," laments Lucrecia Caiza, from the region of Otavalo (north).

- What do they want?

Conaie demands that the government backtrack and reinstate the subsidies, which according to Lenin Moreno have cost the state 60 billion dollars in 40 years.

To convince him, thousands of natives - 20,000 according to the Conaie, 10,000 according to the police - came from the Andes and the Amazon to protest in the capital.

"We are in Quito to reject a capitalist economic model that goes against the different layers of the economy," says Jorge Herrera, former president of Conaie.

But "we have no other motivation, let alone overthrowing governments," says Salvador Quishpe, another indigenous leader.

Lenin Moreno ensures that the $ 1.4 billion in fuel subsidies will be redistributed to the poorest. The natives doubt it. "They do not trust someone who takes action against the people and represses them hard in the streets," said Pablo Romero.

© 2019 AFP