Fascinated by war

JUAN CARLOS YUSTE is a member of what may be Latin America's most energetic anti-militarist group: the Paraguayan conscientious objection movement MOC-Paraguay. He recently travelled to Peru and Ecuador to see the legacy of the brief border war between the two countries in February this year; here he observes how the war appears to have strengthened militarism in Ecuador.

People expressed strong opinions against the Peruvians, but when I got to Quito I also met many people who opposed the conflict and the armed forces. This had not been the case in Peru, from which I had just come.

Already in Machala, I realised that all the propaganda was too systematic to be the product of a spontaneous popular passion, and people I met in Quito confirmed that it was part of an impressive campaign of nationalist agitation by the Ecuadorian army.

This was a fairly intelligent propaganda campaign, with the military speaking of "peace" ("We want a free country. Peace with dignity") to mask the militarist realities of the war.

The result was a high level of public identification with the conflict, with large demonstrations of support in front of parliament, willingness to pay special war taxes, exaggerated praise of the military ("They gave us back our lost honour") and other public displays of patriotism. Much of this can still be seen.

>>> The military complex

It appears clear that the Ecuadorian armed forces had been preparing for many years for the conflict with Peru. They had suffered a defeat in 1941, and were seeking revenge: the territory in dispute still appears as part of Ecuador on the national maps. The armed forces were institutionally very strong -- although they had not acted as a force for internal repression to the extent suffered in other countries in Latin America, they had considerable economic power, with industries, banks, hotels, farms (with cheap labour provided by conscripts), and a role in promoting "ecological tourism". After the early 1995 war, the military budget was increased still further and the armed forces are now entitled to 30 per cent of oil revenues--a significant concession.

In Peru, by comparison, the army was a weakened forces, spread across the country as a result of the (now greatly diminished) war against the Sendero Luminoso guerrilla army, without a real motive for initiating the conflict with Ecuador and without a strategy for using the international media.

>>> A different sort of militarism

The Ecuadorian people had been manipulated into supporting the war, fed since childhood on enemy images and messages of patriotism. This is a common pattern; and it demonstrates how, as we work against militarism in Latin America, we have to find ways to diminish this sort of thinking and challenge the legitimacy of the armed forces, so that they will not continue to pose as the "rescuers" of the people by starting another war of this type.

At the same time as the military budget was increased, the government raised the prices of electricity, water, oil, and telecommunications--to pay for the war.

"We cannot be surprised, then, that 76 per cent of Ecuadorians live in conditions of poverty, and of these, two-thirds in critical poverty ... Of what modernisation are we talking when education becomes an unattainable right?" These statements are not from a left-wing politician but from a retired military official. The Ecuadorian military is opposed to neo-liberal economic policies, at least when the wave of privatisation threatens to reach military enterprises. The officer corps is usually highly educated; many officers have learned indigenous languages and are active in "social work" in poor regions of the country; the result is a sort of militarism noticeably different to that found elsewhere in Latin America.

>>> No more buying your way out

Military service is compulsory for all men from the age of 17, and lasts one year. It will soon be compulsory for women as well. In the past, it has been easy to avoid serving by paying a $15 tax--though this created problems with leaving the country and with other bureaucratic encounters. Exemptions were also possible for "medical" reasons or through having friends in high places. As a result, most upper- and middle-class youths, and most students, avoided the draft.

Since the war, however, it has no longer been possible to buy your way out. I met several groups in Quito who are interested in working for the right to conscientious objection, and there is a possibility that they will form a CO support group. But this will be a slow process: the idea is to open up the debate on military service and CO; create a support group; share materials, experiences, and contacts; and try to get the support of young people.

Most importantly, they will have to work with a very high acceptance of militarist thinking. There is, therefore, a need to find other ways to struggle against militarism; ways which require a good deal of imagination.

translated by, and with additional material from, Jean De Wandelaer