Ecuador
has come under fire for scrutinizing non-profits like Accion
Ecologica, many of whom get millions from Europe and North America.
Part
6 - Beyond Accion Ecologica
“Theoretically
speaking, NGOs shouldn’t exist,” said Casado. NGOs operate
within a logic of narrowing, minimizing and weakening the role of the
state so they can keep filling holes in public services and keep
their jobs, which are at risk of disappearing if the state works as
it should, added Casado.
“They
elect themselves representatives of civil society in general,”
and yet their role is limited and entirely reliant on and responsive
to funding, which at the end of the day remains in their pockets.
Other social organizations and popular movements, said Casado,
operate only on conviction.
If an NGO is
completely free to operate without regulations, a country would open
itself to any corporate and foreign interest that found an open hand,
he argued. Latin America is intimately familiar with that process —
of consolidating power in the monied class — and NGOs back similar
corporate interests, only with a more benevolent face.
It’s
near-impossible to identify the perfect case of foreign intrusion —
and, as in Accion Ecologica’s case, near-impossible to prove.
Multiple factors are always at play, from the ideology of individual
members to the decision-making process to however events play out on
the ground. Casado said that the first step to uncovering hidden
interests is financial transparency — a move that faces stiff
opposition precisely for the interests that it could reveal.
Ecuador’s
answer is to carefully collect records and draw a clear line between
what is acceptable and what is not. Foreign NGOs, state the decree,
cannot participate “in any form of party politics, any form of
interference or proselytism, any threat to national security or
public peace or any other activity not permitted under their
migratory status.”
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