2015 Ecuadorian protests
| 2015 Ecuadorian protests | |||
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Clockwise from top:
Guillermo Lasso leading protesters in Quito on 24 June. Protests on Shirys Avenue in Quito on 25 June. Protesters and pro-government demonstrators separated by police in Quito on 10 June. |
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| Date | 8 June 2015 – 16 September 2015 | ||
| Location |  Ecuador |
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| Parties to the civil conflict | |||
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| Lead figures | |||
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Correa opponents
Creating Opportunities
Social Christian Party
Frente Unitario de los Trabajadores
Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador
Government of Ecuador
Hundreds of thousands
The 2015 Ecuadorian protests were a series of protests against the inheritance tax laws introduced by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. The protests began during the first week of June; becoming more organized and growing to hundreds of people on 8 June 2015. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorians protested throughout Ecuador against President Correa and the controversial inheritance tax laws he introduced. The opposition and demonstrators protested stating that Correa wanted to follow "the same path as Venezuela’s government", creating a "criminal war of classes" while President Correa stated that the protests were aimed at destabilizing the government and such measures were for combatting inequality.
Throughout his presidency, Correa has been a controversial figure. Correa describes himself as an advocate of "socialism of the 21st century", a term referring to a form of democratic socialism previously used by Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. though he has also been described Correa as "a left-wing populist". Political science scholars George Philip and Francisco Panizza also claimed that like his allies Morales and Chávez, Correa should be categorized as a populist, because he appealed "directly to the people against their countries' political and economic order, divided the social field into antagonistic camps and promised redistribution and recognition in a newly founded political order."
The Washington Post characterized Correa's ideological approach as having contradictions however, and compared him to other pink tide presidents such as Bolivia's Evo Morales and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. Though Correa, an economist, did not attack Ecuador's private sector like Chávez and Ecuador's socioeconomic environment flourished with decreased poverty, he did follow Chávez's example of filling the Supreme Court of Ecuador with his allies and attempted to silence critics. Such actions have resulted in Correa being accused of authoritarianism, nepotism, attacking dissidents and curtailing freedom of speech.
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Wikipedia