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CONAIE'S Sixteen Demands
- Return of lands and territories taken from indigenous communities, without costly legal fees.
- Sufficient water for human consumption and irrigation in indigenous communities, and a plan to prevent pollution of water supplies.
- No municipal taxes on small properties owned by indigenous farmers.
- Long-term financing for bilingual education programs in the communities.
- Creation of provincial and regional credit agencies to be controlled by CONAIE.
- Forgiveness of all debts to government ministries and banks incurred by indigenous communities.
- Amendment of the first article of the constitution to proclaim Ecuador as a multi-national state.
- Immediate delivery of funds and credits currently budgeted for indigenous nationalities.
- Minimum two-year price freeze on all raw materials and manufactured goods used by the communities in agricultural production, and reasonable price increase on all agricultural goods sold by them, using free-market mechanisms.
- Initiation and completion of all priority construction on basic infrastructure for indigenous communities.
- Unrestricted import and export privileges for indigenous artisans and handicraft merchants.
- National legislation and enforcement to provide for strict protection and controlled exploration of archaeological sites, under the supervision of CONAIE.
- Expulsion of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, in accordance with Executive Decree 1159 of 1981.
- Respect for the rights of children and greater government awareness of their current plight.
- National support for indigenous medicine.
- Immediate dismantling of political party organizations that parallel government institutions át the municipal and provincial levels, and which manipulate political consciousness and elections in indigenous communities.
Source: Les Field, "Ecuador's Pan-Indian Uprising," NACLA Report on the Americas 25, no. 3 (December 1991): 41.
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