Ecuador after the commodities boom: a rentier society's labyrinth
| Autor | Pedro Alarcon, Stefan Peters |
| Cargo | Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador/Diretor Acadêmico do Instituto Alemão-Colombiano da Paz - CAPAZ e Cátedra de Estudos para a Paz da Justus Liebig University Giessen (Alemanha) |
| Páginas | 251-278 |
Cadernos do CEAS, Salvador/Recife, v. 45, n. 250, p. 251-278, set./dez., 2020 | ISSN 2447-861X
ECUADOR AFTER THE COMMODITIES BOOM: A RENTIER
SOCIETY’S LABYRINTH
Ecuador después del boom de las materias primas: el laberinto de una sociedad
rentista
Pedro Alarcón
Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO),
Ecuador.
Stefan Peters
(Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Instituto Colombo-Alemán
para la Paz - CAPAZ)
Informações do artigo
Recebido em 30/04/2020
Aceito em 07/08/2020
doi>: https://doi.org/10.25247/2447-861X.2020.n250.p251-278
Esta obra está licenciada com uma Licença Creative Commons
Atribuição 4.0 Internacional.
Como ser citado (modelo ABNT)
ALARCÓN, Pedro; PETERS, Stefan.
Ecuador after the commodities boom: a rentier society’s
labyrinth. Cadernos do CEAS: Revista Crítica de
Humanidades. Salvador, v. 45, n. 250, p. 251-278,
set./dez. 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25247/2447-
861X.2020.n250.p251-278
Abstract
After failing to renegotiate debt conditions with China, Lenín
Moreno’s government reverted to traditional international
financial measures in a further attempt to cover the fiscal deficit
left by the dramatic drop in oil prices of 2014. In order to meet
targets agreed with lenders, Moreno scrapped subsidies on
transportation fuels by the beginning of October 2019.
However, amid nationwide protests, Moreno repealed the
measure after nearly two weeks. Interpretations of the protests
have been manifold; this paper presents a further reading based
on rentier theory, and argues that a significant source of
opposition to the elimination of subsidies is to be found in
peoples’ claim on their portion of oil rent, the expression of a
quasi-naturalized right derived from living in a natural
resources-rich country.
Keywords: Latin America. Neo-extractivism. Natural resources
rent. Peripheral state. Development. Development theories.
Resumen
Luego de fracasar en la renegociación de las condiciones de la
deuda con China, el gobierno de Lenín Moreno tocó a la puerta
de las i nstituciones de financiamiento tradicionales para tratar
de cubrir el déficit fiscal generado por la dramática caída de los
precios del petróleo del 2014. Para poder cumplir con los
acreedores internacionales, Moreno eliminó los subsidios a los
combustibles utilizados en el sector transporte a inicios de
octubre de 2019. Sin embargo, en medio de protestas
generalizadas, el presidente se vio obligado a revertir la medida
luego de dos semanas. La literatura académica ha provisto de
una serie de interpretaciones de las protestas; este artículo
presenta una lectura inédita que se fundamenta en la teoría
rentista y argumenta que una fuente importante de oposición a
la eliminación de los subsidios se encuentra en el reclamo de los
ciudadanos por su porción de renta petrolera, la expresión de un
derecho cuasi naturalizado que se deriva de vivir en un país rico
en recursos naturales.
Palabras clave: América Latina. Neo-extractivismo. Renta.
Estado periférico. Teorías del desarrollo.
Introduction: In the Mid of the 21st Century Crisis
The year 2020 is already a watershed. The global economy is in the deepest crisis since
the Great Depression (1929) (GOPIN ATH, 2020). However, the coronavirus does not only
checkmate the economy. More severely, it deepens many social problems and unveils clear
Cadernos do CEAS, Salvador/Recife, v. 45, n. 250, p. 251-278, set./dez., 2020
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Ecuador after the commodities boom: a rentier society’s labyrinth | Pedro Alarcón Stefan Peters
signals of a humanitarian catastrophe. Those who will especially suffer from the social
consequences of the economic lockdown and precarious health systems are the world’s have-
nots living in the Global South.
No doubt, the coronavirus is an unexpected driver of the economic, social and political
crisis. Though, somehow the virus did merely exacerbate the already existing problems in
vast parts of the Global South. This is especially true for the natural resource-dependent
countries (PETERS, 2020). The end of the bonanza in 2014 cast a shadow over the optimism
that reigned during a dec ade. Natural resource-dependent countries all over the world
suffered in different degrees from the commodity price downturn on the world market. After
all, even before the start of the pandemic in 2019 different countries like Algeria, Iran, Sudan
and several Latin American countries illustrate that the time before the coronavirus was far
from idyllic and various authors point out that once the current crisis is overwhelmed, a back
to normal would equal preparing the next crisis.
Yet, in order to find answers to the underlying problems one first needs to analyze the
processes leading to crisis. This is actually the objective of the present article. It offers an in-
depth analysis of the political economy and sociology of natural resource-dependent
countries focusing on the paradigmatic case of Ecuador. In April 2020, the country infamously
filled the headlines of inte rnational newspapers with stories of people literally dying in the
streets from COVID-19 in its biggest city Guayaquil (LEÓN; KURMANAEV 2020; ESPAÑA,
2020).
The coronavirus made a bad situation worse. It hit Ecuador in the mid of a severe crisis
that started with the end of the last “commodities super-cycle” in 2014 (ERTEN; OCAMPO
2013; CANUTO, 2014). An economic crisis with a recession, growing public account deficits
and increasing foreign debt led to a social crisis including increasing poverty rates. In October
2019 after the government’s announcement of a cut on fuel subsidies in order to fulfil
International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) credit measures, already existing generalized public
displeasure ended in political uproar. Social movements led by indigenous organizations took
the streets of Quito and could not even be stopped by repression or the declaration of a state
of emergency. In the end, street pressure forced President Lenín Moreno to negotiate with
indigenous movements and to bury the fuel price hike (PONCE et al. 2020). This could
ameliorate the political crisis, showed changing power relations, but the underlying
economic and social crises remain unsolved.
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