President Lasso's Supporters Spread Racist Speech

On Thursday, Ecuadorian supporters of President Guillermo Lasso held a "March for Peace", which was characterized by the dissemination of racist phrases against the Indigenous farmers and workers who are taking part in the national strike that has already entered its twelfth consecutive day.

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Carried out through some streets of the residential neighborhoods in the north of Quito, this march was called by Mayor Santiago Guarderas, a former member of the Christian Social Party (PSC).

"The good people of Quito" ("Quiteños de bien"), who usually boast of being democratic and tolerant citizens, shouted phrases like "Indians out of here, out!" and "Terrorist Iza," alluding to Leonidas Iza, the president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAEI), the popular organization that called for the citizen protest.

Besides being backed by the police during its displacement, the pro-Lasso march was widely reported in primetime by the mainstream media, which did not report on the repression unleashed against Indigenous citizens who remained surrounded around El Ejido Park and the National Assembly.

In this area, dozens of people were injured and a young man died as a result of the bullets fired by the police. The images of the corpse were recorded on social networks.

While this was happening, Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo also continued to spread the official narrative about the national strike in which the Indigenous people are accused of being responsible for “terrorist acts”. Through social networks, however, citizens found ways to respond to the mediatic siege against those who protest.

"In Quito, working women are brave and supportive. The speech raised in the 'March for Peace' is a declaration of hatred, racism, classism, and sexism," tweeted Elsa Guerra, a woman.

"When Lasso says we must work and avoid protests in order to reactivate the country, he is lying to us because only 3 out of 10 people have access to decent work in Ecuador. That is the reality. Most people fight every day to be able to have some food on the table."