María Piedad Ossaba and Fausto Giudice, 15/8/2023
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Esther Cuesta Santana (Guayaquil,
1975) is a candidate of La Revolución Ciudadana [The Citizens'
Revolution] to the National Assembly for Europe, Asia and Oceania in the Ecuadorian
elections of August 20, 2023. Esther was a MP from 2017 to 2021 and from 2021
until the dissolution of Congress on May 17, 2023, and also consul general of
Ecuador in Genoa (Italy). Here is an interview we did with her, focused on her main
area of interest, Ecuadorian emigration worldwide (ca. 3 million).
Tell us about the Human
Mobility Law and how it favors the Ecuadorian diaspora. What is the work
currently being carried out by the Ecuadorian consulates abroad?
The Human Mobility Law came
into force during the period of the Citizens’ Revolution. On February 6, 2017,
the Organic Law of Human Mobility was published in Official Gazette No. 938
with the objective of regulating the exercise of rights, obligations,
institutionality and mechanisms linked to persons in human mobility, which
includes emigrants, immigrants, persons in transit, Ecuadorian returnees, those
who require international protection, victims of human trafficking crimes and
smuggling of migrants and their families. The law develops the principles of
universal citizenship, the right to migrate and Latin American integration.
Despite the fact that the Law
contains the recognition of guarantees and protection of rights, in the last 6
years with the governments of Moreno and Lasso, they destroyed the policies for
the protection of the rights of people in human mobility. They tripled the
costs of consular services, closed consulates and embassies, eliminated
services such as free legal advice, reduced the budget and staff in consulates
that should serve our migrant compatriots. The consulates do not have
appointments available for consular procedures and the procedures can take up
to months. Today obtaining a passport in Ecuador and abroad is an odyssey and
we have returned to the times of the middlemen who charge up to 400 dollars for
a passport!
From the Parliamentary Group
for the Rights of Persons in Human Mobility of the National Assembly, of which
I had the honor to be President, we evaluated the Organic Law of Human Mobility
to verify the application of this law in order to identify the limitations and
scope of this legal body for the real exercise of the human rights of
Ecuadorians abroad, Ecuadorian returnees, immigrants and refugees who require
international protection, victims of human trafficking or smuggling. That is,
if the government and state institutions applied the law.
In this evaluation, we have
seen evidence of the state's neglect to guarantee the rights of people in human
mobility.
But with presidential
candidate Luisa González we will once again have a Foreign Ministry at the
service of migrants with highly efficient consulates oriented to the service of
our compatriots. Consulates with flexible schedules that adapt to the needs of
migrants, including service on Saturdays. We will again have mobile consulates
to get even closer to our community in different regions, to bring the
government closer to the citizen.
How has the deinstitutionalization
of Ecuador during the governments of Lenín Moreno and Guillermo Lasso affected
Ecuador's diplomatic life in terms of the role of embassies and consular
systems?
At this moment Ecuador is
going through a critical moment. We are experiencing a crisis of insecurity,
unemployment, lack of access to free quality education, lack of access to
quality public health and we are experiencing a new wave of migration in more
dangerous conditions. Deinstitutionalization of consular services, reduced
budget for policies to protect the rights of people in human mobility, tripled
the costs of consular services, closed consulates and embassies and in the last
6 years, governments have used diplomacy to pay favors to the media, notaries
and partners of the president of the Republic, putting people who have never
had a vocation of service, they have only been interested in their private
business and hide their money in tax havens.
But with these elections, we
have the opportunity to be part of the resurgence of the motherland and get out
of the catastrophe we are living, by voting for List 5, for Luisa and Andres.
We need to tidy up the house.
We need a government that
guarantees rights, which is its obligation. We need to get out of
underdevelopment with the most capable people, with experience, social
conscience and humanity, and such are Luisa and Andres. We need people who know
the State and public administration, who start working from day 1, not who come
to learn what a ministry is.
Ecuadorian migrants are aware
that, during the government of the Citizens’ Revolution, we had a government
that protected and defended our rights abroad and those of our families inside
and outside the country. The government of Rafael Correa was the first
government that guaranteed our rights, that created plans and programs for our
return, if we so decided, that implemented a plan for repatriation of mortal
remains, which is a right of us migrants, that transformed the consulates to
meet the needs of our migrant community, and provide consular services of
quality and warmth, we implemented a program of free legal and psychological
counseling in Spain for compatriots affected by mortgages, and in Italy, a
multidisciplinary program that provided free counseling, sponsorship and legal
defense, psychological assistance and social work to families, mainly to mothers
who lost custody or guardianship of their minor children. All of this has been
dismantled. Migrants will vote with memory, with conscience, with hope because
we know that with the Citizens’ Revolution the consulates and embassies will
return to the service of migrants who each year send to the country more than
4.7 billion dollars in remittances and contribute to the economy and strengthen
dollarization while bankers like Lasso hide their money in tax havens.
Therefore, this August 20, Ecuadorians abroad will demonstrate the strength we
have.
How does the consular
situation in Ecuador affect the electoral process on August 20 for migrants
abroad?
The National Electoral Council
has implemented the 2023 Telematic Voting Abroad modality for Ecuadorians who
are registered abroad.
The process consists of two
phases: registration and voting. Although this is a great advantage for
Ecuadorians, the Foreign Ministry is not adequately disseminating the
registration process for Ecuadorians living abroad to register and vote abroad,
in compliance with the law.
The consulates have the
obligation to promote the registration of Ecuadorians living abroad to vote
telematically and promote their participation in this electoral process that
will define what kind of country we want, one of death, violence and poverty or
one that protects life, that guarantees rights, as will be the government of
Luisa Gonzalez.
Consulates and embassies
should provide clear and accurate information about the electoral processes,
with informative material, voting guides and access to online resources, mobile
brigades and mobile consulates so that migrants can exercise their
constitutional right to vote.
Consulates must send mass
messages to Ecuadorians about the telematic voting registration process. This
can be via SMS, email, radio spots, advertising spots and providing information
at consular offices where citizens carry out procedures every day.
This is not happening, but
Ecuadorians abroad are organizing themselves with citizen brigades and
registration support for telematic voting in the absence of the Ecuadorian
State abroad.
How do you evaluate the role
of Ecuadorian emigration in national life, from an economic, political and
socio-cultural point of view?
1. Economic:
We have contributed
significantly to the national economy through remittances. More than US$4.7
billion in 2022, which represents close to 4% of the gross domestic product and
an amount greater than the total amount that Ecuador receives as foreign direct
investment.
During the government of the
Citizens’ Revolution, due to political stability, economic growth and security,
many migrants and returned migrants invested in Ecuador in businesses and
enterprises, which generated employment and contributed to the growth of our
economy, strengthening dollarization.
Migrants acquire multiple
skills and experiences in the countries of migratory destination, and upon
returning to Ecuador, we contribute with technical and professional knowledge
that benefits the economy and various productive sectors.
2. Political:
The Ecuadorian diaspora
participates in electoral processes. This August 20, we will exercise our right
through telematic voting, without considering the digital gap that exists in
our community, discriminating against the elderly and people with disabilities.
This will obviously affect the political participation of migrants and the
electoral results. Ecuador is one of the
few countries in the world in which migrants have parliamentary representation,
with 6 legislators representing 3 constituencies abroad: 1) two for Europe,
Asia and Oceania, 2) two for the United States and Canada and 3) two for Latin
America, the Caribbean and Africa.
3. Sociocultural:
Migration contributes to
cultural diversity and the exchange of ideas between different countries and
regions of the world. Migrants acquire new perspectives, experiences and
knowledge that enrich the societies of origin and destination. Our compatriots
abroad participate in numerous associations, collectives and cultural groups
that make an important contribution to the dissemination of the diversity of
Ecuadorian culture and cuisine, our languages, music, dance, and ancestral
traditions and in the social, cultural and political life in the countries of
residence.
What is your analysis of the
murder of Fernando Villavicencio, its significance and possible consequences?
I stand in solidarity with the
family of candidate Fernando Villavicencio and with those injured in this
terrible incident.
It is important to emphasize that
this is not just any election, we are risking our lives, here there are people
who improvised themselves as candidates for the presidency of the republic, the
country is no longer in a position to improvise.
Ecuador is going through a
critical moment. We are facing an insecurity crisis. We are being killed every
day, and we need urgent answers, with capable people like Luisa González.
Mrs. Patricia Villavicencio,
sister of Fernando Villavicencio, publicly assured that the death of the
presidential aspirant was the result of a plot in which the government of
President Guillermo Lasso, who did not offer him security guarantees despite
the threats against his physical integrity, took part.
We condemn this act and demand
due process so that this fateful incident does not go unpunished.
The murder of Fernando
Villavicencio not only mourns his family, but it also mourns democracy. This
tragic event puts the whole of the country’s democracy at risk.
