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c h a p t e r 1 3 Epilogue, 2003 norman e. whitten, jr. I believe that one of the values of the indigenous peoples in Ecuador, independent of what they have achieved otherwise in relation with the government, has been the practice of dialogue. . . . We learn that we can live together.— Luis Macas The gala Ceremony of Hope to celebrate the inauguration of President Lucio Edwin Gutiérrez Borbúa began at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 15, 2003. Attending the inauguration itself, which began at 11:00 a.m. and ended at 1:00 p.m., were the presidents and their entourages from Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Brazil, the prince of Spain and the president of the Organization of American States, among other lesser dignitaries. Forty-five thousand people, including delegations from all twenty-two provinces , attended the Ceremony of Hope, held in the Atahualpa Olympic Stadium in North Quito, while thousands of others remained outside. A column in Hoy (January 16, 2003) called the ceremony “political and symbolic,” and described banners carried by well wishers as “one force only,” “the people empowered,” and “future of peace.” The neologism refundar, to “refound” the country, was used to express the millenarianism of the event. Musicians and singers from all over the country performed and a contingent of commandos parachuted into the stadium, one of them bearing Miss Ecuador (Isabel Ontaneda) as his “passenger,” while a marimba band played Afro-Ecuadorian coastal music. The president and others arrived at 4:00 p.m. and the festivities continued. This ceremonial event and the quotidian, political , and ritual processes now underway bring this book to a close. The summary of ongoing day-to-day actions; executive, legislative, and judicial activity ; new and old personalities, economic decisions, and social movements in the making are grist for new research. Here I critically review some salient dimensions that take us from January 21, 2000, to January 20, 2003. On October 15, 2002, eleven candidates were running for the presidency of the republic. Two emerged as clearly ascendant: Lucio Gutiérrez, the decorated career military colonel (retired) presented in the opening paragraph of the introduction, and Álvaro Fernando Noboa Pontón, the richest man in 355 Ecuador and a member of one of the wealthier families of the world. Even with the vote split among the many candidates, Gutiérrez won more than 20 percent of the vote and Noboa more than 17 percent. Populist affirmation overwhelmed established party politics. In a not-so-distant third place was Socialist candidate León Roldós, brother of the late Jaime Roldós, the populist president elected in 1979. At the very bottom of the list were Osvaldo Hurtado, with a little more than 1 percent of the vote, and Antonio Vargas, with a little less than 1 percent. Only ten thousand votes separated the expresident of the republic from the indigenous leader from Amazonia. Gutiérrez constructed the party Sociedad Patriótica 21 de Enero (January 21st Patriotic Society) and modeled his campaign on the act of millennial rebellion of January 21, 2000. Often dressed in an army uniform, he stressed his background as that of a dedicated military citizen. He told of the need for the ouster of Jamil Mahuad and explained how his own career was truncated by the generals of the Ecuadorian military, even though the national congress voted unanimously to grant immunity to those leading the grassroots uprising. Noboa, an elite guayaquileño whose father made a fortune in the banana-plantation and export business, struck out against Gutiérrez, repeatedly calling him a “communist,” and telling the electorate that he (Noboa) was a first-rate business man (empresario) who could run the country efficiently and solve its financial woes. His votes came mainly from sectors of coastal Manabí and Guayas and from north Andean Carchi. Wealthy businessman from the Coast versus self-made military careerman from the Oriente and Sierra provided the choice for the coming four years (2003–2007). During the second phase of the runoff election campaign, Gutiérrez often dressed in stylized suits that represented a blend of civilian and military garb. He spoke constantly of democratization, the end of poverty, bringing the corrupt to justice, and ending the system of rule by the “political class.” At the end of October, he traveled to and within the United States dressed in conservative blue suit with a white or light-blue shirt...

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