Manuela Lavinas Picq (born in France in 1977) is a Franco-Brazilian radical feminist academic, journalist, and political activist. She is married to Yaku Pérez Guartambel, a prominent Ecuadorian indigenous rights activist and politician.

Biography

Picq attended the University of Miami, where she received a PhD in International Law.[1] In 2003, she served as foreign affairs specialist for Republican Governor Jeb Bush of Florida and was a co-coordinator of civil society participation for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) ministerial meeting.[2]

In 2004, Picq moved to Ecuador, where she would serve in an academic capacity at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, 2016 she was awarded for her anti-correista activism with a scholarship as a "human rights defender", and two years later by the publication Global Americans, sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy. In 2005, she was member of Front Line Defenders, an NGO funded by the European Union, Taiwan, the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundations.[2]

Picq was a regular contributor to Al Jazeera English between 2011 and 2014, where she published revelations about corruption within the Rafael Correa government, including the Glas Viejó case, in which the father of Vice President Jorge Glas was involved.[3][4][5]

On August 21, 2013, Picq married in an indigenous ceremony Yaku Pérez Guartambel, who was serving as president of the ECUARUNARI.[6][7] Two years later, during the 2015 protests, she was arrested by police at a demonstration, and her visa was canceled the next day by Rafael Correa's Ecuadorian government. Picq fled the country on August 21 as a result of "legal limbo".[8][9]

After leaving Ecuador, Picq joined the Academics at Risk association, and would receive a short scholarship at the Free University of Berlin and is a visiting professor at Amherst College. Picq returned to Ecuador on January 15, 2018, following the inauguration of Lenín Moreno as President.[10]

Controversies

Manuela Picq has been involved in legal controversies and clashes with politicians and institutions in Ecuador. In 2015, she participated in violent protests against the government of Rafael Correa. These demonstrations resulted in numerous injuries, damage to roads and infrastructure, and destruction of public and private property. The official Twitter account of the Ecuadorian National Police reported that 83 officers were injured by the protesters, expressing their regret: "REGRETTABLE. 83 of our colleagues were injured, 8 seriously, and 2 are in critical condition." [11]

These events led the Vice Minister of Internal Security, Diego Fuentes, to order the detention of 47 individuals involved, including Manuela Picq. Furthermore, he announced that legal measures would be taken against the detainees, stating that there was a "criminal aggression" by some of the protesters, resulting in 67 injured police officers, with at least six of them sustaining serious injuries, particularly to the head.[12][13][14]

Due to the gravity of the accusations, Manuela Picq was expelled from the country. However, she returned to Ecuador in 2018[15] during the tenure of Lenin Moreno.

Allegations of Alleged Fraud

In July 2023, following surveys conducted by the company Negocios y Estrategias that predicted the victory of Luisa González, a candidate from the political party Movimiento Revolución Ciudadana (RC) led by Rafael Correa, with a 41% approval rating, far ahead of Yaku Pérez, also a candidate and partner of Manuela Picq, who had an 8% approval rating, Manuela Picq tweeted that there would be an "electoral fraud" in the upcoming elections. In response to this, the National Electoral Council stated: "We categorically reject these false publications that, in a tendentious manner, seek to undermine a highly technical electoral process."[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Documental aborda salida del país de Manuela Picq y romance con Yaku Pérez". El Comercio. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  2. 1 2 "Ecuador: ¿golpismo judicial y electoral en marcha?". La Jornada. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  3. ↑ "Manuela Picq: "Me dieron la visa para minimizar el escándalo Assange"". Plan V (in Spanish). 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  4. ↑ "Correa contra Manuela Picq: ¿quién dice la verdad?". Plan V (in Spanish). 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  5. ↑ "Manuela Picq, una estudiosa de la visión indígena". El Universo (in Spanish). 2015-08-23. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  6. ↑ "Manuela Picq dio a conocer que el Registro Civil negó su matrimonio ancestral con Carlos Pérez Guartambel". El Comercio. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  7. ↑ "Carlos Pérez Guartambel pidió visa de amparo familiar para Manuela Picq". El Comercio. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  8. ↑ "Manuela Picq dejó Ecuador pero asegura que volverá". El Universo (in Spanish). 2015-08-21. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  9. ↑ "El viaje de Manuela Picq". El Comercio. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  10. ↑ "Documental aborda salida del país de Manuela Picq y romance con Yaku Pérez". El Comercio. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  11. ↑ cope.es (2015-08-14). "47 detenidos y decenas de heridos tras protestas en Ecuador". COPE (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  12. ↑ lainformacion.com (2015-08-14). "Jornada de protestas en Ecuador dejó 67 policías heridos y 47 detenidos". La Información (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  13. ↑ "Protestas opositoras en Ecuador dejan 83 heridos y 47 detenidos | Spanish.xinhuanet.com". spanish.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  14. ↑ "Protestas en Ecuador provocan 47 detenidos y decenas de heridos". El Potosí (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  15. ↑ "Manuela Picq ya puede regresar al Ecuador – Periodico Expectativa – Noticias de Ibarra Imbabura Ecuador" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  16. ↑ "https://twitter.com/cnegobec/status/1675998929563910148?s=20". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-07-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
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