Ecuador: Labor unions call for march against President Guillermo Lasso

Opera Mundi - The United Workers' Front of Ecuador (FUT) has called for a protest march this Wednesday (March 15th) against the labor code reforms promoted by President Guillermo Lasso.

 which they described as ineptitude in the face of the social and economic problems that the South American country is going through.

The president of the union organization, Marcela Arellano, accused Lasso's government of taking measures aimed at alienating workers from union organizations, which, in her words, would be "yet another demonstration of ineptitude in the face of the social and economic problems the country is going through."

In a press conference held late Monday afternoon (March 13), Arellano also criticized part of the local press for defending the government's discourse that the mobilizations against the government sought to destabilize the country and promote ungovernability.

"Mobilization is part of fundamental human rights, it's enshrined in the Constitution, and we are protesting precisely because at this moment we are in a state of defenselessness," retorted the union leader.

Arellano added that student, peasant, and indigenous organizations have stated that they will join the demonstrations taking place in the country's three main cities: Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca.

In addition to criticizing the current government's policies, labor unions and social movements are expected to increase pressure to remove Lasso from power, which could favor the initiative under consideration in the Ecuadorian National Assembly to impeach the president.

Impeachment process

Last Friday (March 10), leaders of different blocs in the Ecuadorian National Assembly (unicameral) who oppose President Lasso reached an agreement to initiate a process to remove the president from office, similar to impeachment in Brazil.

The initiative is based on the opinion published on March 1st by the Truth, Justice and Anti-Corruption Commission, regarding an alleged corruption network in several public companies during the current government, a case that the local press calls "The Big Boss".

The document was approved at the time by six votes in favor and only one against, and recommends Lasso's removal from office for "misuse of public funds, attacks against institutions and against the public safety of the State".

The agreement reached last Friday involves the parties Citizen Revolution [led by former president Rafael Correa, and which has 47 parliamentarians], Plurinational Movement Pachakutik [24 parliamentarians], Democratic Left [15 parliamentarians] and Ecuadorian Socialist Party [1 parliamentarian], which together account for 87 of the 137 members of the Assembly.

This quorum is sufficient to initiate the impeachment process against Lasso, which requires the formalization of a document with the signatures of 69 parliamentarians [simple majority].

If the process reaches the final stage, after the accusations and the president's defense have been presented, a two-thirds majority is required, that is, 92 votes, for impeachment to be approved.

In this case, the bloc of 87 parliamentarians committed to the agreement against Lasso would be insufficient. The current group would have to convince at least five of the 16 parliamentarians elected by small parties or regional groups, who do not usually act as a bloc, to obtain the necessary votes.

Meanwhile, the ruling group, led by the CREO Movement (Creating Opportunities), an ultraliberal party founded by Lasso himself, has 34 representatives and is further away from gathering the 46 votes needed to prevent the impeachment from being approved.