On June 13th, 2022, the South American country of Ecuador was paralyzed by a large-scale, weeks-long protest and national strike called by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), the country's most powerful Indigenous organization. In this interview in the Cofán language of A'ingae, the CONAIE Director of International Relations, Eduardo Mendua, explains how Ecuador's Indigenous Peoples and other social sectors have suffered under the right-wing administration of President Guillermo Lasso. He also explains why they chose to mobilize to shut down roads throughout the country so the government would listen to and accept their demands for change. Mendua describes the conditions in the country, how they cause hardship for so many Ecuadorians, and why CONAIE decided to take to the streets and occupy Quito, the national capital, to fight for the rights of all Ecuadorians, especially the most marginalized ones. The interview was conducted and subtitled by Dr. Michael L. Cepek, a professor of anthropology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, who has worked as an activist and academic with Ecuador's Indigenous Cofán Nation--of which Mendua is a member--since 1994. Mendua's native language, A'ingae, is spoken by approximately 1,500 Ecuadorians. …...more
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