Courtesy: Bolívar and Zamora Revolutionary Current

The state of emergency, transfer of the government to the city of Guayaquil, absurd accusations of interference by Venezuela, military deployment, curfew, assassinations at the hands of the security forces—all this did not deter the workers, women, students, teachers, professionals, peasants and indigenous people of Ecuador, the ‘drones’, as Moreno defined them, from coming out and taking over the streets of Quito, to corner a government that is implementing measures dictated by advisors to the International Monetary Fund.

In Quito, for 10 days now, helicopters can be heard flying over the city, tanks are racing through the streets, and the mist of tear gas pervades the capital. Rubber bullets have been replaced by lead that is embedded in the brown bodies of the townspeople.

All this is but the repeat of the way the IMF dictated neoliberal economic model has been imposed on the rest of the entire region of Latin America—first the elites secretly sign agreements behind closed doors, and then violently impose it on the people.

Neoliberalism arrived in Latin America during the dictatorships of the 1970s, gained momentum again in the 1990s, and saw a new boom in recent years, particularly after Chávez’s death.

But now, all over Latin America, this right-wing wave is showing signs of exhaustion. The most important sign of this is the massive resistance being mounted by the people, leading to significant victories. In Honduras, there were massive mobilizations against President Juan Orlando Hernandez at the beginning of this year. Now, new evidence has emerged of his links with drug traffickers, further undermining his government. In Haiti, a people who have suffered immensely for the last more than two hundred years for being the first ones to raise the flag of independence against colonialism, are once again out on the streets confronting the neoliberal program being implemented by President Jovenal Moíse with the backing of the so-called Core Group (comprising of the Special Representative of the UN and the OAS, and the ambassadors of the USA, EU, Germany, Brazil, Canada and France). For the past few weeks, there have been huge mobilizations, that have continuously increased in scale, and have been met with a response identical to the one deployed by Lenin Moreno: repression and death. In Argentina, Macri’s program, backed by more than 50 billion dollars given by the IMF, has met with resistance from social movements, and now all indications are that Macri is going to be shown the door in elections due in Argentina in two weeks from now. Peru too shows the same signs of instability, and the government is finding it difficult to impose the neoliberal agenda.

Even when it was at its peak, the right-wing wave could not defeat the most advanced socialist experiments in the region. In Cuba and Venezuela, the the United States and international capital subjected these countries to an intense siege through a criminal blockade imposed by it, but it failed to break the will of the people of these countries and they firmly stood with the socialist governments in power in these countries. In Bolivia, despite all the machinations by international capital, Evo is on his way to a new victory, while Sandinismo continues to be in power in Nicaragua, defeating innumerable attempts by the right-wing to overthrow it.

The answer given by the Ecuadorian government by massacring its people is the same as that given by Carlos Andrés Pérez in Venezuela, De la Rúa in Argentina and Carlos Sánchez Losada in Bolivia in the 1990s and early 2000s. The causes are also the same: imposition of measures and packages that lower “labour costs” in favour of monopoly capital.

But now, once again, the co-relation of forces in the region—between giant corporations backed by the IMF, the USA and other imperialist powers on the one hand, and the great majority of the people who refuse to mortgage their future, on the other—is changing once again. This is very similar to the situation across the Latin American continent at the beginning of the 21st century, when massive movements led to the fall of neoliberal governments in several countries and the coming to power of progressive governments. It also led to the rejection of the FTAA by these governments, and the birth of new organisations reflecting the anti-imperialist solidarity of these governments, such as ALBA and Unasur. These societies also saw considerable advances towards building new type of socialist societies, led by the fascinating experiment of the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela.

Following the death of President Chavez of Venezuela, the right wing wave re-emerged again across the continent, but now, once again, the co-relation of forces is changing. The plans being made by the USA and the IMF are once again meeting with intense resistance from the great majority of the people, both on the streets and electorally.

The battle being fought out on the streets of Ecuador is not being waged only by the indigenous peoples. The entire people are up in revolt. Moreno ordered the tanks on the streets, but the people refused to be cowed down, finally forcing Moreno to raise the flag of dialogue and peace. Even though he continues to remain president, and is attempting to mount repression once again, it is crystal clear that he is politically defeated. It is the beginning of the end of his neoliberal project.

But in order to transform resistance into a sustainable popular victory, it is necessary to gradually build the consciousness of the people and generate in them the need that their popular organisations must take over power so that they can implement alternate economic policies. The more conscious the participation of the people, the more will there be conscious democratic participation of the people in decision making. This is precisely what Chávez earlier strove to do in Venezuela, because of which the people have successfully resisted the murderous blockade of the country, and this is precisely what Evo is seeking to do in Bolivia.

Just a few years ago, the ideologues of capital were proclaiming that the “progressive movements in Latin America had been contained”. But the people of Latin America are rising once again; all across the continent, they are waging a heroic battle against the rule of capital. They have begun to write a new chapter in their own history.

[Bolívar and Zamora Revolutionary Current is a radicall grassroots organisation in Venezuela and is a part of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).]