The toppling of Ecuador’s government has failed but the conspiracy in the Americas continues

(Interamerican Institute for Democracy) In Ecuador, socialism of the 21st century has just repeated its method to topple democratic governments, a method that has been executed throughout this century and that consists in the aggravation of social and economic grievances through the mobilization of sectors who go beyond protesting, include violence, paralyze the country and seek fatal victims to topple the president. Claiming an “increase in the cost of living” movement leaders controlling indigenous and native people staged 18 days of violence that left six dead and almost 500 injured, coupled with the failed destitution of the Republic’s President at the Legislative Assembly. Castrochavism’s coup d’état in Ecuador has failed, but the conspiracy continues.

A coup d’état is “the illegal, violent, or forcible sudden taking of political power by a power group”. This 21st century we have seen in Latin America coups using the classical use of force to compel the departure of a president and then take-over the government. We have also seen coups involving “the democratic arrival to the government by democratic means and then proceed to systematically dismantle all governmental institutions through successive alterations to the rule of law in order to establish a dictatorial regime”. The first modality is called a “hard or classical coup d’état” the other modality is called a “soft coup d’état”.

The 20th century was plagued by hard, military and civilian/military, armed and violent, coups d’état, that occurred more frequently in the decades of the sixties and seventies within the framework of the Cold War. Of all the coups of the past century, executed by either hard rights or hard lefts, the one that continues retaining power is the one perpetrated in Cuba that resulted successful in 1959, one that has survived under the banner of Cuban Revolution and with the help of Hugo Chavez since 1999, has comprised 21st Century Socialism and following the very convenient death of Chavez has left the leadership of the revived scheme to the Cuban dictatorship that has turned 20th Century Castroism into 21st Century Castrochavism, expanding its dictatorial model to Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua.

Ironically, the first toppling of the 21st century in the Americas occurred, precisely, in Ecuador on 21 January of 2000 when Ecuador’s Armed Forces, together with members of Ecuador’s Confederation of Indigenous Nations (the same ones involved in this last and failed attempt) removed Yamil Mahuad from power. The second toppling occurred in Argentina on 20 December of 2001 when President Fernando de la Rua was removed. On 17 October of 2003 under the guise of a protest to stop the exportation of gas to Chile, President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada was toppled in Bolivia and the perpetrators were immediately rewarded with “Amnesty Decrees” and the conformation of a “Constituent Assembly”. On 20 April of 2005, Ecuador’s President Lucio Gutierrez was removed by Congress following the so-called rebellion of the outlaws.

Amongst the failed coups d’état in this 21st century are; the one perpetrated in October of 2019 in Ecuador against President Lenin Moreno who had to move the seat of government from Quito to Guayaquil in order to resist; the one in Chile prompted by the increase of metro fares starting on 18 October of 2019 and that led to the conformation of a “Constituent Assembly”; the one that occurred in Colombia against President Ivan Duque who, since 28 April of 2021, is not recognized as such.

Amongst the soft coups perpetrated by Castrochavism, perhaps the one least remembered and studied may be the one perpetrated against the General Secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS), former Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez who resigned on 8 October of 2004, a victim of a conspiracy with a prosecution opened against him in his country, something for which he was later declared innocent. Rodriguez’s resignation, few days after being elected to OAS General Secretary, left the door wide opened for the control of the OAS by 21st Century Socialism under the management of Insulza.

All of the coups d’état of the 21st century have, as their objective, to weaken democracy and make way by violence for Castrochavism’s regimes, all have a center of conspiracy and direction that is the 21st Century Socialism, all have the same features of aggravating problematic situations they turn into crises, then into violence, confrontation, death and the take-over or extreme weakening of the government. The visible operators of these coups are the local leaderships with violent operators from the Forum of Sao Paolo, such as members of the FARC, ELN, or so-called trained Social Movements from Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. They are clearly funded.

The recent coup d’état in Ecuador -visibly operated by Castrochavism- has failed but leaves behind a weakened government and the conspiracy against democracy continues not only in Ecuador but throughout the Americas.

*Attorney & Political Scientist. Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.

Translation from Spanish by Edgar L. Terrazas