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Ecuador's President Lasso declares state of exception over protests

Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso has declared a state of exception in three of the Andean country's provinces, in a bid to calm protests called by indigenous groups in rejection of the government's economic policies.

The neoliberal regime of Guillermo Lasso has responded to criticism and protest against his government's policies not by addressing the concerns of vulnerable proletarian groups and indigenous peoples, but by invoking a state of exception in the provinces of Cotopaxi, Imbabura, and Pichincha. Including the capital city of Quito, this means that over 3 million Ecuadorians are now under curfew from 10 pm to 5 am, and all public gatherings in affected areas have been banned.

Before his presidency, Lasso was the head of Coca-Cola in Ecuador in the 80s, one of the most notable MNCs for its compradorist and fascist activities in nations of Latin America. Lasso was a key figure in the neoliberal government of former president Jamil Mahuad, and contributed to IMF domination of the country and the dollarization of the economy, which saw Mahuad ousted in 2000. In the 2017 election, before Lenin Moreno revealed himself as a class traitor to the left-wing PAIS and the United Front electoral alliance, Lasso took a page from the usual imperialist crony playbook and declared the elections illegitimate and falsified (despite little to no evidence). It was only due to splits in the country's left-wing, that saw the right-wing of the indigenous Pachakutik Movement endorse Lasso's neoliberal candidacy (attacking the left-wing proposals for COVID economic support, supporting a "free trade" agreement with the US, etc.), that Lasso was able to assume the presidency at all.

Lasso's presidency was opened with mass privatization of public assets, while the generally left-wing National Assembly has opposed many of his measures in stride. In 2021, Lasso was revealed to have assets hidden in the Pandora Papers leak, and his approval rating has continued to plummet to below 40%.

It is perhaps also relevant to discuss the origin of the very concept of the state of exception in that of the fascist legal thinker and jurist Carl Schmitt, who saw the "state of exception" as the right of a sovereign to ignore the law in favour of the "public" good. The "state of exception" as theorized by Schmitt acts as a legal arm to the repressive apparatus of the bourgeois and fascist state, allowing extralegality and violence to stamp out progressive political movements and action.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/ecuador-s-president-lasso-declares-state-of-exception-over-protests/47684908