With an environmentalist message, Yaku Pérez has become the dark horse candidate in Ecuador s presidential race. Yaku Pérez Guartambel campaigns to become Ecuador s first indigenous president.Courtesy of Pérez campaign
Click here for our full coverage of Ecuador’s presidential race
The rainbow colors of the Wiphala, a symbol of indigenous identity in the Andes, surround Yaku Pérez Guartambel as he attempts to make history: If elected in Ecuador’s presidential election on February 7, the lawyer and environmentalist would be the country’s first indigenous president.
Pérez’s rise is surprising. Less than 10% of Ecuador’s population identifies as indigenous, and indigenous candidates have not traditionally had success in national elections. And yet, Pérez, who has made ancestral themes and language central to his campaign, is polling among the top three contenders in a crowded field of candidates. Experts credit a broad political agenda that appeals to leftist v
At birth he was registered as Carlos Ranulfo Pérez Guartambel. But due to his political activism and identification with the indigenous cause, in 2017 he replaced those names with Yaku Sacha (‘mountain water’, in Quechua). He has been an anti-mining activist, prefect of Azuay, and an indigenous leader. In an interview with this newspaper, carried out by Zoom – due to the fact that for a month his press team could not schedule a personal appointment for dialogue or taking pictures – he assured that his proposal is not that of the traditional Marxist left, but the one who could sit in search of consensus.