is very complex and intricate and  for foreigners like me difficult to appraise and understand. All I attempt here, is to give you my understanding and the impressions I made of the Ecuadorian social fabric after living five long years in the country. As mentioned once before already, those opinions of mine have no educational value whatsoever and should be taken with healthy skepticism on your part.

The first mayor thing, I got to know about the Ecuadorian society, is the magnitude of the fragmentation and separation of the population in distinct social classes, running mostly along racial lines. You almost can compare it to the caste system of India with very little possibility of people escaping their born status. You have around 10% of the population, mostly of white origin, which live very well, a smaller middle class, around 25%, also partly white and partly of mixed blood Mestizo, and the larger part of the population, mostly mixed, indigenous and black people, who live around the poverty line. There is deep mistrust between the various groups with each of them having their own way of thinking and doing things and not feeling themselves part of a bigger good and striving for the same ideals.

<In contrast to the North American history, South American Indians were never forced into reservations but for a long time were treated as second hand citizens. But despite of that, over 500 years of living side by side, a new race, the Mestizo, came into existence and is now the majority of the population, with almost everybody having some Indian blood in his veins. This is especially valid for the  Sierra region and to a lesser degree for the coast, where with the arrival of African slaves another race entered the genetic pool and is also  now present in many Ecuadorians.>

A white person in the upper echelons of the society identifies himself much more with a foreigner as with his own countrymen. This certainly has its roots in the history of the country with the white or Spanish ruling and the Indians and Mestizos serving them. They consider them generally lazy and uneducated and the main obstacle, why the country is not advancing. They point to a country like Argentina and think the reason that it is better off, is because of their low level of indigenous people. This upper class lives very well and sends their children to the best private schools and later on often to foreign universities. This group later then takes over the power from their parents and makes up the majority of the political and economic leadership of the country, thinking mostly in their own well being and not the country as a whole.

As for the Mestizos, who are the link between the two extremes, they tend, of course, to associate themselves much more with the white upper class as they strive of being part of it. Some of them at the extreme end deny their Indian heritage completely and to even suggest that they have Indian blood in them implicates a grave insult to them. Making up the most part of the middle class, this sector was hit hardest by the economic depression of the last years and the bank failures. It was surprising that there was so little protest over the handling of the crisis with broken promises of returning frozen bank deposits to their rightful owners, most of them middle class Mestizos. Sociologists figure it had to do with their wish to be considered part of the white upper class, which inhibited the people to fight against their desired ideal. But on the other hand this group constitutes the majority of people who leave the country to look for job opportunities overseas. More than half a million Ecuadorians work now legally or illegally in foreign countries and many more want to leave, not seeing any future in their own country, anymore.

The poor Indian class certainly do not deny their heritage anymore and seem to get prouder of it every day. After a long slumber, they start to become a political and social force in the country, fighting the historical injustices done to them. The last events, e.g. the expulsion of the last president in 1999, where they played an important part, indicates their newfound confidence and right to fight for their well being. But of course, it has also the effect of alienating again other segments of the society, who consider their actions counterproductive and so widening the gap between them even further. But the trend of Indian involvement, which is also evident in other South American countries, will continue with more and more indigenous leaders entering the political arena and activists starting grassroots movements and organizing their people, which constitute a considerable percentage of the population ( in some opinions up to 40% ) and therefore hold important electoral powers.

<Going to a football match between rival teams from the coast and the mountain highlands shows very well that regional divide. As the serranos chant depreciatory "monos"  ("apes") to the fans from the coast, the costeños reply with a song of "longos" ("lowest Indians"). Those terms are not only used in the stadiums but also commonly used in daily conversations, like the term "gringo" is for foreigners.