Ecuador's Luis Macas

Luis Macas was a presidential candidate running in Ecuador's October 2006 elections. He ran under the Movimiento Indigena Pachakutik (Pachakutik Indigenous Movement), or MPK, which is the political arm of the Confederacion de Nacionalidades Indigenas de Ecuador (Conferderation of Ecuadorian Indigenous Nationalities), or Conaie.

Macas is a founder and former president of Conaie, which seeks to promote development projects that are compatible with indigenous patterns of land use and Western science. Conaie is an excellent example of political action driven by the common desire within the indigenous community for land rights. The organization promotes indigenous methods for farming as well as raises awareness about the depletion of airable land and deforestation. Consciousness raising was the main motivation for producing Macas as a candidate for president of the state.

The organization never expected Macas to be victorious, only raise awarenes for the indigenous cause and increase the visibility of the indigenous movement in Ecuador. Conaie entrusted this task to a leftist candidate with few real ties to the movement in 2002, and were sorely disappointed when he continued promoting IMF policies after the election and even went so far as to promote destabilization of the indigenous movement.

After this set back leaders within Conaie and the MPK decided to go with their own candidate and try to raise awarness rather than become involved in the government through alliances. Luis Macas has said, "We are in this because we are constructing a solid process from the roots, a political project with our own hands, using our own minds. This is how we will advance. It doesn't matter if we win or lose.".

So while Macas may not have won the most recent elections, the winner, Rafael Correa, has taken notice of the popularity of the indigenous movement and the necessity for change. He, like Morales in Bolivia, is anti-neoliberal and hopes to sever ties with the IMF and World Bank.