EVER since the violent birth of neoliberalism in the 1973 coup in Chile, its Latin American cheerleaders have pushed for a minimal role for the state in the economy but an active one for it in repressing those opposed to free-market extremism.

Ecuador in recent years has been a clear example of this approach. But a new coalition, the Union for Hope, which announced its Presidential candidates this week, is seeking not only to resist this neo-liberal offensive but to restore the social progress and vibrant democracy that made Latin America a beacon for the global left at the turn of the century.

Ecuador had one of the most successful governments in that progressive wave. Under President Rafael Correa, poverty fell by a third, Ecuador achieved the region’s greatest reduction in inequality, strong economic growth, huge investments in healthcare and education alongside radical tax justice and debt cancellation polices.

Ecuador began to forge its own independent path by removing the largest US military base in South America from its soil and promoted greater Latin American co-operation by hosting the new Union of South American Nations.

This impressive progress has faced assault after assault under Ecuador’s current government. Ecuador is now on an authoritarian path suppressing democracy while pursuing neoliberal economics. The IMF is again determining Ecuador’s economic policy with attacks on public services and in favour of domestic elites and international markets.

Externally, Ecuador has aligned itself closely with the Trump administration, for example, by allowing US military aircraft to use an airstrip in Ecuador’s world-famous Galapagos Islands.

Ecuador’s disastrous response to the Coronavirus crisis is just one of the consequences of this sharp shift rightwards. Ecuador has one of the world’s worst responses when measured by excess deaths adjusted for population size. In nightmarish scenes, corpses were left lying in the streets as hospitals were overwhelmed. The slashing of the public-health budget and sacking of thousands of healthcare workers undoubtedly contributed to this horror.

Next February’s election offers a chance to reverse this right-wing offensive. The Union for Hope this week announced 35-year old former minister Andres Arauz as its presidential candidate with former president Correa to run alongside him as vice president.

But the hope of change can only become a reality if the new progressive coalition can stand its chosen candidates, when registration opens next month. If so, it is likely that they will win given the political movements aligned to Correa continue to be the country’s most popular.

The coalition of progressives that ran the country so successfully under Correa have been the victims of extreme political persecution in recent years in an orchestrated effort to prevent their return to power.

Politicians have been jailed on trumped-up charges, forced into exile fearing unjust imprisonment and targeted through phoney accusations that seek to disqualify them from elections. Correa alone has faced around 20 allegations in a farcical attempt to rule him out as a candidate.

In the latest bout of political persecution, the authorities are no longer just targeting Ecuador’s popular politicians but whole parties. Correa-aligned movements have been repeatedly barred from registering in a flagrant disenfranchising of millions of people.

This is not simply a desperate response by a local oligarchy that knows it is unable to win a consensus for neo-liberal economics that punish the majority. It is a strategy employed by the right-wing elites across the continent, known as “lawfare.”

The best-known example is the false charges against president Lula in Brazil which led to his exclusion from the 2018 presidential election he was set to win. The election of the far-right President Bolsonaro was the result of that exclusion.

But Lawfare goes well beyond Brazil. As well as targeting Ecuadorian political leaders, it is also how Bolivia’s right-wing is seeking to consolidate the coup that ousted Evo Morales last year.

Not only did a Bolivian court bar Morales from standing as a Senate candidate, but the presidential candidate from Morales’ Movement Towards Socialism faces a politically motivated campaign to disqualify him from the coming presidential elections.

The aim is to create a restricted democracy that gives a fig-leaf of legitimacy to minority forces unable to win popular support for their policies. As Ecuador’s former Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said recently: “The neoliberal project is back on the cards, but it’s authoritarian in nature because people don’t want it. When people have a chance to vote in favour or against the neoliberal project — they’ve clearly voted against it… To counter that, the right has tried to subvert the course of democracy”

Tragically, though all too predictably, Western governments have been complicit in legitimising the growing use of “lawfare,” including through their silence.

Progressives though have been speaking out. A coalition including Noam Chomsky and a range of politicians including Labour’s John McDonnell wrote to the UN Human Rights Chief earlier this month warning of the “collapse of democratic institutions in Ecuador” and of “illegitimate elections” if the authorities prevent the most popular forces from standing.

Over the coming months, progressives across the world will need to demand free and fair elections in Ecuador and Bolivia. This is not only the key to securing greater democracy but will be a huge step towards rebuilding social justice and restoring hope for millions of people.

Lee Brown lived and worked in Ecuador for a number of years.