April 13, 2023
Black community in Cuajara, in the ancestral territory El Chota
- La Concepción and Salinas. (Photos by Dr. Edzón León Castro)
As in other countries in the Americas, the Republic of Ecuador saw the kidnapping and enslavement of thousands of Africans during its colonial period. It is today the South American nation with the fourth largest presence of people of African descent––after Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela.
Ecuador’s national census counted Afro Ecuadorian as 7.2% of the population in 2010, but local activists and the London, England-based human rights organization Minority Rights Group International (MRG) have estimated that Afro Ecuadorians are more likely 10% of the population.
The Republic of Ecuador was created in 1830. Its birth was based on the racist-colonial ideology of mestizaje or race-mixing, say Afro Ecuadorian leaders Katherine Chalá Mosquera and José “Pepe” Chalá Cruz. This meant that the population of African descent and the native Indigenous population––because they were considered inferior to the white European and mestizo Creole (ruling elite)––were excluded from the model of the national identity. Each was barred from the enjoyment of citizenship rights, which has forced them to continually struggle between poverty and extreme poverty.
Former deputy of the National Assembly, José “Pepe” Chalá Cruz, argues that “The results of the Census’ Survey on Living Conditions from the year 2006, make it clear that the conditions of poverty in the Afro Ecuadorian and Indigenous population are marked by structural racism. According to the data, the levels of poverty in 2006 reached 38.3% of the population. But the self-identified white population (33.2%) and mestizo (34.9%), were registering at a lower rate than the national average. Afro-Ecuadorian people registered at 41.2% and the Indigenous population registered at 70%.
“Because of the struggles upheld by the Afro Ecuadorian social movement, for the first time we are recognized in the constitution of the Republic of Ecuador as a Black or Afro Ecuadorian people, ‘part of the Ecuadorian state, unique and indivisible,’ holders of collective rights. It’s with a problematic caveat that specified ‘in all that is applicable to them.’ (Political Constitution; 1998: 50 – 51). Still, and in spite of these constitutional recognitions, the Afro Ecuadorian population struggles between poverty, illiteracy, and state neglect.”
Chalá, who also has a degree in applied anthropology, saw a glimmer of hope with the arrival of Rafael Correa to the nation’s presidency.
Rafael Correa Delgado served as constitutional president from 2007 to 2017. One of his first actions was to convene a national constituent assembly, which resulted in the 2008 constitution for Ecuador. One of the important achievements reached by the Afro Ecuadorian and Indigenous social movements was to be recognized by the state. Article 1 mentions that: “Ecuador is a constitutional state of rights and justice, social, democratic, sovereign, independent, unitary, intercultural, plurinational and secular’ (Constitution; 2008: 21).”
In the same 2008 constitution, explains Katherine Chalá Mosquera, a professor at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, “We are recognized as Afro Ecuadorian people, with 21 collective rights. We are recognized as having the right ‘not to be subjected to racism and any form of discrimination (…);’ we also have the right to ‘recognition, reparations and redress to the communities affected by racism and other related forms of intolerance and discrimination.’”
Before and after Correa
According to the last population census conducted in 2010, the Ecuadorian state has a total population of 14,483,499 inhabitants, of which 71.9% of people self-identify as mestizo, 7.4% as montubia (mestizo who reside in the countryside of coastal Ecuador), 7.2% as Afro Ecuadorian (1,041,559 people), 7% as Indigenous and 6.1% as white.
Official data from the last census conducted post-pandemic 2022 are not yet known, so we have to rely on the data from 2010.
President Correa made a social investment never seen before in Ecuador: he increased access to public education, with the Afro Ecuadorian population making up average enrollment and attendance. Girls and boys received from the central government textbooks, school meals, and uniforms. Modern educational units were built with well-equipped laboratories, there was internet service, more teaching staff and improved remuneration.
Similarly, in terms of public secondary education, the Afro Ecuadorian population between 2007 and 2017 was very close to the national average in terms of enrollment and class attendance.
In the case of third-level university education (bachelor’s degrees, engineering, etc.), and fourth level (master’s degrees and doctorates), the gaps in terms of the national average were extended by the structural difficulties that have been carried since the colonial and republican-neoliberal exclusionary era.
President Correa’s government initiated a scholarship program at the national and international level, many of which were accessed by Afro Ecuadorian youth. We await the qualitative and quantitative results of the 2022 census to officially know the status of Afro Ecuadorians with respect to undergraduate and graduate university education.
Regarding public health coverage, the Correa government made a very significant investment in this area by building hospitals, and sending equipment and medical provisions to the population free of charge.
In regard to home ownership, according to the 2010 census, the national percentage suggests that 63.6% of heads of household stated that they live in their own residence, while 164,421 heads of household identified as Afro Ecuadorian have their own homes, that is, 42.9%. Now, of that 42.9% of fully paid residences, 93.3% have access to electricity, 71% have potable water and 47% have public sewage service. Also, 21 out of every 100 Afro-Ecuadorian homes have access to telephone service (CODAE 2014).
Despite the formidable investment by the government of President Correa, Afro Ecuadorians were still below the national average.
The Lenin Moreno Garcés administration governed Ecuador from May 2017 – 2021. Moreno had been supported by the political movement founded by Rafael Correa, but Correa was betrayed by Moreno. The latter assumed the neoliberal government plan of the losing candidate in those elections, Guillermo Lasso, who became Moreno’s successor. The country was changed with reforms, social investment in education and health was paralyzed, housing programs decreased, and there was zero investment in roads and educational infrastructure—all significantly affecting the Afro Ecuadorian population.
Guillermo Lasso became president of Ecuador in 2021. He has made no investment in state social services, decreased the budgets in education, health, and housing, and instead of creating new jobs his administration has closed them due to its ideology of “reducing the size of the State,” that is, having fewer teachers, less doctors, a reduction of the public force, elimination of national and international student scholarships, and deinstitutionalization of the country.
The political and legal crisis that Lasso has led Ecuador to is unprecedented in the country’s modern history, barely 09% approve of his management. The crisis is aggravated by permanent corruption scandals in his government that have led the National Assembly call for his impeachment.
In the last regional elections on February 5, the Citizen Revolution, the new political party of Rafael Correa, won important victories in the nation’s provinces and districts. This raises the expectation that in 2025, the Citizen Revolution, with popular support, will be able to take over the government of Ecuador.
As in other countries in the Americas, the Republic of Ecuador saw the kidnapping and enslavement of thousands of Africans during its colonial period. It is today the South American nation with the fourth largest presence of people of African descent––after Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela.
Ecuador’s national census counted Afro Ecuadorian as 7.2% of the population in 2010, but local activists and the London, England-based human rights organization Minority Rights Group International (MRG) have estimated that Afro Ecuadorians are more likely 10% of the population.
The Republic of Ecuador was created in 1830. Its birth was based on the racist-colonial ideology of mestizaje or race-mixing, say Afro Ecuadorian leaders Katherine Chalá Mosquera and José “Pepe” Chalá Cruz. This meant that the population of African descent and the native Indigenous population––because they were considered inferior to the white European and mestizo Creole (ruling elite)––were excluded from the model of the national identity. Each was barred from the enjoyment of citizenship rights, which has forced them to continually struggle between poverty and extreme poverty.
Former deputy of the National Assembly, José “Pepe” Chalá Cruz, argues that “The results of the Census’ Survey on Living Conditions from the year 2006, make it clear that the conditions of poverty in the Afro Ecuadorian and Indigenous population are marked by structural racism. According to the data, the levels of poverty in 2006 reached 38.3% of the population. But the self-identified white population (33.2%) and mestizo (34.9%), were registering at a lower rate than the national average. Afro-Ecuadorian people registered at 41.2% and the Indigenous population registered at 70%.
“Because of the struggles upheld by the Afro Ecuadorian social movement, for the first time we are recognized in the constitution of the Republic of Ecuador as a Black or Afro Ecuadorian people, ‘part of the Ecuadorian state, unique and indivisible,’ holders of collective rights. It’s with a problematic caveat that specified ‘in all that is applicable to them.’ (Political Constitution; 1998: 50 – 51). Still, and in spite of these constitutional recognitions, the Afro Ecuadorian population struggles between poverty, illiteracy, and state neglect.”
Chalá, who also has a degree in applied anthropology, saw a glimmer of hope with the arrival of Rafael Correa to the nation’s presidency.
Rafael Correa Delgado served as constitutional president from 2007 to 2017. One of his first actions was to convene a national constituent assembly, which resulted in the 2008 constitution for Ecuador. One of the important achievements reached by the Afro Ecuadorian and Indigenous social movements was to be recognized by the state. Article 1 mentions that: “Ecuador is a constitutional state of rights and justice, social, democratic, sovereign, independent, unitary, intercultural, plurinational and secular’ (Constitution; 2008: 21).”
In the same 2008 constitution, explains Katherine Chalá Mosquera, a professor at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, “We are recognized as Afro Ecuadorian people, with 21 collective rights. We are recognized as having the right ‘not to be subjected to racism and any form of discrimination (…);’ we also have the right to ‘recognition, reparations and redress to the communities affected by racism and other related forms of intolerance and discrimination.’”
Before and after Correa
According to the last population census conducted in 2010, the Ecuadorian state has a total population of 14,483,499 inhabitants, of which 71.9% of people self-identify as mestizo, 7.4% as montubia (mestizo who reside in the countryside of coastal Ecuador), 7.2% as Afro Ecuadorian (1,041,559 people), 7% as Indigenous and 6.1% as white.
Official data from the last census conducted post-pandemic 2022 are not yet known, so we have to rely on the data from 2010.
President Correa made a social investment never seen before in Ecuador: he increased access to public education, with the Afro Ecuadorian population making up average enrollment and attendance. Girls and boys received from the central government textbooks, school meals, and uniforms. Modern educational units were built with well-equipped laboratories, there was internet service, more teaching staff and improved remuneration.
Similarly, in terms of public secondary education, the Afro Ecuadorian population between 2007 and 2017 was very close to the national average in terms of enrollment and class attendance.
In the case of third-level university education (bachelor’s degrees, engineering, etc.), and fourth level (master’s degrees and doctorates), the gaps in terms of the national average were extended by the structural difficulties that have been carried since the colonial and republican-neoliberal exclusionary era.
President Correa’s government initiated a scholarship program at the national and international level, many of which were accessed by Afro Ecuadorian youth. We await the qualitative and quantitative results of the 2022 census to officially know the status of Afro Ecuadorians with respect to undergraduate and graduate university education.
Regarding public health coverage, the Correa government made a very significant investment in this area by building hospitals, and sending equipment and medical provisions to the population free of charge.
In regard to home ownership, according to the 2010 census, the national percentage suggests that 63.6% of heads of household stated that they live in their own residence, while 164,421 heads of household identified as Afro Ecuadorian have their own homes, that is, 42.9%. Now, of that 42.9% of fully paid residences, 93.3% have access to electricity, 71% have potable water and 47% have public sewage service. Also, 21 out of every 100 Afro-Ecuadorian homes have access to telephone service (CODAE 2014).
Despite the formidable investment by the government of President Correa, Afro Ecuadorians were still below the national average.
The Lenin Moreno Garcés administration governed Ecuador from May 2017 – 2021. Moreno had been supported by the political movement founded by Rafael Correa, but Correa was betrayed by Moreno. The latter assumed the neoliberal government plan of the losing candidate in those elections, Guillermo Lasso, who became Moreno’s successor. The country was changed with reforms, social investment in education and health was paralyzed, housing programs decreased, and there was zero investment in roads and educational infrastructure—all significantly affecting the Afro Ecuadorian population.
Guillermo Lasso became president of Ecuador in 2021. He has made no investment in state social services, decreased the budgets in education, health, and housing, and instead of creating new jobs his administration has closed them due to its ideology of “reducing the size of the State,” that is, having fewer teachers, less doctors, a reduction of the public force, elimination of national and international student scholarships, and deinstitutionalization of the country.
The political and legal crisis that Lasso has led Ecuador to is unprecedented in the country’s modern history, barely 09% approve of his management. The crisis is aggravated by permanent corruption scandals in his government that have led the National Assembly call for his impeachment.
In the last regional elections on February 5, the Citizen Revolution, the new political party of Rafael Correa, won important victories in the nation’s provinces and districts. This raises the expectation that in 2025, the Citizen Revolution, with popular support, will be able to take over the government of Ecuador.
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