Unitary Confederation of Neighborhoods of Ecuador (CUBE) statement at SIRAL 27

THE NEIGHBORHOOD STRUGGLE IS

PART OF THE FORCES FOR REVOLUTION.

The anti-people policies of the bourgeois governments in office mean hunger and misery for the popular sectors of the population, located in marginalized neighborhoods in the different cities of the countries of the world.

In our country as in others, the abandonment by local and national governments is evident, these neighborhood sectors are ones in which there are families, residents who live in extreme poverty, and others with lower incomes, who suffer the consequences of the policies of the governments and the bourgeoisie, as opposed to sectors/neighborhoods where those with higher incomes and some members of the ruling classes live, with luxuries and their needs met. In Ecuador the neighborhoods are part of the social organizations that have fought and struggle against the bourgeois governments and their policies.

Thus, in recent years the participation of the inhabitants of the popular neighborhoods has been very important; they participate in the indigenous and popular uprisings, opposing measures that affected the popular sectors such as the increase in fuel prices and for respect for collective rights.

Thus, in the indigenous and popular uprising of October 2019, the neighborhoods participated together with other popular sectors; we mobilized and were in the streets. We must particularly highlight the presence of neighborhoods in the south of Quito that joined the struggle in the streets, going to the places of greatest confrontation, blocking streets. They were in the streets of the country with marches and sit-ins, a struggle to which the Moreno government responded with bullets from the army and the police, with more than 11 popular fighters killed and with the loss of eyes of men and women fighting in the streets.

In June 2022, again together with the indigenous sector, workers and different social organizations, we in the neighborhoods were there, supporting with food, giving lodging, and also in the streets and plazas. There were thousands of us residents of the popular neighborhoods, against the neoliberal and extractivist policies, in defense of the water that the government of Lasso wanted to impose and for the respect of their rights. We confronted the army and police, who were overwhelmed by thousands of poor people whom they faced, regardless of combat tanks that tried to intimidate the population, tear gas bombs by the thousands, an action that counted with important actions in several cities of the country.

As part of our actions was the approval of the Organic Law of Social Interest Housing (LOVIS), in which we managed to include some elements that enable the population of millions of families that do not own housing to rely on it, to force the state to fulfill this human right, which was approved in the National Assembly in March 2022.

Another important aspect is our participation in the electoral struggle, for which the debate was and is necessary that we are capable of exercising public offices of popular election; we obtained important results, which also allowed us, together with the "Certainly we can", to run candidates for the National Assembly.

The population demands remain in force, basic works, health care, education, social housing, which includes security, where we have begun to organize security committees with the inhabitants themselves. For this it has become necessary to hold meetings in which the importance of neighborhood integration was analyzed, recovering public spaces and placing community alarms to more than chat groups, as a form of self-defense against government ineffectiveness.

In the midst of this process, the community organization, the neighborhood committees, youth organizations, women's organizations, senior citizen’s groups, sports leagues, etc., are being strengthened; these have been integrated into the Neighborhood Federations in each canton and at the national level, in the Unitary Confederation of Neighborhoods of Ecuador "CUBE." We have a great job ahead; we should also get involved in urban proposals of the bourgeoisie in order to apply the resolutions of HABITAT III, although the COVID 19 pandemic modified some of them.

We invite the different political organizations participating in this 27th International Seminar, to build their own space to analyze and discuss the problems of the different cities of our continent and the world.

From the Middle of the World we send our fraternal and revolutionary greetings.

Quito, September 1, 2023

[I think a pamphlet of these remarks at 27th SIPRAL will be posted on the Red Star Publishers website.]