Anarchism in Ecuador

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Anarchism in Ecuador began in the late 19th century and grew in the early 20th century among workers and educated people. A Guayaquil group published the newspaper El Pabellón Rojo in 1899, defending libertarian ideas and controversial figures.

In the early 1900s, anarchist ideas spread within Guayaquil’s labor movements. Rail workers, carpenters, and cocoa workers were especially active and helped form the Federación Regional de Trabajadores del Ecuador (FTRE). The movement also spread through social study centers and magazines that circulated libertarian writings.

Different newspapers and groups helped spread anarchist ideas. In Quito there was La Prensa, and in Guayaquil Tribuna Obrera carried libertarian content for International Workers’ Day. Intellectuals like Juan Elías Naula admired Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. The Alba Roja and Verbo y Acción published libertarian material. Foreign influence came from Chile and Spain, bringing more newspapers and ideas. Feminist groups also formed within the movement. The Center of Social Studies participated in international congresses in Berlin in 1922 and 1923.

The core early group around the newspaper El Proletario included Manuel Echeverría, Justo Cardenas, Narciso Véliz, Segundo Llanos and Alejo Capelo. In the late 1920s, the Hambre group published El Hambriento, along with other groups like Redención, Tierra y Libertad, Solidaridad and Luz y Acción. The Chilean Néstor Donoso was deported after imprisonment. Luz y Acción created the Bloque Obrero Estudiantil Revolucionario to act in universities.

In 1934 the anarchosyndicalists reorganized the FTRE and formed the Unión Sindical de Trabajadores, with militants such as Alejo Capelo, Eusebio Moriel, M.E. López Concha, Able Gonzáles and Alberto Díaz. During the Spanish Civil War, Ecuadorian anarchists showed solidarity with the CNT. Capelo and Alejandro Atiencia contributed to Tierra y Libertad in Mexico; Atiencia died in 1971 and Capelo in 1973.

Overall, anarchism in Ecuador left a mark on workers, students and intellectuals from the late 19th century onward, linking Ecuadorian activists with broader international anarchist movements.