On
September 28, 65% of Ecuadorian voters approved the country's 20th and
newest constitution — strengthening the mandate of left-wing President
Rafael Correa.
Correa was elected in 2006, promising a "citizen's revolution" to
build a "socialism of the 21st century" in order to overcome the
corruption rife in Ecuador, and to end the poverty that afflicts over
half of the small Andean country's 14 million inhabitants.
The drafting of the new constitution, by an elected constituent assembly, involved significant public participation.
More than 3500 organisations presented proposals to the assembly, and
thousands of public forums were held in schools, universities and
communities across the country in the lead-up to the referendum.
Progressive content
Included in the 444 final articles are the right to free universal
health care; free education up to university level; equal rights for
same-sex relationships; a universal right to water and prohibition of
its privatisation; and women's control over their reproductive rights.
The last article opens a legal avenue for abortion for the first time in the heavily Catholic nation.
The constitution also calls for the eradication of inequality and
discrimination towards women, and proposes putting a value on unpaid
domestic work.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Ecuador: Chevron battles government, indigenous people
International oil giant Chevron is lobbying the US government to
cancel trade deals with Ecuador over a court case where it faces a US$16
billion fine for polluting the Amazonian rainforest.
Chevron is accused of dumping over 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste into the Ecuadorian jungle, in what many are calling a "rainforest Chernobyl" and maybe the biggest environmental court case in history.
The pollution has caused thousands of birth defects and deaths, and incalculable environmental damage — poisoning animals, plants and the water table.
The court case, on behalf of over 30,000 affected residents — many of them indigenous — was initiated in 1993 in the US. Chevron spent 10 years arguing it should be heard in Ecuador, renowned for it institutionalised corruption.
Having succeeded, however, they are now stuck in an Ecuador where left-wing President Rafael Correa has pledged to root out all corruption. Correa argued earlier this year that "Ecuador is no longer on sale".
Chevron is accused of dumping over 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste into the Ecuadorian jungle, in what many are calling a "rainforest Chernobyl" and maybe the biggest environmental court case in history.
The pollution has caused thousands of birth defects and deaths, and incalculable environmental damage — poisoning animals, plants and the water table.
The court case, on behalf of over 30,000 affected residents — many of them indigenous — was initiated in 1993 in the US. Chevron spent 10 years arguing it should be heard in Ecuador, renowned for it institutionalised corruption.
Having succeeded, however, they are now stuck in an Ecuador where left-wing President Rafael Correa has pledged to root out all corruption. Correa argued earlier this year that "Ecuador is no longer on sale".
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Ecuador votes on new constitution as conflict rises
On
September 28, the people of Ecuador will be asked to vote on a new
constitution, drafted over the past eight months by an elected
constituent assembly.
The new constitution is the centrepiece of the political project of Ecuador's left-wing President Rafael Correa.
Correa, a former finance minister and economist, was elected in late 2006 promising to lead a "citizens' revolution" that would refound the country and overcome poverty through a "socialism of the 21st century".
The draft constitution — Ecuador's 20th since winning independence in 1830 — was passed by the assembly on July 24 by 94 votes to 32.
A number of the 444 articles echo demands raised by the country's powerful social movements over the past decade.
It expressly forbids foreign military bases on Ecuadorian soil, backing up Correa's pledge to close the unpopular US airforce base at Manta, on Ecuador's coast, when its contract expires next year.
Another article recognises unpaid domestic work as productive labour, making those who perform it eligible for social security.
Undocumented immigrants — particularly refugees — will no longer be considered "illegal", granting them more rights to stay and work in the country. Compulsory military service will be abolished, and, with some exceptions, genetically modified seeds will be banned.
Some of the new articles may be contentious in the heavily religious country, such as granting equal legal rights for same-sex relationships and guaranteeing "reproductive rights" to women. Both of these articles have drawn strong criticism from the Catholic Church.
The new constitution is the centrepiece of the political project of Ecuador's left-wing President Rafael Correa.
Correa, a former finance minister and economist, was elected in late 2006 promising to lead a "citizens' revolution" that would refound the country and overcome poverty through a "socialism of the 21st century".
The draft constitution — Ecuador's 20th since winning independence in 1830 — was passed by the assembly on July 24 by 94 votes to 32.
A number of the 444 articles echo demands raised by the country's powerful social movements over the past decade.
It expressly forbids foreign military bases on Ecuadorian soil, backing up Correa's pledge to close the unpopular US airforce base at Manta, on Ecuador's coast, when its contract expires next year.
Another article recognises unpaid domestic work as productive labour, making those who perform it eligible for social security.
Undocumented immigrants — particularly refugees — will no longer be considered "illegal", granting them more rights to stay and work in the country. Compulsory military service will be abolished, and, with some exceptions, genetically modified seeds will be banned.
Some of the new articles may be contentious in the heavily religious country, such as granting equal legal rights for same-sex relationships and guaranteeing "reproductive rights" to women. Both of these articles have drawn strong criticism from the Catholic Church.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Ecuador: Tension rises in the 'citizens' revolution'
On
July 8, the government of Ecuador's left-wing President Rafael Correa
took over three television stations and nearly 200 private companies,
prompting the resignation of the finance minister.
The companies seized include the TC Television, TC Noticias and Gamavision television stations, as well as another 195 insurance, construction, real estate and other businesses, all owned by the Isaias Group.
The take-overs are linked to embezzlement charges surrounding Filibanko Bank, which collapsed in Ecuador's financial crisis of 1998, and to the Isaias brothers, who are now living as fugitives in the US and are wanted on criminal charges in Ecuador.]
Debt
While government representatives have given assurances that the assets would be auctioned off to repay shareholders with outstanding claims from the 1998 financial crisis, finance minister Fausto Ortiz — described as the most "market friendly" member of Correa's government — had already resigned in protest.
The companies seized include the TC Television, TC Noticias and Gamavision television stations, as well as another 195 insurance, construction, real estate and other businesses, all owned by the Isaias Group.
The take-overs are linked to embezzlement charges surrounding Filibanko Bank, which collapsed in Ecuador's financial crisis of 1998, and to the Isaias brothers, who are now living as fugitives in the US and are wanted on criminal charges in Ecuador.]
Debt
While government representatives have given assurances that the assets would be auctioned off to repay shareholders with outstanding claims from the 1998 financial crisis, finance minister Fausto Ortiz — described as the most "market friendly" member of Correa's government — had already resigned in protest.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Lafontaine: 'We have the wind of history in our sails'
After
a year of stellar successes, almost 600 delegates from Germany's new
left-wing party, Die Linke, came together for the party's first ever
congress, held in the east German city of Cottbus on May 25 and 26.
Former East German communist Lothar Bisky and former Social Democratic Party (SPD) national president Oscar Lafontaine, once dubbed by the media as "Europe's most dangerous man", were re-elected as co-chairs of the party, and a social justice-oriented platform was adopted for the coming period, which includes state elections in Bavaria this September and federal elections next year.
Die Linke was officially formed in 2007 as a fusion between the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS — the successor to the former East German ruling party) and a collection of militants, unionists and socialists from the west organised as the Electoral Alternative for Jobs and Social Justice (WASG). Die Linke now has almost 80,000 members.
Former East German communist Lothar Bisky and former Social Democratic Party (SPD) national president Oscar Lafontaine, once dubbed by the media as "Europe's most dangerous man", were re-elected as co-chairs of the party, and a social justice-oriented platform was adopted for the coming period, which includes state elections in Bavaria this September and federal elections next year.
Die Linke was officially formed in 2007 as a fusion between the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS — the successor to the former East German ruling party) and a collection of militants, unionists and socialists from the west organised as the Electoral Alternative for Jobs and Social Justice (WASG). Die Linke now has almost 80,000 members.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Ecuador fights US infiltration
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa shook up the establishment in early
April after forcing the resignation of defence minister Wellington
Sandoval, the military Chiefs of Staff, and the countries police chief
amid accusations that the military and intelligence organisations were
infiltrated by, and under the control of, the CIA.
Among those accused was the army intelligence chief, Colonel Mario Pazmino, who has been linked with White Legion, a far-right group that has issued death threats against journalists, human rights activists and social movement leaders.
The scandal broke out only 6 weeks after the Colombian military illegally bombed and raided Ecuadorian territory on March 1, attacking a camp of the left-wing guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
In the aftermath of Colombia's attack, news began to surface about US involvement in the attack, and the prior knowledge of some sectors of the Ecuadorian military.
Among those accused was the army intelligence chief, Colonel Mario Pazmino, who has been linked with White Legion, a far-right group that has issued death threats against journalists, human rights activists and social movement leaders.
The scandal broke out only 6 weeks after the Colombian military illegally bombed and raided Ecuadorian territory on March 1, attacking a camp of the left-wing guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
In the aftermath of Colombia's attack, news began to surface about US involvement in the attack, and the prior knowledge of some sectors of the Ecuadorian military.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Raul Reyes and Colombia's tragedy
On March 1, Raul Reyes, a central leader of the 18,000-strong
left-wing guerrilla army, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC), was killed in an illegal midnight attack by the Colombian army.
The attack targeted a FARC encampment three kilometres south of the
border in the Putumayo province of Ecuador.
At least 21 FARC members were killed in their sleep during the cluster bomb attack. The Colombian military then invaded Ecuadorian territory to retrieve the body of Reyes, the FARC's chief negotiator and public spokesperson. Reyes bloodied corpse, still wearing pyjamas, was presented to the Colombian media as a trophy.
Reyes — born Luis Edgar Devia Silva on September 30, 1948 — began his revolutionary activities as a member of the youth organisation of the Colombian Communist Party, where he became an organiser.
Reyes became a union militant, working at a Nestle plant, until 1980, when he, along with many other unionists, was kidnapped and tortured by the army.
Seeing few alternatives, he moved to the mountains to join the FARC, which was waging an armed struggle against the Colombian dictatorship. Reyes' transformation — from union activist to guerrilla — reflects the tragic reality of politics in Colombia, which holds the macabre record of the highest rate of killings of trade unionists in the world.
By 1984, Reyes was on the seven-member FARC secretariat and, as their chief international spokesperson, became the best-known face of the FARC.
At least 21 FARC members were killed in their sleep during the cluster bomb attack. The Colombian military then invaded Ecuadorian territory to retrieve the body of Reyes, the FARC's chief negotiator and public spokesperson. Reyes bloodied corpse, still wearing pyjamas, was presented to the Colombian media as a trophy.
Reyes — born Luis Edgar Devia Silva on September 30, 1948 — began his revolutionary activities as a member of the youth organisation of the Colombian Communist Party, where he became an organiser.
Reyes became a union militant, working at a Nestle plant, until 1980, when he, along with many other unionists, was kidnapped and tortured by the army.
Seeing few alternatives, he moved to the mountains to join the FARC, which was waging an armed struggle against the Colombian dictatorship. Reyes' transformation — from union activist to guerrilla — reflects the tragic reality of politics in Colombia, which holds the macabre record of the highest rate of killings of trade unionists in the world.
By 1984, Reyes was on the seven-member FARC secretariat and, as their chief international spokesperson, became the best-known face of the FARC.
Raul Reyes and Colombia's tragedy
On March 1, Raul Reyes, a central leader of the 18,000-strong left-wing guerrilla army, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was killed in an illegal midnight attack by the Colombian army. The attack targeted a FARC encampment three kilometres south of the border in the Putumayo province of Ecuador.
At least 21 FARC members were killed in their sleep during the cluster bomb attack. The Colombian military then invaded Ecuadorian territory to retrieve the body of Reyes, the FARC's chief negotiator and public spokesperson. Reyes' bloodied corpse, still wearing pyjamas, was presented to the Colombian media as a trophy.
Reyes — born Luis Edgar Devia Silva on September 30, 1948 — began his revolutionary activities as a member of the youth organisation of the Colombian Communist Party, where he became an organiser.
Reyes became a union militant, working at a Nestle plant, until 1980, when he, along with many other unionists, was kidnapped and tortured by the army.
Seeing few alternatives, he moved to the mountains to join the FARC, which was waging an armed struggle against the Colombian dictatorship. Reyes' transformation — from union activist to guerrilla — reflects the tragic reality of politics in Colombia, which holds the macabre record of the highest rate of killings of trade unionists in the world.
By 1984, Reyes was on the seven-member FARC secretariat and, as their chief international spokesperson, became the best-known face of the FARC.
The current armed conflict in Colombia dates back more than five decades, to "La Violencia", the 10-year civil war between the Conservative and Liberal parties of the Colombian oligarchy that caused at least 200,000 deaths from 1948-58.
Many workers and peasants fled the violence, creating independent "peace communities" in the country's south. When the government attacked these communities, residents formed self-defence organisations with the assistance of the communist party. Out of these groups, the FARC was formed in 1964.
Since John F. Kennedy's administration, the US government has funded and supported the Colombian government in its brutal counter-insurgency war and state repression against the Colombian people — more than half of whom live in abject poverty.
After a truce was negotiated in 1984, the FARC helped form the Patriotic Union (UP), which participated in elections and won a number of senators and hundreds of local councillors. A wave of terror was unleashed in the year following the elections that resulted in 4000 UP activists being murdered.
Faced with this mass slaughter, the FARC withdrew back to the jungle, where they now control around a third of Colombian territory.
In the late 1990s, the FARC took part in peace negotiations with President Andres Pastrana's government. They were again betrayed. Under the cover of a truce, the Colombian government prepared for an escalation of its war.
The US and Colombian governments devised Plan Colombia, whereby the US provides Colombia with around US$600 million in military aid each year.
Ostensibly part of the "war on drugs", Plan Colombia is actually focused on the part of the country controlled by the guerrillas, while ignoring areas controlled by the right-wing terrorist paramilitaries of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC).
Despite claims from the US and Colombian governments, the FARC denies it is involved in drug trafficking, insisting its involvement extends only as far as refusing to forcibly eradicate the coca plants that are the only source of income for impoverished peasants in territories that it control. The FARC calls for alternative crops to be provided for peasants to grow, and sustainable markets to build effective local economies.
A 2002 Colombian government report admitted that the FARC garners only 2.5% of the profits of the cocaine industry, through taxes imposed on the areas it controls. By contrast, the AUC (linked to the Colombian state) receives 40% of drug profits, and is connected to the large cocaine cartels.
Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe is himself linked to both the paramilitaries and the illicit drug trade. Uribe's father was a drug trafficker killed by the FARC in 1983 and Uribe himself was close friends with notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar of the Medellín Cartel, who was killed in a shoot-out in 1993. In fact, in 1991, the US Defense Intelligence Agency listed Uribe as one of Colombia's top 100 drug lord in his own right.
As governor of Antioquia province, Uribe was also an architect of the Convivirs, the immediate predecessors of the AUC. When the Convivirs were outlawed in 1997, they were simply transformed into the then-legal AUC. The AUC are responsible for the murder of over 800 people every year, including trade unionists, peasant leaders and peace activists, and claim to control 35% of the Colombia's Congress.
It was in the struggle against this system — of state-sponsored terror controlled by drug lords and corrupt politicians, and of terrible poverty and oppression — that Raul Reyes gave his life. At the time of his assassination, the FARC were again negotiating for prisoner exchanges with the Colombian government.
Reyes was centrally involved in these negotiations — which were torpedoed by Uribe in November. In particular, Reyes was the key negotiator with the French government over negotiations for the release of French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt, who is being held by the FARC.
To the last, Reyes insisted that the FARC "is struggling for a new Colombia, hand in hand with the Colombian people. The FARC is part of the people. It is struggling for political power so that there are no exploiters or exploited, so that we can have a just society."
Uribe's brutal murder of Reyes and other FARC fighters was aimed at destroying this goal.
At least 21 FARC members were killed in their sleep during the cluster bomb attack. The Colombian military then invaded Ecuadorian territory to retrieve the body of Reyes, the FARC's chief negotiator and public spokesperson. Reyes' bloodied corpse, still wearing pyjamas, was presented to the Colombian media as a trophy.
Reyes — born Luis Edgar Devia Silva on September 30, 1948 — began his revolutionary activities as a member of the youth organisation of the Colombian Communist Party, where he became an organiser.
Reyes became a union militant, working at a Nestle plant, until 1980, when he, along with many other unionists, was kidnapped and tortured by the army.
Seeing few alternatives, he moved to the mountains to join the FARC, which was waging an armed struggle against the Colombian dictatorship. Reyes' transformation — from union activist to guerrilla — reflects the tragic reality of politics in Colombia, which holds the macabre record of the highest rate of killings of trade unionists in the world.
By 1984, Reyes was on the seven-member FARC secretariat and, as their chief international spokesperson, became the best-known face of the FARC.
The current armed conflict in Colombia dates back more than five decades, to "La Violencia", the 10-year civil war between the Conservative and Liberal parties of the Colombian oligarchy that caused at least 200,000 deaths from 1948-58.
Many workers and peasants fled the violence, creating independent "peace communities" in the country's south. When the government attacked these communities, residents formed self-defence organisations with the assistance of the communist party. Out of these groups, the FARC was formed in 1964.
Since John F. Kennedy's administration, the US government has funded and supported the Colombian government in its brutal counter-insurgency war and state repression against the Colombian people — more than half of whom live in abject poverty.
After a truce was negotiated in 1984, the FARC helped form the Patriotic Union (UP), which participated in elections and won a number of senators and hundreds of local councillors. A wave of terror was unleashed in the year following the elections that resulted in 4000 UP activists being murdered.
Faced with this mass slaughter, the FARC withdrew back to the jungle, where they now control around a third of Colombian territory.
In the late 1990s, the FARC took part in peace negotiations with President Andres Pastrana's government. They were again betrayed. Under the cover of a truce, the Colombian government prepared for an escalation of its war.
The US and Colombian governments devised Plan Colombia, whereby the US provides Colombia with around US$600 million in military aid each year.
Ostensibly part of the "war on drugs", Plan Colombia is actually focused on the part of the country controlled by the guerrillas, while ignoring areas controlled by the right-wing terrorist paramilitaries of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC).
Despite claims from the US and Colombian governments, the FARC denies it is involved in drug trafficking, insisting its involvement extends only as far as refusing to forcibly eradicate the coca plants that are the only source of income for impoverished peasants in territories that it control. The FARC calls for alternative crops to be provided for peasants to grow, and sustainable markets to build effective local economies.
A 2002 Colombian government report admitted that the FARC garners only 2.5% of the profits of the cocaine industry, through taxes imposed on the areas it controls. By contrast, the AUC (linked to the Colombian state) receives 40% of drug profits, and is connected to the large cocaine cartels.
Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe is himself linked to both the paramilitaries and the illicit drug trade. Uribe's father was a drug trafficker killed by the FARC in 1983 and Uribe himself was close friends with notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar of the Medellín Cartel, who was killed in a shoot-out in 1993. In fact, in 1991, the US Defense Intelligence Agency listed Uribe as one of Colombia's top 100 drug lord in his own right.
As governor of Antioquia province, Uribe was also an architect of the Convivirs, the immediate predecessors of the AUC. When the Convivirs were outlawed in 1997, they were simply transformed into the then-legal AUC. The AUC are responsible for the murder of over 800 people every year, including trade unionists, peasant leaders and peace activists, and claim to control 35% of the Colombia's Congress.
It was in the struggle against this system — of state-sponsored terror controlled by drug lords and corrupt politicians, and of terrible poverty and oppression — that Raul Reyes gave his life. At the time of his assassination, the FARC were again negotiating for prisoner exchanges with the Colombian government.
Reyes was centrally involved in these negotiations — which were torpedoed by Uribe in November. In particular, Reyes was the key negotiator with the French government over negotiations for the release of French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt, who is being held by the FARC.
To the last, Reyes insisted that the FARC "is struggling for a new Colombia, hand in hand with the Colombian people. The FARC is part of the people. It is struggling for political power so that there are no exploiters or exploited, so that we can have a just society."
Uribe's brutal murder of Reyes and other FARC fighters was aimed at destroying this goal.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Cuba's revolution continues
Following the announcement by Fidel Castro on February 19 that he
would not stand in the election by Cuba's National Assembly (AN) for the
position of president, the Western media coverage has ranged from
grudging acknowledgement of Cuba's social gains in the face of 50 years
of US aggression, to outrageous claims of "dictatorship" and US
government plans for a "transition" in Cuba.
The coverage has also been full of speculation that a new president could open the path to restoration of capitalism in Cuba, usually presented as "bringing democracy", via a series of "reforms".
On February 24, the newly elected 614-member AN voted to promote Raul Castro to the position of Cuban president. Fidel, whose image as the quintessential bearded guerrilla came to symbolise Cuba's revolution, led the revolution since the overthrow of the brutal US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
Fidel had been president of the Caribbean island since 1976. He remains an elected member of the AN, and first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (CCP). Despite Cuba's long-standing policy of promoting youthful leadership at different level of government, the Western media have responded to the transition from Fidel as president, begun in 2006, like vultures circling.
The coverage has also been full of speculation that a new president could open the path to restoration of capitalism in Cuba, usually presented as "bringing democracy", via a series of "reforms".
On February 24, the newly elected 614-member AN voted to promote Raul Castro to the position of Cuban president. Fidel, whose image as the quintessential bearded guerrilla came to symbolise Cuba's revolution, led the revolution since the overthrow of the brutal US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
Fidel had been president of the Caribbean island since 1976. He remains an elected member of the AN, and first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (CCP). Despite Cuba's long-standing policy of promoting youthful leadership at different level of government, the Western media have responded to the transition from Fidel as president, begun in 2006, like vultures circling.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Germany: Another electoral victory for the left
On
February 24, the left-wing party Die Linke extended its recent run of
breakthroughs in German regional elections, winning eight seats in the
Hamburg state parliament.
Die Linke's win, with 6.4% of the vote, cements it as the third party in German politics, after the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).
It now has seats in 10 out of 16 state parliaments - including four in the former West Germany. It also has a national approval rating of 13%, and is stronger than the SP in the former East Germany.
In Hamburg, the CDU appears likely to retain power, despite dropping 5 percentage points to 42.6%. This is a result of the SPD, which scored 31.4% (its worst result since World War II), have refused to negotiate with Die Linke. Along with the Greens, Die Linke and the SPD have won a majority.
Die Linke's win, with 6.4% of the vote, cements it as the third party in German politics, after the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).
It now has seats in 10 out of 16 state parliaments - including four in the former West Germany. It also has a national approval rating of 13%, and is stronger than the SP in the former East Germany.
In Hamburg, the CDU appears likely to retain power, despite dropping 5 percentage points to 42.6%. This is a result of the SPD, which scored 31.4% (its worst result since World War II), have refused to negotiate with Die Linke. Along with the Greens, Die Linke and the SPD have won a majority.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)