meer dan 15.000 betogers ondanks de noodtoestand (sinds zondag opgeheven)
Translation team + commentaar Kristof De Rynck 18 Apr 2005 19:52 GMT (translated by Translation team + commentaar Kristof De Rynck)De president van Ecuador, Lucio Gutierrez, heeft gisteren de noodtoestand uitgeroepen in Quito en de leden van het hooggerechtshof ontslagen.
Meer info (in het Spaans):
http://newswire.indymedia.org/en/newswire/2005/04/822012.shtml
http://newswire.indymedia.org/en/newswire/2005/04/822008.shtml
http://newswire.indymedia.org/en/newswire/2005/04/822013.shtmlLive radio:
http://www.radiolaluna.com/rluna.asxVolgens onbevestigde geruchten zou hij zich hebben uitgeroepen tot dictator.
Commentaar door Kristof De Rynck:
Het Ecuadoriaanse volk is opgestaan en hoe. Nooit eerder zag ik (een Belgische reisleider die 3 jaar in Ecuador woont en werkt, ex-trotskist) zo'n overtuiging, zo'n politieke bewustzijn, zulke actieve en pacifistische resistentie en waakzaamheid tegenover een 'de facto' Dictatoriale staat. De beweging onstond woensdag 13 april om 17u lokale tijd en heeft al 2 politieke overwinningen binnen, bedreigt het hele burocratische en corrupte politieke en economiosche stelsel en is de uitdrukking van 25jaar politieke, sociale en culturele onderdrukking.
Inndy Media get an education
What is your problem 16.Apr.2005 13:26
Guiterzez was elected by 55% of the vote and is connsidered an enemy of the rich. So why does Indymedia publish this crap! The state of emergency is based on the rich not being able to get out of town quik enough.
Gutierrez and ecuatorian people
. 16.Apr.2005 17:34
Gutierrez was elected by the 55%, but now his legitimacy was undermined. In the past December he was proved his pact with the ex president Bucaram.
So it is no longer true that he enjoy of the support of ecuatorian people. Three days of consecutive manifestation and marches at Quito, and the civil disobedience to the statement of the martial law is the answer.
algunas cosas nuevas - some newer links
marco 16.Apr.2005 18:43
Se declara el estado de emergencia en Quito - state of emergency declared in Quito
http://ecuador.indymedia.org/es/2005/04/8898.shtml
http://ecuador.indymedia.org/es/2005/04/8900.shtml
SOLIDARIDAD DESDE BARCELONA - SOLIDARITY FROM BARCELONA
:)
TO what is your problem; get informed, jerk!
dfd 16.Apr.2005 19:31
Gutierrez came to the US a few days before getting elected and received orders and payment from his master and mentor, our devil president. People say that when he returned he was already a changed man but not enough to alter the popularity that he had amassed with his false hopes messages to the indians, farmers and poor who elected him. A few days after his election signs started appearing: he was scared to be photographed with Lula or Chavez at a regional presidential meeting, he received visits from the World Bank and avoided the Argentianian and Brazilian ambassadors while dinning like a mongrel at the American ambassador's brothel, etc. He has since lost ALL the support of anyone with a square inch of brain, which is a lot more than the US is used to. He is using US taxpayer money as his political capital to bribe the military and the corrupt politicians who now support him but he has NO popular support because those people have quickly figured out that he is the whore he acts like and that he is as bad as bush himself. He is not what he portrayed himself to be and, much like our case, has turned out to be another inferior fascist pig that will have to be thrown out on his ass and the put in jail.
TO dfd, try speaking accurately. Unless you have a GED and can't help it.
Mr. Freeze 16.Apr.2005 23:58
Is President Bush really the "devil"? Is President Gutierrez truly a "whore" or "a mongrel"? Is the American embassy truly a "brothel"?. Obviously, no. What you are employing is merely inflammatory rhetoric. If you want to debate, at least have the decency to get an education first. I'm sure President Gutierrez has not lost "ALL the support of anyone with a square inch of brain". Furthermore, I don't think its beyond the realm of possibility that you have little or no clue as to what the word "fascist" means. You simply use it as a pejorative term to describe people who may disagree with you. Ultimately, you should think about what you write before doing so. As for the Ecuador, public opinion is extremely unreliable. Even if an elected official received 100% support during an election, all it takes is one accusation to end his career. As for you, individuals such as yourself should not have any say whether or not a politician should be "put in jail". The only people that deserve incarceration are leftist morons such as yourself.
original ecuador indymedia article
sean 17.Apr.2005 01:43
the ecuador.indymedia article is here:
http://ecuador.indymedia.org/es/2005/04/8898.shtml
http://tothebarricades.blogspot.com/2005/04/lucio-gutirrez-president-of-ecuador.html
And my translation into english can be found here:
Mr Freeze?
scart 17.Apr.2005 02:13
Mr Freeze wrote:
"The only people that deserve incarceration are leftist morons such as yourself."
So you don't like his opinion, as he's obviously someone who lives there, and want to throw him in jail for having it? Gee, real hard to tell what little rightwing tit you grew up sucking on.
Mr. Freezesob; your fascist CIA honky slip is showing...
dfd 17.Apr.2005 04:42
along with the the other buddies that hulk around these sites trying to pick up info for your murderous schemes. I have lived there but now Im here to haunt your paranoid fantasies and make sure you and the rest of the brownshirts in Langley push the Patriot Act 2 so that Americans can show their true colors to a world that has been calling you fascist whores for an undeservedly short time. The amerikan embassy is a brothel and has been for a long time; even before the "private security firms" which are spying in Quito (and to whiich you probably belong) started kidanpping and killing Ecuadorians in universities, rural areas and labor unions. The real problem is that you are racist beyond salvage and your entire family is doomed to die at the hands of the people that are going to turn this rotten filth of a country into something more in line with human destiny and less white retrograde genes. Your time is coming to an end and we will stand on your racist fascist graves and piss to drown you and make sure you are all DEAD!!
I would like some reports in English
Steve 17.Apr.2005 05:27
Some of us Americans care about popular movements in Latin America, but are unable to read Spanish. Ant translations of happenings there would be apreciated.
Things change in Politics.
d. 17.Apr.2005 05:34
Yes, it is true, Guiterrez came to power with a majority of the vote and the support of the indigenous movement of Ecuador. However, the time I spend in Ecuador (3 months in 2004) I was informed by many people there that they had voted for Guiterrez, but that he had betrayed the people and had gone back on his promises to fight corruption and not implement neo-liberal economic policies.
The Indigenous party Pachakutik actually left the government due to this. So it is perfectally possible that the people are rebelling against him. In the local municipal and provincial elections in October 2004, Guiterrez's party only got 5% of the vote overall.
But the issue isn't so cut and dried. The high court magistrates that Guiterrez fired were tools of the right-wing ruling elite and I'm not sorry to see them go.
The alternative in Ecuador unfortunately isn't any better than the corrupt fool that Guiterrez has proven himself to be.
The issue is complex, especially with the crazy ex-president Bucaram back on the scene, trying to protray himself as the representative of the poor.
To the typical gringos and to the few exceptions:
Jose 17.Apr.2005 06:02
Please keep your typical racist, sexist and imperialist comments away from articles dealing with the death of my country, it is your very sick minds that have brought this problem to our land from the beginning. The best you can do is call your countrymen in my country and tell them to come home, they are not wanted or liked in my country and they have never done any good to any of us, so please, tell them to leave my people alone and get out of here. Everything they do is selfish and only for service to self, like dfd implied, they really seem like representatives of the devil. I don't care if you have a devil or not in your Washington, that is your business but keep his and your hands over there - do not come here. We will figure out how best to solve problems you have made for us, including turning our president into a whore, much like your ambassador. Just call her back and all the rest of your nationality: we don't need you, we don't like you, we don't want you and we will not put up nicely with you much longer, our patience is wearing thin in this whole continent!
Notstand aufgehoben
Tomás 17.Apr.2005 09:44
Nach Informationen der Tagesschau ist der Notstand aufgehoben worden.
Präsident Lucio Gutiérrez hatte ihn offiziell verhängt um den Obersten Gerichtshof aufzulösen.
think outside the box
the professor 17.Apr.2005 17:52
I'm an American professor teaching at an Ecuadorian university (Ph.D. in sociocultural studies). Reading these postings is a bit of a disappointment. DFD posts with a rant against the U.S., Freeze replies telling him he's making sweeping generalizations and then asks if he has a "GED" and can't help it. FYI - this is the same kind of generalization, except maybe worse since you accuse people with GED's of being ignorant, that you accuse DFD of making. There are only a couple of level-headed contributions to this page that even hint at rational thinking (as opposed to emotional, inflamatory outbursts).
This is one problem in Ecuador - a lack of rational thinking and emotions run amuck - although I don't blame them. It's sad what happens in this beautiful country. They're wonderful people (and they don't all want Americans to go home, as the one post says).
What is my contribution here? To simply ask readers to think about whether the "us" and "them" arguments even make sense in this day and age. We are intimately interconnected. As much as some would like to say it's "their" fault, let's face it - we're in this boat together as fellow human beings. The problems here aren't unique to Ecuador, nor to the U.S. Remember, the U.S. has its own problems when it comes to a functioning democracy. The point is that we as Americans can help Ecuador by not acting like we have all the answers, and Ecuadorians could learn from Americans, too. We both bring things to the table that can move us towards a solution. I know the Ambassador and the Consul - they're not really anything special, but they're not evil (unless being a total bureaucrat makes you evil!). They want to help. They lament the fact that Ecuador is moving away from the rule of law, etc. I think they do this as fellow human beings. They're not out to get anyone. I doubt if Lucio is even out to get anyone. The problem as I see it lies in outdated modes of thinking - militarism, partisan politics, violent revolution, forced economic policies that degrade human beings, etc. We need to think outside the box to find solutions. Old answers can't be applied to new problems. Like it or not, we're a global community and the solutions I see thrown around assume that we can somehow shut our borders and pretend we're not interconnected.
Economically the solutions are out-dated, too. Inhumane austere policies that assume human beings are simply economic units, and not flesh-and-blood humans with real and immediate needs, dehumanize us. Manfred Max-Neef's "people centered development" seems a fine starting place for a sustainable solution.
Ecuador: Resumen de noticias (spanish)
Q.S.V.T. 17.Apr.2005 21:33
Resumen de noticias 16/04/2005:
Resumen de noticias 17/04/2005:
Resumen de noticias Prensa gráfica - 17/04/2005:
Radio La Luna on line
QSVT! 17.Apr.2005 22:52
La asociación Latinoamericana de Enseñanza Radiofonica está retransmitiendo en estos momentos la señal de La Luna en esta pagina
http://www.aler.org.ec/vivo.htm
Cuentas de Realidad y Professores Gringos
Fuerzas indigenas 18.Apr.2005 00:02
Gutierrez is the ass-wipe for Bush a Sell out from Day 1
hIS bROTHER IN aRMED fORCES HAS TRIED TO kILL mANY aCTIVISTS
lOS INDIOS Y LOS NINOS SON mIEDRA EN LA VISTA gRINGO-gUTIERREZ
What a Nice Porfessor from Gringo Land - and dear mr. professor how will Ecuador get to implement the nice little human-centered development program with the CIA, US coercion and Manta Military Base looming ovver any popular-based candidate to replace Gutierrez - Don't buy the nice talking Gringo Professor and his snake oil - or have him explain the reactions of GW Bush and the US fascists once Gutierrez is gone...
Chaupi dictadura en el Ecuador
El Coronel Lucio Gutiérrez declara Estado de Emergencia en Quito. Suspendido la libertad de opinión y expresión. Millones de mujeres y de hombres se van tomando progresivamente las calles y plazas de Ecuador para exigir que se vaya el traidor y se inicie la minga de la restauración de la Patria.
17.04.2005 [Manuel Salgado Tamayo*, ANNCOL] El Coronel Lucio Gutiérrez, rodeado del Alto Mando de las Fuerzas Armadas Ecuatorianas, a las 21h30, del viernes 15 de abril, leyó el decreto por el que declara el Estado de Emergencia en el Distrito Metropolitano de Quito, en la Provincia de Pichincha; Suspende la vigencia de los derechos humanos y constitucionales como la libertad de opinión y expresión; la inviolabilidad del domicilio; la inviolabilidad y el secreto de la correspondencia; el derecho a transitar libremente por el territorio nacional; la libertad de asociación yreunión, entre otros.
El Decreto disuelve la Corte Suprema de Justicia, nombrada por
una mayoría parlamentaria adicta al propio gobierno, el 8 de diciembre del 2004, en un acto dictatorial que viola la Constitución Política que no confiere facultades al Presidente para intervenir en los otros poderes del Estado, y; finalmente, dispone la movilización, desmovilización y requisiciones que deberán ejecutar las Fuerzas Armadas y la Policía Nacional.
El decreto intenta ser una respuesta desesperada del Coronel Gutiérrez a la creciente movilización y protesta del pueblo ecuatoriano por la consumación de la impunidad a favor de los exgobernantes Abdalá Bucaram, Alberto Dahik y Gustavo Noboa, que robaron a manos llenas los recursos públicos y que ahora han retornado campantes al País beneficiándose de una resolución del Presidente espurio de la Corte Suprema de Justicia, el Pichi Castro.
En medio del clima de tensión que vive el País por el Estado de Emergencia, destinado a reprimir al pueblo, han circulado rumores sobre la existencia de fisuras en el frente militar, toda vez que algunos oficiales se habrían negado a cumplir tareas punitivas; adicionalmente el Juez Décimo Cuarto de lo Penal de Pichincha, acogiendo una denuncia de las organizaciones de derechos humanos, dejó sin efecto el Decreto de Emergencia de Gutiérrez que podría ser revisado en las próximas horas por el propio Presidente acostumbrado a hacer y deshacer sus propios actos.
Las mil formas de la resistencia popular
La resistencia popular ha tomado un giro inesperado luego de que fracasara el Paro convocado, el martes 12 de abril, por el Partido Social Cristiano, la Izquierda Democrática y el Movimiento Pachakutik. El pueblo se ha dado cuenta que todas las fuerzas políticas presentes en el Congreso Nacional, en el Ejecutivo y el poder Judicial son corresponsables del desastre nacional al que ha conducido Lucio Gutiérrez y por ello, el movimiento espontáneo de masas, ha levantado una consigna que se extiende desde su epicentro en Quito hacia el resto del Ecuador: ¡Que se vayan todos!
La creatividad del pueblo ha utilizado formas simbólicas diversas para promover una resistencia pacífica que se incrementa con el paso de las horas: Ollas vacías que suenan y se movilizan desde todos los barrios de Quito llevadas por grupos familiares; globos que revientan a una misma hora, en medio del silencio de la noche, simples pedazos de madera transformados en tímbales que agobian la sordera del dictador, todo coordinado por un equipo de periodistas de Radio La Luna, encabezado por un radiodifusor democrático y polémico, Paco Velasco, que, acompañó también los tiempos de optimismo del 21 de Enero del 2000, cuando parecía que la alianza de Lucio Gutiérrez y su grupo de militares con el Movimiento Indígena era una fuerza social alternativa destinada a perdurar.
Las raíces profundas del conflicto
Los partidos políticos de las clases dominantes y las ONGs financiadas por el Imperio se han empeñado en reducir el conflicto al carácter dictatorial de la destitución de la Corte Suprema de Justicia anterior y la nominación de la actual el 9 de diciembre del año pasado.
En realidad, la mayoría que tomó esa decisión con los votos de los diputados del Partido de gobierno Sociedad Patriótica, del PRE del populista Abdalá Bucaram, el PRIAN del millonario Alvaro Noboa, el MPD de supuesta filiación marxista-leninista, el CFP del solitario Jorge Montero, la DP y los llamados independientes, que se venden al mejor postor, no tenían facultades constitucionales para tomar esa decisión y el acto era el segundo atropello de una mayoría parlamentaria contra una decisión popular tomada en la Consulta Nacional de 1997 que se había pronunciado por la profesionalización y despartidización del Poder Judicial en el Ecuador.
La ausencia de justicia en el País y la complicidad del gobierno de Gutiérrez en el perdón y olvido de los delitos cometidos por gobernantes y banqueros es un elemento poderoso en la génesis de la protesta popular, pero además están presentes otros factores en los que se prolongan los resultados de la crisis financiera de fines del siglo XX y se reproducen otros impuestos por las políticas de condicionalidad del Fondo Monetario Internacional y la apertura unilateral a que nos obligan los compromisos contraídos con la Organización Mundial de Comercio como: La quiebra de cientos de empresas.
El crecimiento del desempleo y el subempleo, en los dos años de gobierno de Gutiérrez la desocupación ha crecido del 8 % a más del 11%. La pérdida de poder adquisitivo de los salarios. El deterioro de los servicios públicos. Los recortes de las asignaciones presupuestarias para educación, salud, vivienda, desarrollo comunitario. El crecimiento explosivo de la delincuencia común. La caída de los niveles de nutrición.
El fracaso de la dolarización que, no registra las bondades que plantearon sus defensores, luego de cinco años de vigencia, muestra tasas de interés, de entre el 12 y el 16 %, que son un atentado contra la inversión; las rigidez del esquema, que implica un tipo de cambio fijo, nos han llevado a una brutal pérdida de competitividad; la reprimarización de la economía prosigue; las remuneraciones se deterioran; la brecha entre ricos y pobres de agiganta, el PNUD dice que el 43 % del ingreso se concentra en el 10 % de la población, la pobreza afecta al 42 %, mientras el 30 % vive en la extrema pobreza.
El pago de la deuda externa se ha transformado, con la complicidad del Coronel Gutiérrez, en una bomba de succión imposible de resistir y tolerar: Si en 1994 el servicio de la deuda significaba el pago de 769 millones de dólares, en el 2004, esa cifra se incrementó a 3.795 millones de dólares, por lo que para pagarla hay que incrementar la deuda interna y externa.
La Base de Manta y el Plan Patriota
Adicionalmente, la Base Manta y el sometimiento del Coronel a los designios de Bush y Uribe Vélez, en la ejecución del Plan Colombia y el Plan Patriota, han significado una erogación de millones de dólares para financiar la movilización a la frontera norte con Colombia de un operativo de más de 12.000 soldados que participan en las tareas de contrainsurgencia, diseñadas por los asesores yanquis, lo que implica el abandono de la tradicional política internacional de principios, basada en respeto al derecho a la autodeterminación de los pueblos y una trágica pérdida de soberanía que nos transforma en una semi colonia norteamericana. La sensación de que el país se desintegra y derrumba con la complicidad de un Coronel traidor que no tiene sentido de Patria y dignidad se incrementa al comprobar la forma servil e irresponsable en que se negocia el Tratado de Libre Comercio con los Estados Unidos de América.
El resultado social más dramático y doloroso es la explosión migratoria que, entre 1996 y el 2004, alcanzó a un millón y medio de personas, es decir, el mismo número de compatriotas, aproximadamente, de los que abandonaron el País en el medio siglo anterior.
Todos éstos factores hacen la Agenda elaborada por millones de mujeres y de hombres, de todas las edades, que se van tomando progresivamente las calles y plazas del País para exigir que se vaya el traidor y se inicie la minga de la restauración de la Patria.
Las muletas del chaupi dictador
Gutiérrez ha soportado varias tormentas con el apoyo invariable de la Embajada Americana, del Partido Social Cristiano y Febres Cordero que lo utilizó dos años; de la socialdemocracia local, representada por la ID, que ha sufrido una paulatina derechización que le ha llevado a caminar por los senderos de la privatización y la terciarización neoliberal, en la administración de los gobiernos locales, así como ha coincidir en el proyecto antidemocrático del bipartidismo diseñado por Febres Cordero con el método Imperiali y, para colmo, uno de sus diputados, Guillermo Haro, ha estado al servicio del Imperio persiguiendo a los familiares de los insurgentes colombianos que supuestamente viven en el Ecuador.
Otra muleta de Gutiérrez ha sido el insólito MPD, de supuesta filiación marxista-leninista, que sirve al régimen con el silencio y desmovilización de una parte del magisterio y la Universidad Central, a cambio de altos puestos en la burocracia; y, ahora también, con el juego de intereses del PRE, una de las estructuras políticas más corruptas de la nación y el PRIAN, del millonario pero poco favorecido por el talento Alvaro Noboa, que sueña con ser Presidente de la República.
¿Hacia dónde va el Ecuador?
Como vemos hay un actor espontáneo de primera magnitud: las masas ciudadanas empobrecidas. Existe también un Programa todavía no consensuado de modo suficiente. Las formas de lucha son muy creativas. Lo que no vemos y tendrá que construirse es el sujeto político capaz de vertebrar y organizar todo este proceso para darle una salida en medio de un panorama latinoamericano caracterizado por la presencia de un bloque alternativo de poder que van construyendo con sabiduría y audacia Fidel Castro y Hugo Chávez.
*Manuel Salgado Tamayo es Profesor de la Universidad Central del Ecuador
Nota: Chaupi es una palabra quicha que significa mitad o media.
Otra Vuelta: Ecuador Takes to the Streets, Again
Luis Gomez 18.Apr.2005 02:01
Ecuador Takes to the Streets, Again
By Luis Gomez,
Posted on Sun Apr 17th, 2005 at 05:03:58 PM EST
On Friday, in an act that recalled the classic style of Latin American dictatorships, President Lucio Guriérrez of Ecuador forgot that it was his people who elected him and turned against them. Gutiérrez, faced with massive demonstrations against him, declared a state of emergency. This time, the Ecuadorian people seem to have decided not to accept the authoritarianism of Gutiérrez, a soldier who joined the popular insurrection that overthrew President Jamil Mahuad in 2002. This stage of the conflict has now gone on for two days, and the people are in the streets. The origin of the conflict: Gutiérrez’s dissolving of the Supreme Court, which he had already illegally “reorganized” several months earlier.
Colonel Gutiérrez, who betrayed his indigenous allies after their joint electoral success in November 2002, has spent just over two years harassing Ecuador’s social leaders, the diverse political parties in Congress, and the journalists that have dared to criticize him, as he denounced a report from Amnesty International this March. In the last few months he has provoked new protests against him, not just for having aligned himself with the U.S. government and the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, but also for having “reorganized” the judiciary last December, supported by members of Congress loyal to his administration.
And so, the night of Friday, April 15, Gutiérrez announced on television and radio, from the Carondelet Palace (and after an enormous march against him the same day in Quito), that he would dissolve the Supreme Court of Justice, on which he had illegally placed magistrates loyal to his own interests on December 10. To make this all “legal,” the former army colonel released Executive Decree No. 2752 on Friday at 9:30 pm. Among other things, it declared the Quito metropolitan area to be in a state of emergency, suspending several civil rights established in the constitution. But this didn’t get Gutiérrez anywhere, because the people took to the streets of the capital once again yesterday, banging on pots and waving banners, to protest the government.
The new de facto dictator (in Ecuador they’re talking about a “half-coup”) confirms that he has forgotten his own words, spoken a few hours before being elected in November 2002, when he said that in order to rebuild the country it was necessary to work together, and that “our process of dialog will now be more open than ever.” But the people understand, and won’t get fooled again. Last night, although Gutiérrez decreed an end to the state of emergency, the demonstrations continued in Quito and in Guayaquil. In fact, this morning, it was announced that the protests will continue, with or without repression or human right violations. From Radio La Luna (a community radio station in the capital) calls began to be heard for civil disobedience and protests under the slogan “que se vayan todos” (“out with all the politicians”), starting with Lucio Gutiérrez.
The Man in the Moon and the Frightened Ambassador
And speaking of the media and Radio La Luna, it would be a good idea to take a look at the role played by this Ecuadorian radio station. Authentic journalist and social activist Paco Velasco has spent years their opening the studio to the people. His role in the 2000 insurrection was decisive in the unmaking of corrupt former president Jamil Mahuad. Velasco, who together with Ataúlfo Tobar spent all day on the air defying Gutiérrez’s state of emergency, allowing the Ecuadorian people to express their discontent with the government. According to an article in the newspaper El Comercio, Velasco was heard yesterday speaking with a citizen who was identified by name and ID number. The journalist asked: “Who is behind all of this [the mobilization in Quito].” The man on the line responded, “the citizenry.” The people at La Luna have declared, together with the Ecuadorian masses, that they will work an “endless shift” until this is over.
But the common people are not the only ones worried. Chilean president Ricardo Lagos has canceled an official state visit to Ecuador, the U.N. has said the usual (“concerned about instability, etc., etc.,”)… and even Gutiérrez’s main partner, the United States, has had its say. This morning the U.S. embassy in Quito sent out a press release, signed by Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, pressing the Gutiérrez administration to “show moderation and respect the civil rights of all citizens,” and, of course, asking Ecuadorians not to resort to acts of violence. (Could it be that the embassy is afraid of losing its best ally in one afternoon?)
Congress, just barely controlled by the opposition, has convened an extra-ordinary session today. Many hope that that the dissolution of the Supreme Court of Justice, something that the opposition wants as much as the ruling party does, is legalized. Nevertheless, the protests continue. Gutiérrez could be on the verge of going the same route as several other bad Ecuadorian and Latin American governments… we’ll be be paying attention, kind readers, to events in Quito (in the streets and in Congress) to bring you this immediate history….
Ecuador Takes to the Streets, Again | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 hidden)
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Congressional Session Falls Apart in Ecuador (4.00 / 1) (#1)
by Luis Gomez on Sun Apr 17th, 2005 at 07:01:58 PM EST
(User Info)
A few hours ago, the representatives of the three largest opposition parties (the Christian Social Party, the Democratic Left, and the Pachakutik Movement) announced that they would walk out of Congress in order not to participate in the extra-ordinary legislative session. This has nullified the attempt by members of congress to gather together to discuss the dissolution of the Supreme Court, the issue that has brought Ecuador into the streets against Lucio Gutiérrez.
While President Gutiérrez stays away from the center of the protests, hiding out among his supporters 340 kilometers away from Quito, the members of Ecuador’s Congress have not been able to meet to analyze the problems facing the nation, especially the issue of the Supreme Court, which since December 8 has generated headed rhetoric between legislators and the Gutiérrez administration.
The failed session, which was scheduled for 4 pm Quito time, does not mean that opposition parties have changed their position on the Supreme Court appointments, which they consider to be a crude attempt on Gutiérrez’s part to control the entire structure of the Ecuadorian state.
Meanwhile, the people in Ecuador’s capital city continue to organize through Radio La Luna to continue demonstrating against the president. In fact, this afternoon it was predicted that the people would approach the Congress building to throw trash in a protest tactic known in Quito as “el basurazo,” to repudiate the total ineffectiveness of the political class in attending to their needs and demands.
The Congress and Carondelet Palace, right in the center of the city, are surrounded by repressive state forces… we’ll see what comes next in this story.
US armchair support
gringo 18.Apr.2005 05:55
what the new york times likes to call a pink tide is the overflowing anger and action against western hierarchies, be they capitalist, imperialist, all of it. In this anger, as the prof suggested, reason can be neglected. hes right though, we need to think beyond violent revolution, even if and while acting beyond it is found to be impossible by those suffering under the oppression and violence of the US and the things it represents. good for them to rise against a John Kerry elected as a Eugene Debs, indeed, que se vayan todos. to the Ecuadorians in the streets: good luck, i love you, may you be full of grace and successful in your righteousness.
as for steve, learn spanish buddy. to require spanish speakers to translate news into english so you can keep up on foriegn events is inherently racist: its white supremecist, or at least ethnocentric. most people outside the US know multiple languages, often including english because of US and western economic and military imperialism.
and to all you US born who want to change the world, come back home and deal with the root causes. weve got more work here than we can handle, and there are no foriegn aid groups working here, its left to us. im sorry the evil is so thick and the work so immense that most everyone is daunted by it, but too bad - get the hell back here! PS: take note of the role La Luna plays and the role US radio plays at home in current occuring revolutions. also: of course the Agency and everyone else monitors and mines this for info. but to be relevant or effective weve got to be out in the open and so inflitration is inevitable.
the only difference between persuasion and propaganda is that one is constructed to encourage deeper rational thought about the topic and the other is designed to stop such tough.
Felicitaciones, Quiteños!! Todos queremos ser forajidos!!
Pepe 18.Apr.2005 12:39
We need to raise a toast to Quito and its people. The times that the people win against the forces of evil and money in this world are very limited and when the people win a big battle like the Quiteños, it is imperative that we stop, analyze, take account, emulate and cheer. Quito did not win the war; that will happen when they oust or jail the bushdevil puppet but in five days they: 1) Scared the pseudo president into backtracking on his Supreme Court appointment and thus making another mistake; 2)Began a novel revolt (potbanging/hornblowing at night) with unexpectedly brilliant results; 3) Got the pseudo president so scared that he declared state of siege yet ignored his declaration, went out into the street at night in even greater numbers and 12 hours later got the even more scared pseudo president to retract his declaration; 4) Not only ignored but roundly and consistently ridiculed the bitch ambassador from bushdevil; 5) Got the mealy mouthed hypocritical thieves in Congress to do the right thing on the Supreme Court issue last night and then all went home to get a well'deserved good night's sleep. This has scared the shit out of Washington; they will spend extra mucle power to make sure that Amerika only gets a corporate media version of what happened there because such examples of regaining democratic principles are not safe for the evil death squad now in power. Thank you Quiteños! We will need many more lessons from you on what democracy is about and how to go about getting it, but for now you have made us all feel very good! A sincere toast to Quito from the whole world!!!!
dfd, Stalin wants his panties back
ddt 18.Apr.2005 17:26
dfd, you are a complete fool. You make the left look like a bunch of ranting idiots. My recommendation: go to a library and learn something before you open your mouth.
Carpe Dium
The Good Professor 18.Apr.2005 22:23
I think Pepe answered Manuel Salgado Tamayo's question regarding how Ecuador is supposed to do this. Stop blaming the CIA for everything and take responsibility for your own destiny like the rest of your paisanos. I really pity those who find excuses in the CIA/USA for everything that goes wrong in their country. Your people elected Lucio! True, the USA loves to meter el dedo in everyone else's business, but I also believe your people have shown that they are able to stand up for themselves (speaking of the demonstrations). Bravo to the Ecuadorians for this!
The one thing that bugs us as Americans - and I heard this is what the U.S. Ambassador is worried about - is that we have the executive branch meddling in the judicial branch of government. The army shouldn't break from the Commander in Chief! If they do, you're subject to any passing charismatic leader's argument.
We also have a country where no one respects the law, which aggravates everything. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I do see the glaring problems. The rule of law must be established if you hope to accomplish anything in this country - and that means respecting your elected representatives and not throwing them out every time you feel like they're not meeting your expectations. Imagine how 1/2 the U.S. feels with Bush in office! Yet we don't go throwing him out! We deal with it, and vote next time for a change.
Having said that, Lucio is clearly out of his league - and maybe his mind. Today he's threatening - so the rumor has it - to cut off gas and water supply to Quito to punish the people for betraying him! I don't understand why the congress, which is full of his enemies, doesn't legally impeach him. Maybe someone can explain that to me?
El Profe
dear professor, learn some history
tia julia 18.Apr.2005 23:51
To say that the main problem is that the people of Ecuador are too emotional is to show that you don't know our history. Have you read Las Venas Abiertas de America Latina by Eudardo Galeano? Or something that has not been whitewashed? Well, I think you should, especially if you are living and working in the country. The U.S. financed ALL of the dictatorships in Latin America, all of them. Noam Chomsky has documented this quite well. Once the dictatorships were over, the countries had lost most of their natural resources to US and were no longer wealthy, and the people were terrified. As a good friend from Argentina says, "everyone votes out of fear, not from their heart, because they don't want it to happen again (another dictatorship)." And then, as Bill Clinton stated in his 1998 Latin American tour, they become our 'clients'. During the dictatorship in Brazil, the US bought many of the TV and radio stations; the main station that controls everything in Brazil, TV Globo, was started by Time/Life. So what is freedom? What is deomcracy? When you start to read real history, you learn that we don't know what it is because WE HAVE NEVER HAD IT IN THIS COUNTRY.
Noticias y fotos (spanish)
Q.S.V.T. 19.Apr.2005 01:21
Noticias de último momento:
http://www.ecuadorinmediato.com/espanol/index.php
http://www.anpeweb.com/fotos/POLITICA
Fotos:
Verdad, estoy una gringa, but I do care.
Tigress DEM 19.Apr.2005 06:06
I may have already posted, but I chose other as the language because it was Spanish and then English both and my post seemed to disappear. It took me a long time to put it together because my Spanish is not so good.
Puedo haber fijado ya, pero elegí otro como la lengua porque era española y entonces el inglés ambos y mi poste se parecían desaparecer. Me tomó un tiempo largo para juntarla porque mi español no es tan bueno.
*****
Una otra vez: Me disculpo por lo que ha hecho el nuestro presidente (pretendiente) para lastimar su país. No pregunto que usted perdona los Estados Unidos o aún nos confía en como país porque la gente que cuida sobre sus apuros, como me, no es las que esta' con la mayoría de la energía politico ahora.
No pido su paciencia, ustedes no tienen la época de enseñarnos que sobren estas cosas nuestro gobierno ha mentido a nosotros alrededor. No es su trabajo y como ustedes dicen, ustedes están bastante ocupado.
Pero, de mi corazón, le pido a que entienda que no cada gringo esté contra usted. Muchos de nosotros admiran su valor y ruegan para su éxito. Los periódicos no nos dicen sobre sus problemas. Los que encuentran estos sitios cualquier cuidado bastante para mirar o son lo que llamamos los "freepers" (la gente que fija para hacer que la gente lucha en vez de trabajo junta.) Sr. Freeze no es ningún liberal en mi mente, ello estan una junta en la camisa blanca.
Los periódicos aqui no imprime nuestras protestas cualquiera así que usted puede pensar que no cuidamos, pero ésa no es la verdad. Muchos de nosotros están comenzando a entender que las cosas que este gobierno hace en nuestro nombre ha traído gran vergüenza sobre América y no esperamos que otros nos confíen en hasta que conseguimos nuestro propio casa limpio.
No hay manera que puedo saber verdad a lo que usted va a través, pero los americanos (la gente no el gobierno) están más cercano a entender su dolor que siempre antes de que mientras que estamos viviendo bajo nuestro propio gobierno injusto.
Mi hijo me llamó esta noche para decir que él deseó matarse porque él no puede guardar simplemente el trabajo y el policía en su área el perseguir. Todo el progreso que él ha hecho, incluso el nacimiento que viene de su niño se parece sin valor a él porque le niegan la derecha de ser un hombre y de apoyar a su familia. Él vive varios estados lejos y no conozco a lo que a hacer, pero a me sepa que este gobierno injusto ha empujado a lo y a muchos de nosotros al borde de la desesperación más y más últimamente.
A usted, mis amigos que no he satisfecho todavía, vaya con Dios. Espero que venga un día en que los Estados Unidos son un amigo mejor a su país. Ruego que los sacrificios de los combatientes de la libertad por todas partes cuenten para algo y causen la paz y la prosperidad que sé en mi corazón está significada para ser.
******
One more time: I apologize for what the our president (pretender) has done to hurt your country. I do not ask that you forgive the United States or even trust us as a country because the people who care about your troubles, like myself, are not the ones with the most political power right now.
I do not ask for your patience, you do not have the time to teach us about these things our government has lied to us about. It is not your job and as you say, you are busy enough.
But, from my heart, I beg you to understand that not every gringo is against you. Many of us admire your courage and pray for your success. The newspapers do not tell us about your problems. Those who find these sites either care enough to look or are what we call "freepers" (people who post to make other people fight instead of work together.) Mr Freeze is no liberal in my mind, more like a junta en una camisa blanca.
The newspapers here do not print our protests either so you may think we do not care, but that is not the truth. Many of us are beginning to understand that the things this government does in our name has brought great shame upon America and we do not expect others to trust us until we get our own house clean.
There is no way I can truly know what you are going through, but Americans (the people not the government) are closer to understanding your pain than ever before as we are living under our own unjust government.
My son called me tonight to say he wanted to kill himself because he simply cannot keep work and the police in his area are harrassing him. All the progress he has made, even the coming birth of his child seem worthless to him because he is denied the simple right to be a man and support his family. He lives several states away and I do not know what to do, but I know this unjust government has pushed him and many of us to the brink of despair more and more lately.
To you, my friends I haven't met yet, go with God. I hope there will come a day when the United States is a better friend to your country. I pray that the sacrifices of freedom fighters everywhere will count for something and will bring about the peace and prosperity that I know in my heart is meant to be.
Ecuador: Radio La Luna en vivo
x 19.Apr.2005 14:06
Donde mandan las cacerolas, no mandan los coroneles!!!
http://www.radiolaluna.com
Se puede escuchar Radio La Luna en vivo en el sitio web:
History
El Profe 19.Apr.2005 17:14
Tia Julia - What makes you think I don't know history? In fact, if you want to know, I have degrees in sociocultural studies and history. (Why does everyone on this site make things so personal?) My point was: Take charge of your own destiny. You're not helplessly at the mercy of the U.S. Like my fellow gringa who wrote earlier, I abhor what my country has come to stand for - which is why I believe a larger loyalty, to the entire planet, is the wave of the future. These nationalistic perspectives will one day seem as out-dated as feudalism and slavery do today.
Free Z. York
Jpaul 02.May.2005 09:51
Wasn't there a prophecy that he would be away for 3 and a half?