“We need to tidy up the house”: Esther Cuesta, candidate for Europe, Asia and Oceania to the Ecuadorian National Assembly

 María Piedad Ossaba and Fausto Giudice, 15/8/2023

Versión original española  
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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.

OFER ADERETCuando los judíos eran malhechores y negreros

 Ofer Aderet, Haaretz, 22-2-2022

Traducido por María Piedad Ossaba, Tlaxcala

Un estudio israelí sobre el mundo judío en el siglo XVIII revela un mundo violento desaparecido [sic].

 

Traperos judíos en Gran Bretaña, 1785

En la noche del 11 de junio de 1771, nueve ladrones armados con cuchillos y fusiles irrumpen en la granja de la viuda Hutchins en el pueblo de Chelsea, cerca de Londres. En el tribunal de Old Bailey, declarará que oyó al perro ladrar y llamó a sus criadas para ver qué le pasaba.

 

“En corto tiempo oí un ruido; corrí a ver qué pasaba; encontré a mi doncella Mary Hodgkin, sin su sombrero, y a unos hombres que la maltrataban, muy fuerte...

Creo que el doctor al que llaman Levi Weil era uno de ellos ... el otro se llama Highham Lazarus; mi susto era extremadamente grande ...Uno de ellos dijo que le cortara el cuello; otro dijo: “Zorra, si no te callas, te cortaré el cuello”. Se llevaron su bolso y su reloj, mataron a una de las criadas y huyeron”.

 

¿Qué tiene que ver este robo, descrito en un nuevo estudio del profesor Shmuel Feiner de la Universidad Bar-Ilan, con la historia judía? Todos los ladrones eran judíos, y formaban parte de una “creciente ola de delincuencia judía”, explica el profesor Feiner.

 

Una ilustración de un famoso robo en Chelsea, cerca de Londres, en 1771. “Vete a Chelsea” se convirtió en una burla común contra los judíos

 

Al día siguiente vendieron los bienes robados a otro judío, que, como muchos de los judíos de la época, se ganaba la vida comprando y vendiendo bienes robados. El gobierno ofreció una recompensa por cualquier información que pudiera conducir a la captura de los ladrones, y las comunidades judías, tanto asquenazíes como sefardíes, también ofrecieron recompensas. Esperaban capturar a los criminales que estaban trayendo tanta vergüenza a la comunidad, y fue finalmente otro judío quien los denunció.

 

Durante el juicio resultó que los líderes de la banda eran los hermanos Asher y Levi Weil. Junto con otras dos personas, fueron condenados a morir ahorcados. Los cuatro hombres rezaron al pie de la horca. resultó que los líderes de la banda eran los hermanos Asher y Levi Weil. Junto con otras dos personas, fueron condenados a morir ahorcados. Los cuatro hombres rezaron al pie de la horca.

 

¿Cómo nos ayuda este relato a comprender la historia del mundo judío en el siglo XVIII?

FAUSTO GIUDICERasmus Paludan: retrato de un batifondero*

FG, BastaYekfi, 18/4/2022
Traducido por María Piedad Ossaba

 

El hombre que incendió los suburbios suecos durante el fin de semana santa y en pleno Ramadán merece ser conocido. Un retrato exprés.

 

Rasmus Paludan, visto por Morten Ingemann

 

Rasmus Paludan nació en 1982 en Zelanda del norte de madre danesa y padre sueco, lo que le permitió hace dos años obtener la nacionalidad sueca además de la danesa, y debería abrirle el camino como candidato a las elecciones legislativas suecas de septiembre próximo.  Probablemente no tendrá ninguna posibilidad de ser elegido allí, ni tampoco en Dinamarca, donde obtuvo apenas algunos miles de votos, pero esto debería ampliar su área de influencia en las llamadas redes sociales, donde se está extendiendo, multiplicando las provocaciones, pero sin alcanzar el éxito esperado.

 

Rasmus tiene un hermano menor de izquierdas -que en un vídeo llamó a no votar por él en 2019- y una hermana menor poeta feminista, que también hace música electrónica. Se casó el otoño pasado con una joven de 21 años, cuyo anonimato se ha preservado y de la que sólo se sabe que ha mantenido una relación amorosa desde los 17 años de edad con Peter Madsen, alias Raket-Madsen, el inventor de cohetes y submarinos, que cumple cadena perpetua por el asesinato, precedido de la violación, de la periodista sueca Kim Wall. (¿Boda de fachada? No lo sabemos. En cualquier caso, esta noticia ha puesto fin a los rumores que insisten en la homosexualidad de Rasmus, que además es objeto de una denuncia de una ONG de defensa de los niños por intercambios de comentarios sexuales con menores de 15 años.

 

Rasmus tiene dos problemas personales: su cerebro y su sobrepeso.

 

MILENA RAMPOLDI5 preguntas a Fausto Giudice, autor de “Joe Hill, in memoriam ”

  Milena Rampoldi, 12/07/2022
Traducido por María Piedad Ossaba

 

¿Cómo descubriste a Joe Hill?

Yo era un joven inmigrante en Suecia a finales de los años 60. Eran los “años dorados” de la socialdemocracia reinante, que declaraba toda disidencia como “desviación”, que debía ser tratada por la psiquiatría. Me identificaba con los “condenados de la tierra” y encontraba la moral reinante luterana de una hipocresía incomparable. Los que decían querer el bien del pueblo habían reescrito la historia, borrando “el otro movimiento obrero”, que había combatido al capital por todos los medios salvo los pacíficos. Joe Hill era una figura legendaria de este “otro movimiento obrero”. En 1970, me encontré con algunos centenares de marginales como extras en la película rodada por Bo Widerberg sobre Joe Hill, en los barrios en el sur de Estocolmo. Lo único que sabía de él hasta entonces era la canción que cantó Joan Baez en Woodstock. Joe Hill me decía que la clase obrera sueca no siempre había sido ese pacífico paquidermo de la representación socialdemócrata. Y descubrí a Anton Nilsson, “el hombre del Amalthea”. Este trabajador de 21 años había colocado, junto con dos compañeros, una bomba cerca de un barco llamado Amalthea, amarrado en Malmö, que albergaba a los esquiroles británicos importados por los patrones contra una huelga de estibadores, en 1908. Anton Nilsson fue sentenciado a muerte y se le conmutó la pena por la de cadena perpetua tras una campaña internacional, encabezada en particular por los de los IWW (Trabajadores Internacionales del Mundo), el sindicato en el que militaba Joe Hill en USA.

¿Qué nos dice Joe Hill hoy?

Nos dice esencialmente dos cosas: 1- se puede organizar a los más explotados, a los más oprimidos de una manera inteligente y eficaz adaptando las formas de organización a la realidad social de los “de abajo”, los migrantes, las mujeres, los precarios, los no cualificados, que es lo que han hecho los IWW, evitando cualquier forma de burocracia de tipo socialdemócrata. El “otro movimiento obrero” es eso, frente a los aparatos de tipo DGB, AFL-CIO o LO: un movimiento que se adhiere a la realidad de la clase, que es móvil, fluida, cambiante.

2- se pueden inventar formas de comunicación populares, creativas, contundentes y llenas de humor. Las canciones de Joe Hill son un magnífico ejemplo de eso.

“Dobbiamo fare ordine in casa”: Esther Cuesta, candidata per l’Europa, l’Asia e l’Oceania all’Assemblea nazionale ecuadoriana

María Piedad Ossaba e Fausto Giudice, 15/8/2023

Versión original española  Version française English version

Esther Cuesta Santana (Guayaquil, 1975) è candidata di Revolución Ciudadana [Rivoluzione Civica] all’Assemblea nazionale per l’Europa, l’Asia e l’Oceania nelle elezioni ecuadoriane del 20 agosto 2023. Esther è stata deputata dal 2017 al 2021 e dal 2021 fino allo scioglimento del Congresso il 17 maggio 2023, ed è stata anche Console generale dell’Ecuador a Genova (Italia). Ecco un’intervista che abbiamo realizzato con lei, incentrata sulla sua sfera d’azione principale, l’emigrazione ecuadoriana nel mondo (circa tre millioni).

Ci parli della Legge sulla Mobilità Umana e di come si promuove la diaspora ecuadoriana. Qual è il lavoro attualmente svolto dai consolati ecuadoriani all’estero?

La legge sulla mobilità umana è entrata in vigore durante il periodo della Rivoluzione Civica. Il 6 febbraio 2017, la Legge Organica sulla Mobilità Umana è stata pubblicata nella Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 938 con l’obiettivo di regolare l’esercizio dei diritti, degli obblighi, delle istituzioni e dei meccanismi relativi alle persone in mobilità umana, compresi gli emigranti, gli immigrati, le persone in transito, i rimpatriati ecuadoriani, le persone che necessitano di protezione internazionale, le vittime della tratta di esseri umani e del traffico di migranti, nonché le loro famiglie. La legge sviluppa i principi della cittadinanza universale, del diritto di migrare e dell’integrazione latinoamericana.

Nonostante la legge preveda il riconoscimento di garanzie e la tutela dei diritti, negli ultimi sei anni i governi Moreno e Lasso hanno distrutto le politiche di tutela dei diritti delle persone in situazione di mobilità umana. Hanno triplicato il costo dei servizi consolari, chiuso consolati e ambasciate, abolito servizi come la consulenza legale gratuita e tagliato il budget e il personale dei consolati che dovrebbero occuparsi dei nostri connazionali migranti. Oggi ottenere un passaporto in Ecuador e all’estero è un’odissea, e siamo tornati ai tempi dei tramitadores [passacarte privati] che ti fanno pagare fino a 400 dollari per un passaporto!

Il Gruppo Parlamentare per i Diritti delle Persone con Mobilità Umana dell’Assemblea Nazionale, che ho avuto l’onore di presiedere, ha valutato la Legge Organica sulla Mobilità Umana per verificarne l’applicazione e individuare i limiti e la portata di questo strumento giuridico per l’effettivo esercizio dei diritti umani degli ecuadoriani all’estero, dei rimpatriati ecuadoriani, degli immigrati e dei rifugiati che necessitano di protezione internazionale, delle vittime della tratta di esseri umani o dell’immigrazione clandestina. In altre parole, si tratta di verificare se il governo e le istituzioni pubbliche hanno applicato la legge.

In questa valutazione, abbiamo riscontrato che lo Stato non riesce a garantire i diritti delle persone in situazione di mobilità umana.

Ma con Luisa González [candidata di Rivoluzione Civica alla presidenza] avremo di nuovo un Ministero degli Affari Esteri al servizio dei migranti, con consolati altamente efficienti al servizio dei nostri connazionali. Consolati con orari di apertura flessibili che si adattano alle esigenze dei migranti, compreso il sabato. Avremo di nuovo consolati mobili per essere ancora più vicini alle nostre comunità nelle diverse regioni, per avvicinare il governo ai cittadini.