In 1979, Alejandro Carrión Aguirre, a brilliant intellectual from Loja, quite rightly said that “Ecuador grew and Loja grew with it: we are no longer the last corner of the world, our country is not just a beautiful country where you can be born. , but a beautiful country to live in”, is the expression with which this excellent writer praised the efforts of an entire city, like Loja, which, despite being forgotten, permanent postponement and distances, did not falter in its firm will to contribute with its own share of sacrifice, knowledge and perseverance in directly assuming the role builders of their future, without the need to resort to sterile complaints and even less, much less, feeding social resentments.

Quite the opposite, in the face of a rather unfavorable reality, characterized by the persistent marginalization of successive governments that condemned Loja to its fate, as well as geographical isolation aggravated at the time by territorial differences with the sister Republic of Peru; However, the intransigent character of the community appeared, which is ready to pay the price of opening, alone and without help, a path in the middle of that jungle of inequality that represents a centralist state that despises deconcentration and decentralization of public administration. , while the capital’s bureaucracy – at the table – plays God.

But the essential quality highlighted by Alejandro Carrión, identifying him even with the Jews, is that “…being from Loja, more than anything else, is a kind of faith (…)” while their homeland “…unites them.” “, comforts them, lifts them up and leads them through a wide and foreign world, always faithful to their origin and always determined to serve them…”

Therefore, in recent weeks, the public statements of a Loja who, as the corypha of neo-populism, took on the unpleasant task of generally questioning Loja for the ‘sin’ of voting in the 66th … 66% in favor of Daniel Noboa, the currently elected president of the Ecuadorians, marking the province as stronghold of the right and stating that “Loja has not produced great things” or that “Loja is just another province of Ecuador.” Or he even tries to minimize that noble city with the words: “They don’t hear the news in Loja…”, or with that question charged with a hint of superiority: “does the news reach Loja?”

What these unfortunate statements do in any case is expose the ideological corset with which those who agree with autocratic regimes mainly operate, where one thought or uniformity of ideas prevails, rejecting the fundamental principles of a democratic society, such as the right to freedom of thought and expression, as well as the opening space for disagreement, for that necessary and enriching discussion of ideas that condemn their simplification.

At this point, paraphrasing José Martí, it is worth saying: the vain peasant believes that the whole world is his village, and as long as he is mayor (or, even if he is a presidential candidate for 2025), he already believes that the universal order… (OR)