Name: Jhenson Yanez

L6-002
Written Responses
11 July 2018
“Sospechosos”
The documentary about racism is divided in three parts:”La memoria colectiva”, “Des-
Encuentros urbanos” and “Hacia un mundo con otros mundos”. All of these parts focus
on the discrimination that Afro-Ecuadorians suffered in the capital city, Quito, and
analyze the reasons for this discrimination.
First, the film gives a brief explanation of the main cause of the migration of people from
the Esmeraldas region to Quito. The culprit of the migration according to the video is the
shrimp industry because it is destroying the mangrove. Consequently, people left their
hometown for finding a new lifestyle and new job opportunities. However, when Afro-
Ecuadorians arrived in Quito many people were afraid of them because mestizos believe
that people of color are criminals. In one interview in the video, Alexander Quiñonez
says,” when I went to buy bread and the seller was afraid of me and looked at me rarely”.
In spite of these problems, Afro-Ecuadorians need to have fun so in the days the film was
produced so they usually met at the Carolina Park in order to play football or hang out
with friends.
Second, at the Carolina Park, the Ecuadorian Police made an operative to find criminals
then they started to check all people of color because the police officers believed that
some Afro-descendants were consuming drugs and committing crimes. As a result, 23
Afro-descendants were arrested, but the police officers had not verified if those arrested
were the criminals since the police arrested people in a random way. The police were in
an embarrassing situation, but they argued that the police officers had acted according to
the law because in Art 606, Literal 12 of the constitution, it is stated that the police should
arrest people who maintain a suspicious attitude and are in non-recreational places.
Nevertheless, the Afro-Ecuadorians were in a recreational place and they were arrested
for their skin color. On the other hand, some television companies documented the police
operative and the majority of Ecuadorians started to make false judgments about the
detainees. In fact, in an important television program called “VCT”, a presenter gave a
comment of hatred and racism against the Afro-Ecuadorians. Subsequently, this event
was considered an act of racism caused by the Ecuadorian police.
Third, the human rights of Afro-Ecuadorians arrested were violated. The police violated
the constitution because they did not give the right to defend themselves to Afro-
Ecuadorians. In fact, the report of the police does not include the public defense and the
versions of the detainees was used against them. In addition, the guarantees of the
detainees such as the honor, the dignity and the protection of their image were violated
because the police allowed television companies to document the arrests and spread it to
the public opinion. The main right violated was equality because the police officers
believed that the 23 Afro-Ecuadorians arrested were guilty because of their skin color.
To conclude, the government minister and the “Defensoria Del Pueblo” sanctioned the
acts of aggression and discrimination against the Afro-Ecuadorians caused by the police.
Then the government agencies decided that the commissar should be removed and the
police officer in charge of the operation should be sanctioned. Furthermore, Fernando
Bustamante, the government minister, apologized to the 23 Afro-Ecuadorians and he
described the police operation as a discriminatory event. However, Alexander Quiñonez
says, “We do not need apologies but real actions”.

“Yasuní, Genocidio en la Selva”

David Beirain a Spanish journalist, who has traveled around the world to understand why
men kill other men, watched a video about the murders of two indigenous from the
Huaorani tribe. According to the video, those responsible for the two deaths of the
Huaorani tribe were the Taromenane tribe because they had pierced the bodies of the
indigenous with spears. Consequently, Huaorani Tribe decided to take revenge so they
killed people of the Taromenane tribe and kidnaped two girls. After of watched this event,
David decided to make a documentary about the uncontacted peoples of Ecuador
First, David Beirain traveled to Yasuní in order to know more about the Taromenane
tribe. He discovered that the Taromenane community is isolated from society because
they do not want any contact with the modern world and they consider the jungle as their
home. In addition, when David went on an expedition to the territories of the uncontacted.
He learned that Taromenane indigenous are in danger of extinction because many people
believe that they do not exist. The people, who do not believe in the existence of the
Taromenane, have economic interests since the oil industry could disappear if the
existence of uncounted people is demonstrated.
Second, the oil industry, deforestation, and colonization are destroying the culture of the
indigenous tribes. Ecuador is a developing country and needs to exploit their natural
resources to pay for their social projects. However, this exploitation is changing the
customs of the indigenous people because the oil industry is paying to on group of
indigenous for the oil exploitation. Consequently, the indigenous no longer fish or hunt
because they have money to buy in a city. Many indigenous believe that oil companies
have only brought misfortune because according to Alicia, who is the Huaorani
community leader, says,” oil benefits do not work because when I go to the city there is
no person to feed me, but in the jungle, I can hunt, fishing and collect fruits”.
Third, the murders of 10 or more Taromenane was an act of cultures and customs.
According to Iteka, who was a participant of the murders, says, “I took my spear and went
in search of the Taromenane because I wanted revenge so we surrounded the houses
Taromenane and killed 10 men and 5 women and we adopted two girls”. Iteka considers
this act as a custom of his culture. The two adopted girls are the living proof that the
Taromenane exist, but this could affect the economic interests of the country and of the
oil companies so that this event was silenced. David Beirain went to Bameno in order to
speak with Konta one of the girls kidnapped and she sang a very heartbreaking song as it
tells how her parents were killed
To conclude, the rights of the indigenous peoples were violated because there is evidence
of uncontacted cultures living near oil wells. According to the constitution in the article
57 says, “The government must guarantee the integrity of its territory and that any
extractive activity such as oil, the mining and deforestation will not be allowed in its
territory”. For this reason, the government has remained in silent the case of the murders
of the Taromenane tribe because if international authorities find out that Taromenane
indigenous exists the oil exploration will end. In addition, the justice Ecuadorian justice
wants to judge the murderers of the Taromenane. However, the indigenous tribes have
different customs and they do not know the Ecuadorian laws.