Ecuador: Correa claims voting fraud

On October 15 Ecuador went to the polls. Having seen eight presidents in 10 years, three of whom were overthrown by a population frustrated by the corruption, ineptitude and nepotism that characterise Ecuador's elite, the chances of any government lasting out its mandate seem pretty slim. However, the challenge could be in getting one of the pool of 13 presidential candidates even legitimately elected.

First counts showed the radical left-wing economist, Rafael Correa, and two-time runner-up, billionaire banana magnate Alvaro Noboa, neck-and-neck with around 25% each — until the voting machines, supplied by Brazilian company E-Vote, broke down.

When E-Vote declared that it was unable to count the last thirty percent of votes, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) rescinded its contract, and Correa, who had been polling well over 30% immediately before the election, claimed that a fraud had been perpetrated. Many of the other parties have echoed his claims.

A subsequent recount by the TSE confirmed a margin of 26% to 23% in favour of Noboa. However, Correa's party, Alianza Pais ("Country Alliance") has produced what it claims is evidence of systematic fraud, including photographs of members of Noboa's PRIAN (Renovador Institucional) party at polling booths marking and removing hundreds of ballots.

Ecuador: Washington frets over 'Bolivarian' candidate

The small oil-rich Andean country of Ecuador goes to the polls on October 15 to elect a new president. Normally, the US isn't too worried about who wins the presidential sash, as they usually end up dancing to Washington's tune. But this time things might be different.
 
Like most of its neighbours, Ecuador has experienced chronic levels of corruption and nepotism. But over the last decade, rather than tolerating this, the country has "lost" three presidents to popular uprisings. The Ecuadorian people have lost patience with politicians who spout rhetoric and "non-core" promises — so they chase them out of the country. 

The most recent in this line of ignominious hucksters was Lucio Gutierrez, who played a small role in the overthrow of President Jamil Mahuad in 2000. Sensing popular support for the progressive policies of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, a fiery critic of Washington, he styled himself as the Ecuadorian equivalent, got elected in 2002 — and then implemented US-friendly policies. 

In April 2005 this self-styled "dicto-crat" fled via helicopter from the roof of the presidential palace and protesters chased him down the airstrip. Simultaneously, the Congress "fired" him, only to find itself besieged by the same protesters chanting "they all must go". 

In such an unstable country, then, it may come as a surprise that a leading presidential candidate is not only campaigning to "re-found" the country via a referendum and constituent assembly — like Venezuela has done and now Bolivia is doing — but is arguing that it should be made easier to remove the president. 

Ecuador: Free trade protests grow stronger

Protests by unionists, students and indigenous activists against a free trade agreement (FTA) between Ecuador and the US have strengthened, forcing the government to declare a state of emergency in several states around the capital Quito on March 21.
Thousands of indigenous activists blockading roads and marching on the capital were prevented from reaching their target by the army. Food and fuel shortages are intensifying in Quito, and the main student federation, the FEUE, brought thousands of students out onto the streets on March 23.

The protests are against the proposed signing of the FTA, the final rounds of negotiations for which began on March 23. Indigenous groups and unions opposed to the FTA believe it will further harm Ecuador's poor majority and indigenous population, and are demanding a referendum on the agreement.

Protesters are also demanding the expulsion of US-based oil company Occidental Petroleum, accusing it of environmental damage, breaking the law and hiring the military to spy on activists in oil-producing regions. They also want a popular rewriting of the constitution, to allow more representative democracy.

Ecuador: Protests threaten - 'FTA signed, Palacio out'

Several weeks of turmoil have escalated as thousands of workers, students and indigenous groups have taken to Ecuador's streets and highways, bringing the country to a standstill, forcing the resignation of the interior minister and demanding an end to negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US.

The latest round of protests were sparked on March 6 when 4000 contract oil workers in Orellana province took industrial action demanding back-pay and secure employment, and opposing environmental damage from the US-based oil company Occidental Petroleum.

Since then, the protests have broadened rapidly to reject the proposed FTA with the US and demand a new constitution and the removal of US troops from the Eloy Alfaro air base at Manta. Protesters have also demanded the expulsion of Occidental from Ecuador and the nationalisation of the country's oil.

In the capital Quito, protesters occupied the metropolitan cathedral and broke through a police cordon to blockade the presidential palace. In rural areas, highways were blockaded across the central highlands and throughout the Amazonian regions.

Ecuador's elite creates 'smokescreen' for FTAA entry

In the last couple of weeks, Ecuador's fragile democracy has threatened once again to come apart at the seams. On October 20, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) ruled that President Alfredo Palacio's call to hold a referendum in December to elect a constituent assembly to amend the country's constitution was illegal.

However, responding to massive public opposition to the ruling, Palacio has insisted on going ahead with both the referendum and constituent assembly, sparking calls from the hostile legislature for his resignation.

According to Prensa Latina news agency, on October 22 Palacio refused to back down, telling a meeting with representatives of popular organisations that the "proposed assembly is irreversible, inevitable, necessary and perfectible".

The convening of a constituent assembly was one of the demands that Palacio, a retired cardiologist and former vice-president, promised to carry out in the wake of the mass protests that led the Congress in April to remove from office President Lucio Gutierrez and replace him with then vice-president Palacio.

Cuba celebrates strength and looks ahead

Havana, Cuba
On July 26, the Cuban people celebrated the 52nd anniversary of the failed attack on Moncada Barracks, an attack led by a 26-year-old lawyer named Fidel Castro.

The 1953 attack was designed to inspire Cubans to rise up against the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista, and restore the 1940 constitution, which guaranteed land, education, democracy and hope to the Cuban people.

Neither the failure of the attack, nor the subsequent torture and imprisonment of those involved, broke the spirit of the mostly young rebels, who remained dedicated to liberating their people from the terror of Batista's regime. In January 1959, as a general strike broke out, Batista fled, and the Cuban Revolution triumphed, much to the chagrin of the US and its clients.

Washington has never stopped trying to roll back the Cuban Revolution, through assassination, invasion, terrorism, chemical and biological warfare, and by waging a constant propaganda war against the small Caribbean island.

On July 25 and 26, 2005, the 11 million inhabitants of Cuba again celebrated their freedom, with parties and small rallies across the country on the night of the 25th, and music blaring until well into the morning.

L'altra guerra del petrolio di Washington

di Duroyan Fertl
Dopo quasi cinque anni, migliaia di persone uccise e scomparse e lo stanziamento di 7.5 miliardi di dollari, l'iniziativa Americana conosciuta come "Il Piano Colombia" - per porre fine alla crisi che caratterizza la Colombia, paese sudamericano dominato dalla violenza - è fallita, sia politicamente che militarmente.Iniziato nel 2000 il Piano Colombia fu apparentemente designato per portare la "guerra alla droga" direttamente ai produttori di stupefacenti.Gli Stati Uniti sostenevano che i guerriglieri marxisti dell'Esercito Rivoluzionario Colombiano (FARC) ed il meno importante Esercito di Liberazione Nazionale (ELN) come pure i paramilitari di destra, le cosidette Forze Colombiane di Auto-difesa (AUC), erano principalmente "narco-terroristi".Tuttavia, le motivazioni Americane sono ben diverse: anche se la maggior parte del paese non è stato ancora sfruttato dall' industria petrolifera, la Colombia é già il terzo maggior esportatore di pertolio in America Latina dopo il Venezuela e Messico. L'industria petrolifera incide per un terzo sulle esportazioni Colombiane e la maggior parte di esse sono verso gli Stati Unti.La Colombia siede sulla "cintura dell'Orinoco Venezuelano" la più grande capitalizzazione di idrocarburi del pianeta condivisa con il Venezuela e l'Ecuador e questi ultimi fanno parte, come in gran parte del continente Sudamericano, della rivolta di sinistra contro le poltiche neoliberiste di Washington.In Ecuador una rivolta popolare ha recentemente rovesciato un presidente visto come troppo vicino a Washington, ed in Venezuela la rivoluzione capeggiata da Hugo Chavez ha riaffermato il controllo popolare sulle riserve petrolifere del paese e usato i proventi a beneficio della maggioranza più povera.Washington ha risposto a tali comportamenti ant-capitalisti con l'appoggio ad un fallito colpo di stato, un tentativo di chudere l'industria del petrolio ed un' implacabile propaganda contro Chavez, tutto ciò con scarso successo.Tale situazione fa sì che assicurarsi il petrolio Colombiano sia una priorità per gli Stati Uniti; la spesa militare e l'addestramento Americani sono infatti concentrate nelle aree Colombiane ricche di petrolio come Arauca e Putumayo, nel cuore delle zone di guerriglia.Una parte chave delle "ristrutturazioni" del  Fondo Monetario Internazionale (IMF) legate al Piano Colombia sono state cambiate a beneficio dell'idustria del petrolio: l'industria pertolifera governativa ECOPETROL è stata essenzialmente privatizzata per "incoraggiare" investimenti stranieri nell' industria petrolifera; le royalties sono state tagliare dell 8%, contratti di leasing estesi a data indeterminata ed il governo Colombiano adesso acquista il proprio petrolio da industrie straniere quali la Occidental Petroleum basata in California a prezzi di mercato.La Colombia è inoltre importante per gli Stati Uniti come contrappeso alla crescita di governi di sinistra anti-imperialisti e movimenti attraverso tutto il Sudamerica che stanno minacciando gli interessi di Washington.

 

Ecuador's President Gutierrez walks a tightrope

On June 10, the 10th round of negotiations for a free trade agreement between the South American nations of Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, and the United States, ended in a stalemate, with neither side willing to budge, in yet another example of Washington's increasing isolation on the continent.
Colombian farmers boycotted the negotiations, thousands of Ecuadorians protested in the streets of the country's largest city, Guayaquil, until police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse them, and on June 8, a bomb was set off outside the hotel in which the negotiations were taking place.

Ecuador's social movements, confident after forcing the overthrow of President Lucio Gutierrez on April 20, are demanding a referendum on the agreement. Protesters chanted: "We don't want to become a North American colony".

Gutierrez was unpopular for his implementation of neoliberal austerity measures, expansion of the US military presence in Ecuador and for attempting to subvert the role of the Supreme Court. 

His replacement, former vice-president Alfredo Palacio, came to power promising to hold a referendum on the trade agreement, increase social spending and to "re-found" the country by setting up a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution.

However, while he initially spoke out against deepening military ties with the US, Palacio has since affirmed that the US air base at Manta, used as part of Plan Colombia, will stay, and there are fears he will cave in to Washington over trade as well.

Colombia: Washington's other oil war

After almost five years, and countless thousands of people dead and disappeared, the US$7.5 billion initiative known as "Plan Colombia" has failed — politically and militarily — to bring an end to the crisis that characterises the violence-ridden South American country of Colombia.

Begun in 2000, Plan Colombia was ostensibly designed to take the "war on drugs" to the drug producers. The US argued these were primarily "narco-terrorists" — the Marxist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the smaller Army of National Liberation (ELN), as well as the right-wing paramilitaries, the so-called United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC).


However, the US has other motives. While most of the country has not been explored for oil, Colombia is already the third-largest exporter in Latin America, after Venezuela and Mexico. The industry accounts for one third of Colombia's exports, and most of Colombia's oil exports are to the US.


Colombia sits on the Venezuela-Orinoco belt, the planet's largest accumulation of hydro-carbons, which it shares with Venezuela and Ecuador. However, the latter two countries, like most of South America, are part of a left-wing revolt against Washington's neoliberal policies.


In Ecuador, a popular uprising just overthrew one president seen as too close to Washington. In Venezuela, the Bolivarian revolution, led by Hugo Chavez, has reasserted popular control over the country's oil reserves, and used the revenue to the benefit of the poor majority. Washington has responded to such anti-capitalist behaviour with support for an unsuccessful coup, an attempted shutdown of the oil industry, and a relentless propaganda campaign against Chavez, all with little effect.


This situation makes securing Colombian oil a priority for the US. US military expenditure and training is in fact concentrated in the oil rich areas of Colombia, particularly Arauca and Putumayo, which are in the guerrilla heartland.

Ecuador: Folket driver præsidenten ud af landet

Af Duroyan Fertl  
Offentliggjort: 15. maj 2005

Gutiérrez blev overvældende sikkert valgt sidst i 2002 efter en kampagne, der blev støttet af venstrefløjen. Han fremstillede sig selv som en "ecuadoriansk Chávez" og lovede at gøre op med korruptionen i Ecuador, fjerne den kontroversielle amerikanske militære tilstedeværelse på Eloy Alfaro-flyvebasen og frigøre landet fra nyliberalismen. Gutiérrez havde støttet oprøret i 2000, der, med de oprindelige folk i spidsen, styrtede en korrupt præsident.

Lige som de fleste latinamerikanere er ecuadorianerne blevet hårdt ramt af nyliberale økonomiske politikker, presset frem af USA og de internationale finansielle institutioner.

Disse politikker omfatter privatisering af basale tjenesteydelser, hvilket har ført til stigende leveomkostninger og en øget gæld, der påtvinger lammende tilbagebetalinger. Politikerne har øget landets økonomiske og politiske underordning i forhold til USA, hvilket har styrket støtten til venstrenationalismen.