The Communist Party of Ecuador – Red Sun (Spanish: Partido Comunista de Ecuador - Sol Rojo, PCE-SR), also known as Puka Inti (Quechua for "Red Sun") is a Marxist–Leninist–Maoist political party and guerrilla group in Ecuador. It was founded on 1 June 1993.[3] From inception, until their death, the group's former leader used the nom de guerre "Comrade Joselo".[4] Joselo died on November 6, 2022[5] with no announcement of a successor. The PCE-SR consists mostly of former members of the underground leftist group ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo! The organization follows the ideas of the Peruvian communist leader Abimael Guzmán, founder and longtime chairman of the Shining Path in Peru.[6][7] The organization has also become close to Mantaro Red Base Committee,[8][9] and the Communist Party of India (Maoist),[10] and is also a member of the International Communist League (Maoist).[11]
Communist Party of Ecuador – Red Sun Partido Comunista de Ecuador – Sol Rojo | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | PCE-SR |
Founded | 1 June 1993 |
Ideology | |
Political position | Far-left |
International affiliation | ICL[2] |
Party flag | |
Website | |
Puka Inti | |
The group has protested for workers' rights, and against increased bureaucratic policing and government displacement of communities from economic infrastructure such as mining. Taking inspiration from the Shining Path, PCE-SR advocates for the peasant seizure of farmlands, electoral boycotting, and violence against state institutions.[12]
History
editPCE-SR was founded in 1993 by Comrade Joselo and initially drew a large membership from the defunct guerrilla organization ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo!. The ideological basis for the PCE-SR originates from the Peruvian Shining Path with the aspiration of implementing the contributions of Gonzalo Thought to the conditions of Ecuador.[13]
In 2007, a documentary titled Alfaro Vive Carajo: Del Sueño al Caos (From Dream to Chaos) was released which gave testimonies by former AVC members. In response, PCE-SR criticized Santiago Kingman for allegedly distorting the guerrilla struggle and capitulating to the government.[14]
In 2010, Puka Inti took involvement in the 2010 political crisis in Ecuador, as well as a mining conflict in the canton of Paquisha, which left five injured and several detained. It also gave critical input into the MOVER movement, women revolutionary movements, and the Arab Spring.[15][16]
Puka Inti has been accused of being a direct puppet of Shining Path, though it asserts that it is only a supporter of Gonzalo Thought and of the broader international Maoist movement.[17] In November 2011, the PCE-SR gave condolences to the death of Maoist leader Molajula Koteswar Rao, "Kishenji", after he was killed in a false confrontation with authorities in West Bengal.[18][19] The PCE-SR began calling for electoral boycotts in response to the 2013 presidential elections.[20] That same year, they spoke out against the murder of union leader Milton Enrique Parras in the town of Puerto Guzmán.[21]
In May 2014, the group expressed solidarity to G.N. Saibaba, an Indian scholar who was arrested for supposed connections to the Communist Party of India (Maoist).[22][23]
In June 2015, PCE-SR condemned the death of New People's Army commander Leoncio Pitao (Ka Parango), after he was killed in a confrontation in Davao City.[24][25]
In recent years, the group has condemned the 2017 Ecuadorian general elections, U.S Vice President Mike Pence's visit to the country, and the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Operation Red Sun
editOn 3 March 2012, 10 alleged members of the far-left Group of Popular Combatants (the armed wing of the Marxist–Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador) were arrested on charges of subversion and terrorism. The PCE-SR condemned this as an escalation of repression by the Ecuadorian state. The case itself, which became known as the Luluncoto 10, would become controversial over the process of criminalizing political groups as terrorist organizations.[26][27]
References
edit- ^ "Por un futuro luminoso del proletariado. Por un primero de mayo combativo". cedema. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ "Declaración del 1° mayo de la LCI". Puka Inti Blogspot. 30 April 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ "Cedema.org - Viendo: A la aurora de la liberación, con la guerra popular". www.cedema.org. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ "Cedema.org - Viendo: Comunicado sobre el fallecimiento del Camarada Joselo". www.cedema.org. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ tribuneofthepeople (13 November 2020). "Comrade Joselo, Present in the Struggle!". Tribune of the People. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
- ^ "A condenar, rechazar y combatir la agresión imperialista a Libia". Cedema. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ "Acciones en el 1º de Mayo". Cedema. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ "CeDeMA". cedema.org. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ "CeDeMA". cedema.org. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ "CeDeMA". cedema.org. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ "International Communist League (ICL)". www.bannedthought.net. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ "¡NO VOTAR!, ¡BOICOTEAR LAS ELECCIONES!". Puka Inti Blogspot. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ "Ecuador: Honor y Gloria Para Taita Manuel | Revolución Obrera" (in Spanish). 16 March 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "CeDeMA". cedema.org. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "Puka Inti Feb 2011".
- ^ "CeDeMA". cedema.org. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "Ecuador: Honor y Gloria Para Taita Manuel | Revolución Obrera" (in Spanish). 16 March 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "CeDeMA". cedema.org. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ DHNS. "Kishenji's encounter is a political murder: Varavara Rao". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "CeDeMA". cedema.org. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ Tiempo, Casa Editorial El (12 December 2012). "Investigan asesinato de Milton Rivas, líder comunal de Puerto Gaitán". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "CeDeMA". cedema.org. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "Delhi University professor GN Saibaba arrested for alleged Maoist links". The Times of India. 9 May 2014. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "CeDeMA". cedema.org. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ Cupin, Bea (28 June 2015). "NPA commander killed in Davao". RAPPLER. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "CeDeMA". cedema.org. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "Varias evidencias detallan actividades subversivas de detenidos en Operativo Sol Rojo – Ministerio de Gobierno". www.ministeriodegobierno.gob.ec. Retrieved 29 November 2023.