Traitors to Ecuador
Rafael Correa joins other leaders that have sought to ally with other countries to cause harm to Ecuador
Traitors to Ecuador
By Luis Fierro Carrión
Twitter: @luis_fierro_eco
In the history of Ecuador there are some striking cases of treason by Presidents and other political leaders, who have sought to ally with other states to harm the country.
The first, somewhat controversial case, is that of General José de La Mar. Born in Cuenca, he was Grand Marshal of Peru and President of the neighboring country on two occasions (September 1822-February 1823; and then August 1827-June 1829). La Mar led the actions against Gran Colombia, which culminated in the Battle of Tarqui (February 27, 1829), in which Marshal Antonio José de Sucre defeated La Mar. This case is controversial, because at that time Ecuador did not exist, and there were sectors of the population of Guayaquil, Cuenca and Loja that advocated joining Peru rather than Gran Colombia (which at the time united what is now Venezuela, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador).
A second case is that of General Juan José Flores, who was the first President of the Republic of Ecuador (after separating from Gran Colombia in 1830). Flores was president on three occasions: 1830-1834; 1839-1843 and 1843-1845. He participated with Sucre in the Battle of Tarqui. Flores, from exile, plotted an invasion of Ecuador in 1845, for which he obtained support and financing from María Cristina de Borbón, Queen Regent of Spain, in order to place a son of the Queen on the Ecuadorian throne. Flores then attempted to invade Ecuador from Peru in 1858.
In 1860, there was a civil war in which there were simultaneously four governments: in Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca and Loja. Both the liberal Guillermo Franco and the conservative Gabriel García Moreno entered into negotiations with the Peruvian government of Ramón Castilla, which had invaded Ecuador (occupying Mapasingue and then Guayaquil). In these circumstances, García Moreno even proposed to France that Ecuador become a protectorate of the Second French Empire (a request that fortunately did not prosper).
The representatives of Castilla and Franco signed the Treaty of Mapasingue, on January 25, 1860, ceding to Peru territories of the Amazon (which the previous president Francisco Robles had sought to hand over to the English creditors in order to pay the English debt). The civil war ended with the reappearance of General Juan José Flores, who led the Conservative-Quito forces to defeat the Liberal-Guayaquil forces in September 1860.
There have been other unfortunate episodes, such as attempts to sell or lease the Galapagos Islands or parts of the Amazon Region. This mostly involved the liberal governments of the early 20th century, and were usually also tied with attempts at settling the English debt from the independence.
In an interview with RTVE, former President Rafael Correa called on Mexico, the European Union, MERCOSUR, and other countries to take action against Ecuador (for the capture of his former vice president and convicted criminal Jorge Glas in the Mexican Embassy). Correa did not even call for individual actions against President Noboa or members of his cabinet (such as withdrawing their visas), but rather said that "we have to take actions" that would affect the well-being of all Ecuadorians. For example, Correa called for the European Union to suspend the free trade agreement it signed (claiming that Ecuador has supposedly "broken the democratic system"); he then said that Mexico and Latin American countries must "take concrete actions" because "Mexico will never allow this humiliation." He added that "if there are no concrete actions, this will go unpunished." He added that MERCOSUR will take action (such as suspending Ecuador as an associate state). (Here's an excerpt from the interview: https://x.com/rtvenoticias/status/1776948867033952418).
It is unheard of for any Ecuadorian citizen, let alone a former president (no matter if he also happens to be a fugitive from justice), to call on other countries to take "concrete actions" against the Ecuadorian people.
It should also be recalled that Correa received financing from the Colombian guerrilla for his presidential campaigns, and allowed the FARC to install a camp within Ecuadorian borders.
Caricature from Xavier Bonilla, Bonil. https://x.com/bonilcaricatura/status/1777665446948356193
Version published in Spanish on April 19th in "El Universo" daily newspaper.
https://www.eluniverso.com/opinion/columnistas/traidores-a-la-patria-nota/