Ecuador's Minister of Economic and Social Inclusion Betty Tola announced Jan. 5 that the government would not evict indigenous organization CONAIE [4] from its Quito office, which has for weeks been occupied by supporters prepared to resist removal. The repreive came the day before the scheduled eviction, with a cross-country march arriving in Quito for a mobilization in support of CONAIE. A march on the Carondelet presidential palace, with a traditional runner (chaski) bringing a list of CONAIE demands for President Rafael Correa, was blocked by riot police. Tola said a final decision on the use of the building would be put off for two months. Correa, who was away in China as the affair came to a climax, earlier charged that CONAIE was exploiting the premises for "political uses."
CONAIE has called for a Peoples National Summit in March, when the decision is now scheduled, hoping to launch a new broad-based opposition movement together with organized labor and other popular organizations. This comes just as Correa has announced plans for his own pro-government movement to support his "Revolución Ciudadana [5]" (Citizen's Revolution). Correa's new movement is to be called the Alianza de Pueblos por el Buen Vivir (Alliance of the Peoples for Good Livelihood)—a reference to the indigenous concept of Sumak Kawsay [6]. In a clear move to counter CONAIE, the first body of the new Correa alliance is an Alianza Indígena por la Revolución Ciudadana (Indigenous Alliance for the Citizen's Revolution). (UDW [7], La Hora [8], Quiito, El Universo [9], Guayaquil, Jan. 13; Fusion [10], Jan. 8; Ecuavisa [11], Jan. 5; El Comercio [12], Quito, Jan. 4; El Comercio [13], Jan. 3)
