Indians, oil and politics. A recent history of Ecuador

Abstract

It is indispensable that Ecuador has peace, but to have peace you need freedomand to have freedom you need justice. And the Indian population needsjustice.-President Gustavo Noboa, January 23, 2000 For five centuries, theIndians had very little voice in Ecuador. Now they are major protagonists whoseek more acceptable terms in which to coexist in a society with two vastlydifferent world views and cultures-that of Indians and that of the descendantsof Europeans. Their recent political uprising has become the most powerful andinfluential indigenous movement in Latin America. Author Allen Gerlach detailsthe origins and evolution of the Indian rebellion, focusing on the key periodof the last thirty years. He infuses his text with an abundant supply ofquotations from participants in the rise in ethnic politics, bringingEcuador's history and the Indians' opposition to the country's government tolife. This valuable case study of the politics of ethnicity will becomeincreasingly useful for those interested in Latin American politics.