Anarchism in Ecuador
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Anarchism in Ecuador appeared at the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century it started to gain influence in sectors of organized workers and intellectuals.


History


Origins

Alexei Páez in his book ''El anarquismo en el Ecuador'' reports that "at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th we find the first evidence of the existence of a group that was a friend of libertarian ideals". This was a group that published a newspaper called ''El Pabellón Rojo'' and its first edition appeared in
Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...
in 1899. In this issue the authors defend French illegalism and the events protagonized by Ravachol and Sante Geronimo Caserio. At the beginning of the 20th century the Ecuadorian worker's movement was more combative in
Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...
and the first attempts at anarchist propaganda appeared inside the workers movement. "It has been noted the existence of certain anarchist propaganda in the Jamaican workers movement who worked in the railroad in the beginning of the century". According to Paez "the railroad workers were the most combative alongside the carpenters and the workers on the cocoa fields, for the age, being later the cocoa workers and the railroad ones the best agitators for the founding of the anarcho-syndicalist Federación Regional de Trabajadores del Ecuador (FTRE). In Guayaquil "In 1910, the Center of Social Studies...distributed ''La Protesta'' (Argentina), ''Solidarity'' (USA) and ''Claridad'' (Chile), in 1911 in the catalog of Liberia Española we could find texts of important libertarian theorists such as: Bakunin, Malatesta, Kropotkin, etc. These are acquired and employed for the establishment of anarchist groups which with the passage of time will continue to clarify their ideas. In 1920 there appears the Centro Gremial Sindicalista (CGS), editor of ''El Proletario''." In ''El Proletario'' starts to write the important Ecuadorian anarchist "José Alejo Capelo Cabello, who with his example and tenacity collaborated with the first anarchist groups and trade unions. In
Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...
there was "a newspaper called ''La Prensa'' which went on to be a part of the diaries chosen by
Max Nettlau Max Heinrich Hermann Reinhardt Nettlau (; 30 April 1865 – 23 July 1944) was a German anarchist and historian. Although born in Neuwaldegg (today part of Vienna) and raised in Vienna, he lived there until the anschluss to Nazi Germany in 193 ...
in his book ''Contribución a la Bibliografía Anarquista en América Latina'', since it allowed some libertarian articles in its pages." Another important libertarian media dedicated space to the
International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May, ...
was ''Tribuna Obrera'', newspaper of "Ideas y Combate", published by the Asociación Gremial del Barrio del Astillero (AGA), an important place of
anarchosyndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in b ...
activity. The anarchist ideals had support in middle-class intellectual sectors which are the first effective organizing sectors of anarchist and socialist positions. The thinker and labor leader Juan Elías Naula in ''Principios de Sociología Applicada'' manifests a profound admiration for the positions of Pierre Joseph Proudhon. There also appeared the newspaper ''Alba Roja'' which was published by the group "Verbo y Acción" and it included Colón Serrano, Tomás Mateus and Francisco Illescas". On the arrival of anarchist positions in Ecuador "the presence of some foreign elements who lived in Ecuador" were considered important. So the Chilean Segundo Llanos was responsible for the edition of ''El Proletario''. Also a Spanish sailor from his travels brought "newspapers such as ''La Protesta'' de Argentina, ''Solidarity'' of the IWW ( Industrial Workers of the World) ... and even Spanish anarchist periodicals." "Another tendency of the first Ecuadorian libertarian organizations was the organization of
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
groups." In Guayaquil there also appeared in 1910 the Center of Social Studies who participated in the International Workers' Association congresses of Berlin of 1922 and 1923.


The general strike of November 15, 1922, and the decline

"The original core of anarchism in Ecuador" converged around the group that published the newspaper ''El Proletario'' and it included Manuel Echeverría, Justo Cardenas, Narciso Véliz, Segundo Llanos and Alejo Capelo. In the following years, a prominent tendency led by Narciso Véliz centered on the group "Hambre", which published ''El Hambriento''. The group included Alberto Díaz, Juan Murillo, Jorge Briones, José Barcos, J. Villacís, Urcino Meza, Segundo Llanos, Máximo Varela and Aurelio Ramírez. There were five groups active in the late 1920s: Redención, Tierra y Libertad, Solidaridad, Hambre, and Luz y Acción. The Chilean Néstor Donoso was deported to his country after he was imprisoned. The group Luz y Acción decided to establish the Bloque Obrero Estudiantil Revolucionario so it could act in the universities. In 1934, the
anarchosyndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in b ...
s decide to reorganize the FTRE and after some failed attempts decide to create another syndicalist organization, the Unión Sindical de Trabajadores. In that organization were militants such as Alejo Capelo, Eusebio Moriel, M.E. López Concha, Able Gonzáles and Alberto Diaz. Around the time of the Spanish Civil War, the Ecuadorian anarchists manifested their solidarity with the CNT, which was a protagonist of the Spanish Revolution. Alejo Capelo and Alejandro Atiencia collaborated in the Mexican anarchist newspaper ''Tierra y Libertad''. Atiencia died in 1971 and Capelo in 1973.


References


Bibliography

* {{Portal bar, Anarchism, Ecuador Ecuador Political movements in Ecuador History of anarchism Ecuador