Noboa’s ‘peace and justice’ march in Guayaquil will be countered by anti-government rallies

While President Daniel Noboa leads a Thursday morning march for “peace and justice” in Guayaquil, government protesters are planning their own afternoon marches and rallies in the country’s largest cities. Guayaquil authorities are expecting as many as 40,000 to march with Noboa along Av. Malecón to a rally at La Rotonda Hemicycle.

President Daniel Noboa led protest march against the Constitutional Court August 12 in Quito.

According to Noboa, the march will be a “demonstration of national unity” against criminal elements in the country. “We will show in a firm and peaceful manner this government’s commitment to peace, justice and security. This is a march for the people.”

It is unclear if Noboa will address marchers at the hemicycle since he is scheduled for meetings and public appearances in Cuenca beginning at 11 a.m.

The march is the second led by the president in the last month. On August 12, he organized a march against the Constitutional Court in Quito to protest the court’s rejection of provisions in three anti-crime laws that it said were unconstitutional.

In response to Noboa’s march, the United Workers’ Front, the National Union of Educators, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities and various social organizations are sponsoring anti-government protest marches in at least 10 cities.

According to Conaie President Marlon Vargas, the protests will be “a demonstration of public anger at the lies and failures of this government.” He claims the government has failed to fulfill its promises to improve education and health care while it pursues a policy of reducing the civil rights of citizens. “This government also maintains its destructive agenda for mining and petroleum extraction, ignoring the constitutional right of citizens to participate in decision-making.”

Vargas plans to participate Tuesday in a protest march in Cuenca against the proposed Loma Larga mining project. “Tuesday’s march will rival the government march in Guayaquil in numbers and send a message to the president that the country opposes his extractive policies,” he said. “Unlike the march in Guayaquil, where government employees will be bused in to inflate the turnout, those who participate in Cuenca will be there of their own free will.”

Thursday protests will begin at 4 p.m. in Quito at the Casa del Seguro. In Cuenca, a march will begin at Parque San Blas at 4:30.