After a hectic first term my girlfriend and I decided to take a few days off and go to the nearby National Park at the Volcano of Cotopaxi. A lingering stomach problem and a bad spaghetti sauce, however, meant that we didn’t get far from the provincial capital of Laticunga. What we saw instead, by far made up for anything we missed.
We were standing outside a hardware store on the city’s main street when all of a sudden a crowd of students appeared in the middle of the road. What first caught my attention was that were mostly all wearing the same khaki school uniform. The students hung around for a bit as a crowd gathered, and then sprung into action. A tire was thrown in front of them, and after being doused in gasoline was quickly set ablaze. They were here to protest.
The composition of the group also struck me as interesting. Most wore the same school uniform, although others in blue and read were also present. The protestors ranged anywhere from elementary school age to young adults. Of the over a hundred people we counted, there were only seven women. The group had a few obvious leaders, including one who ran around with a bandana and bright red communist t-shirt.
As the crowd continued to grow, a group of police officers appeared a few hundred meters down the street. The tension began to build as the police advanced and the protestors armed themselves for the coming conflict.
The first attack came in the form of a rocket that was fired amidst yells and jeers at the police officers. This was followed by several firecrackers thrown at the ground, then a constant volley of rocks. As the assault grew the police slowly inched forward, seemingly unharmed as they deflected the rocks with their riot shields.
Without warning the police made their first attack; a can of tear gas shot straight into the crowd! Instantly the students split, with different groups heading down two side streets and across a nearby bridge. The police followed in hot pursuit. Not wanting to get any closer, we ran for a block in the other direction.
As we stopped to catch our breath, we noticed a park running parallel to the main street about one meter below it. Following a path through the park we thought we had a safe vantage point to follow the protest. We soon realized our mistake. The tear gas had been blown into the park and we were now in the middle of it. The experience of burning eyes and throat and truly horrible.
The first encounter that took place on the main street was repeated several times that morning. The protestors would gather, throw rocks, and then be dispelled when the police fired tear gas into their group. Back and forth they fought on the bridge with the students somehow always being able to regroup. Eventually, however, the police were able to exhaust the energy of the protestors.
Their final move was to send in two men on motorcycle, one brandishing a tear gas launcher. This proved too much and the protestors flew into a nearby market. The police chased them in and the protestors could not regroup.
Later on we learned the cause of this protest. The local bus line wanted to increase the student bus fare from $0.18 to $0.30 per ride, which would mean an extra $1.20 a week for each student on top of what they already paid. What seemed small to us could in fact make a huge difference for many of the students protesting.
With that in mind, I couldn’t help comparing what I had seen in Ecuador, with protests had been involved with in Ottawa. During my time in high school there were several protests again war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the WTO, all of which despite their scope and importanc, were relatively peaceful. In Ecuador then, how could an issue of local significance lead to so much? Was the protest truly spontaneous, or had something else led up to it? Was protest seen as the only resort against a political system that just wouldn’t listen?
I also remembered a speech I’d heard in front of 60,000 people in Quito where the evangelist Franklin Graham told to people to be nice and support the work of their police officers. Thinking that his message came from post September 11th American culture, I was skeptical if Ecuadorians viewed their police in such a way. This seemed to confirm it. Would you trust someone who fires tear gas into a group that included elementary and middle school students?
Finally, one moment from the protest will remain forever with me. One woman, who must have been very busy, decided she couldn’t wait for the protest to finish. With rocks and tear gas flying overhead, I saw her sprint, head ducked and groceries in hand, between the two opposing groups.
I finished this post about two months ago, but unfortunately the binder I wrote it in went missing(was stolen?) during a community work day. I've discovered that I hate rewriting something after I've already done it once. I had a cool picture, and it was a good story, so I decided to push through and redo it. Now that I look at it, I don't think it's half bad. Hope you enjoyed it.
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