Between negotiation and confrontation in Ecuador: the reemergence of CONAIE during Lenin Moreno’s presidency in light of resource mobilization theory

Abstract

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During President Rafael Correa’s term, Ecuador’s most relevant indigenous organization, CONAIE, entered a legitimacy crisis that severely weakened its representativeness. However, in October 2019, the organization surprisingly joined several social organizations in a national strike that paralyzed the country and forced President Lenin Moreno to derogate a controversial decree (833) that had eliminated oil subsidies. To explain CONAIE’s re-emergence, this article relies on resource mobilization theory to analyze how the organization benefited from the political turn implemented by Moreno within the Citizen Revolution Movement’s project. More concretely, this article argues that Moreno’s government reverted the institutionalization process in the country, abandoned the use of indigenous cultural markers, and tried to re-establish a positive relationship with CONAIE. In this context, CONAIE was able to recover resources lost during Correa’s presidency through co-optation and appropriation, increasing its legitimacy and influence within the indigenous communities.