Poster for the Orinoco Tribune's interview with Canadian writer and activist Joe Emersberger. Photo: Orinoco Tribune.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Citizen Revolution candidate Luisa González must hold a constituent assembly if she wins the upcoming Ecuadorian presidential elections, in order to bring about meaningful change in the country, opined Canadian author and activist Joe Emersberger in an interview with Orinoco Tribune.
“One of the most important things she has to do is organize a Constituent Assembly. If she doesn’t do that, it will show a lack of seriousness,” Emersberger said in response to a question asked by Orinoco Tribune’s editor and founder, Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza, on Tuesday, February 4. “Because of the unconstitutional rule of [former president] Lenin Moreno, the entire Constitutional Court was fired and replaced illegally. Prosecutors, superintendents, all kinds of control authorities, regulators were fired; the attorney generals were fired and replaced illegally. So if they don’t do a Constituent Assembly, I don’t see how they’re going to be able to kind of restore constitutional integrity.”
Joe Emersberger is a Canadian writer, engineer, and activist with Ecuadorian roots, known for his critical analysis of Western media coverage and US foreign policy in Latin America. He co-authored the book Extraordinary Threat: The US Empire, the Media, and Twenty Years of Coup Attempts in Venezuela (Monthly Review, 2021) with Justin Podur. He writes for progressive outlets such as FAIR.org, ZNet, and People’s World, addressing topics like media dishonesty and neoliberal policies in Latin America. Emersberger is a prominent voice in critiquing imperialism and media bias, particularly through his focus on Venezuela and Latin America. His work bridges activism, journalism, and scholarly research to challenge dominant geopolitical narratives.
The Ecuadorian presidential elections are schedule for this Sunday, February 9, and Luisa Gonzalez, candidate of the Citizen Revolution, the political movement founded by former President Rafael Correa, will need to have al least 40% of the valid votes and more that 10% points of difference with the second-place candidate in order to avoid a runoff. According to Emersberger, most of the polls that he has seen are giving her a 8% points advantage over the incumbent candidate Daniel Novoa, with a 43% voting intention. Therefore, Emersberger believes that González has good chance to win in the first round. When asked about what could happen in the case of a second round, he also showed confidence in a González victory.
The Orinoco Tribune editor asked Emersberger about the way the Ecuadorian public opinion has been manipulated in recent elections in Ecuador, leading to the victory of Guillermo Lasso first and later of Daniel Noboa. Emersberger explained that many of the setbacks of the Citizen Revolution movement and Correismo resulted from the apprehension of many Ecuadorians on Correa’s capacity to choose the right people as successors, as had happened with Lenín Moreno who ended up betraying the revolution. In addition, the whole movement failed to avoid infiltration by unwanted individuals who ended up betraying the people and the movement, despite the amazing achievements of the Correa administration.
Rodríguez-Espinoza also wondered why the Ecuadorian people lost their famous combative spirit that characterized the 1990s. To this comment, Emersberger responded that this change originated precisely due to the constitutional changes introduced during Rafael Correa’s administration that provided constitutional means to the citizens to correct government wrongdoings.
The analyst went on to explain how in the past 10 years all the achievements of Correismo were destroyed by the far-right governments that have irresponsibly and disastrously ruled Ecuador. “Ecuador went from being the second safest country in Latin America by homicide rate when Correa left office in 2017, to being the most dangerous country in the hemisphere,” he said.
On the issue of Correa’s image, Emersberger expounded that the former president’s credibility was damaged by the people with whom he was associated. “Even if his credibility in a way as somebody people can trust to say, okay, he’s good, but can he appoint good people?” he commented. “Can we trust the people he trusts? That’s not so easy to do when you have a president [Lenin Moreno] that he strongly endorsed turned out to be a disaster, a total traitor, a total hypocrite, turned around completely, did the exact opposite of everything he said he was going to do. So that’s very damaging to the credibility of Correa in a way, not so much his achievements, but can you trust his judgment? Can you trust the people he endorses?”
Ecuador on the Road to 2025 Presidential Elections: Controversies & Accusations Against Noboa
Emersberger called attention on the tricks and wrongdoings of the last two governments in the election period, and stressed that all Ecuadorians need to be vigilant of the counting of every vote. He explained how Daniel Noboa has violated the constitutional rule by dismissing Vice President Verónica Abad, an elected official who could not be dismissed as per the Ecuadorian Constitution. Noboa has also acted unconstitutionally by not requesting a leave of absence during the campaign, as mandated by the constitution. The second issue is deeply connected to the first, because according to the constitution, Verónica Abad, as the vice president of Ecuador, should have been the one to replace Noboa during this period.
Regarding the Ecuadorian internal political disputes and the contradictory position of some indigenous movements, Emersberger underscored that on this occasion, those fractures are not going to play a big role. According to him, a more complex contradiction might come to light when some of these heavily funded indigenous NGOs decide to oppose Luisa González’s government decisions by weaponizing the issue of the environment.
To watch this insightful interview with Joe Emersberger, we invite you to our new Rumble channel.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SC
