Andean Entrepreneurs: Otavalo Merchants and Musicians in the Global Arena

Chapter 3: Textiles and Tourism Move to the Fore

  Textiles and Tourism Move to the Fore This chapter examines the growth of the textile economy since  in the context of the Ecuadorian petroleum boom in that decade and a litany of woes in subsequent years. These include recession, hyperinflation averaging % annually between  and , over % in , and % in  (the highest in Latin America), electrical shortages and rationing in the mid-s, natural disasters including El Ñino floods and volcanic eruptions, bank failures in , neoliberal restructuring, and political mismanagement, corruption, and instability over the past two decades, with four presidents in the past three years. The OPEC oil crisis of  jolted the global economy, altering agrarian landscapes and nonagrarian production in many parts of the world. The cycles of global oil production and sales reshaped the Ecuadorian economy, which resulted in the government’s acceptance of neoliberal reforms and growing disparities in wealth. Because the country depends on oil for approximately % of its income, its economy is extremely vulnerable to fluctuations in world commodity markets; when oil prices dropped % between mid- and the end of  (Newsweek, January , : ), Ecuador felt the pinch. Overall, the Otavalos’ prosperity has increased, because they have relied on textiles and tourism rather than agriculture; but prosperity has a price. Families are working harder and longer and also mechanizing to maintain the economic status quo or get ahead. The cost also includes the relentless search for new products and markets; transnational migration , which means that the Otavalos export their own people; and the sharp rise in income differentials between wealthy merchant families and poorer agriculturists, with weavers and textile producers, who may also be farmers, in the middle. Otavalos are debating the social costs of these economic gains (a topic touched on throughout this book). National and local events following the abolition of wasipungu set    the stage for the growth of the textile and tourism economies. First, the paving of the Pan-American highway between Quito and Colombia and the construction of new bridges as part of oil-financed state spending on infrastructure greatly improved access to Otavalo. These projects were completed in  and reduced travel time between Quito and Otavalo to two hours. The second event also occurred in : the paving of the Plaza Centenario and the construction of concrete kiosks for the vendors, sponsored by the Dutch government.Vendors who formerly sold their products in the Plaza Centenario were guaranteed kiosks, and other families soon vied for space. An attractive marketplace and improved transportation proved essential for textile exports and tourism. Indígenas are now cultural, social and political, and economic participants in national society, as evidenced by the rise of indigenous federations , the increase in education, and the presence of indigenous professionals and politicians. Indígenas not only are doing the work but are reaping the rewards. They are no longer refused service in most restaurants and hotels, relegated to the back of the bus, or jerked out of their seats to make room for whites-mestizos, which was the case when I first visited in Ecuador in . Indígenas now own local restaurants, hotels, and bus companies, and in May  an Otavaleño, Mario Conejo, was elected mayor of Otavalo. There are several reasons for these hard-won gains. Once such impediments as wasipungu were removed, indigenous economic advances created a tide that has lifted many indigenous and white-mestizo boats. Indígenas also organized. In , to push for the completion of land reform , indígenas in the sierra formed ECUARUNARI (Q. Ecuador Indígenas Awaken). ECUARUNARI limited its membership to indígenas, stated its nonviolent intentions to avoid charges of communism, and identified with the Catholic church, which—influenced by liberation theology—supported land reform and other social justice programs. In , INRUJTA-FICI (Q. Imbabura Indígenas’ Great Union–Sp. Federation of Indígenas and Farmers of Imbabura) was organized to defend local political and cultural rights. CONAIE (Sp. Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador), the national organization encompassing the federations of the Oriente, highlands, and coast, was founded in . The May–June  indigenous uprising, the April  march from Puyo in the Oriente to Quito, the October  opposition to the Columbus Quincentennial (Meisch ), and a series of uprisings between  and  also brought         indigenous concerns to national and international attention. Ecuador now has one of the most effective indigenous organizations in Latin America, which often carries out strikes in concert with white-mestizo trade unions. In early...