QUITO, Ecuador, Aug. 5 (UPI) — The National Indigenous Confederation of Ecuador is continuing its nearly 400 mile, 300-person march toward Quito in protest over policies by President Rafael Correa.
The group declared an “indigenous uprising” that hopes to enact a nationwide labor strike scheduled for Aug. 13. The march began Sunday from Tundayme in the Zamora-Chinchipe province near Ecuador’s border with Peru and the group is attempting to travel a total of about 450 miles to reach Quito by Monday.
The organization is marching against policies by Correa that they deem are excluding indigenous populations from governmental participation, particularly for land and water deals.
The protests began early in June and have created a “difficult political crisis,” according to Correa, who said the planned nationwide strike is “illegal.”
“They have the right to march, they have no right to paralyze the country,” Correa said on Monday. “They do not have the support or the legality or the legitimacy to destabilize one of the most popular governments in history, which is why they resort to violence and try to create financial panic.”
Marcha por la Dignidad #Tundayme #MarchaEc
#13A #ParoNacionalDelPueblo pic.twitter.com/mPVQ5nOy20— Natasha Rojas (@natasha_rojas) August 2, 2015
The leader of the National Indigenous Confederation of Ecuador, Severino Sharupi, has criticized Correa’s dealings with the indigenous people.
“Do you believe him when President Rafael Correa calls for dialogue? We currently do not believe him, nor the Ecuadorian people believe,” Sharupi said. “Because for the dialogue to be effective there must be concrete answers and that has not been seen at this time… We have talked many times in different ways, one by sitting at the same table with Rafael Correa and the other through proposals; none of these two pathways have paid off.”
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