BARRICADES AND BALLOTS: ECUADOR'S INDIANS AND THE PACHAKUTIK POLITICAL MOVEMENT

Abstract

The national-level indigenous confederation, the Confederacion de Nacionalidades Indigenas del Ecuador (CONAIE), along with its regional and provincial constituent organizations, has advanced the interests and constitutionally recognized rights of indigenous peoples in Ecuador via mass mobilizations and direct negotiations with the government. For a number of years the leadership of CONAIE rejected direct participation in elections and even refused to endorse parties or candidates. This was reversed in late 1995 with the formation of a political movement called Movimiento de Unidad Plurinacional Pachakutik-Nuevo Pais. The purpose of this article is to analyze the electoral performance of this movement, especially in 1996 and 1998, in the context of the larger political environment and the various twists and turns of the indigenous movement between 1996 and 2000. The authors conclude with a brief discussion of the relative merits of barricades and ballots in advancing the cause of Ecuador's popular classes, both indigenous and non-indigenous.

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