El sistema de violación del derecho a la salud. Una visión general y el caso de las obreras floricultoras ecuatorianas

Abstract

This paper discusses the two main views of human rights in neoliberal times: The postmodern, that conditions them to productive efficiency as a means to augment profit margins, and the democratic position that states their innegociability. It also points out the contradiction that has been established between discourse and practice. On the one hand, the hegemonic power emphasizes and imposes the logic of total quality, while on the other, the workers face a total deterioration if their lives. Thus, in the world as it is organized today, the violation of human rights is part of its structure. Finally, using Ecuadorian workers involved in flower production as a case study, the author illustrates the relationships among inequality, human rights violations and health. This contribution concludes that the complete enjoyment of human rights can only be generated as part of a linked process of the construction of popular power and the democratization of the national state which includes a dismantlement of monopolies in all forms.