Leftist Assumes Presidency of Ecuador

[Say_What]

Associated Propaganda article describes Chavez and Morales as US *foes*.

<clips>

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Nationalist Rafael Correa denounced Ecuador's political system as ``perverse'' as he was sworn in as president on Monday, and then raised a sword given to him by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez amid applause from a growing club of leftist Latin American leaders.

The charismatic political outsider said he would immediately push for a national referendum on rewriting Ecuador's constitution, a measure opposed by much of the nation's political establishment.

Strapping on the red, yellow and blue presidential sash and smiling broadly as he waved to cheering supporters in the galleries of Congress, Correa complained that Ecuador has ``a perverse system that has destroyed our democracy, our economy and our society.''

Also applauding were a host of U.S. foes, from Chavez to Bolivian President Evo Morales and Iran's hardline leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Correa, 43, won a November election runoff pledging to lead a ``citizens' revolution'' to make the country's democracy responsive to its poor majority.

Correa says a new constitution is vital to limiting the power of the traditional parties that he blames for the country's problems.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6346901,00.html


Rafael Correa speaks after swearing as new president of Ecuador at the Congress in Quito, Monday, Jan. 15, 2007.(AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

[maddezmom]

1. how would you describe them...none of them are actually going to allies

in the next 2 years, IMO. :shrug:

[SteppingRazor]

2. It's a good point. I mean, Hugo Chavez has actually self-identified as a U.S. "foe"...

so I don't see why the media should treat him any differently. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

13. Careful: he's self identified as a foe to our government's imperialism

which isn't quite the same thing, is it?

Don't most DUers agree that imperialism isn't good policy? :)

[SemperEadem]

16. exactly...

know the difference and quit drinking the kool-aid.

[SteppingRazor]

24. An excellent point...

despite the ridiculously snarky reply it induced.

That said, I was referring to specific speeches by Chavez in which he identifies himself as an enemy of the United States, though he usually couches the term as the "United States empire," which goes back to the point you made.

The point being, though, that I wouldn't castigate the press for referring to Chavez's Venezuela as a U.S. foe when the man has called himself a U.S. foe.

We can certainly debate whether Chavez is an enemy of the people of the United States or the country's lofty goals that Bush so debases as excuses for invading Iraq (spreading freedom, and what have you) -- certainly, I don't think he is. But I think it's equally unfair to call the press to task for reporting a story in the subject's own terms.

[EFerrari]

25. I don't have anything in hand but believe if we go back and look

at his words, you will see him making this distinction pretty carefully.

Let it be my homework later tonight. I'll post right here what I find either way. :hi:

[Say_What]

30. MSM in the US is nothing more than a shill for the government and big business

who do you think owns the media for keeerist's sake?

[Say_What]

32. More Media Owners

<clips>

While every topic addressed in this special Nation issue is vital to America's future, one issue binds them all together: media ownership reform. Whether it's the war in Iraq or the latest Supreme Court decision, how and where Americans receive their news is critically important. But deregulation has paved the way for a few media companies to dominate the country's information distribution system. Congress must step in to reverse the trend toward media consolidation.

Changes in media ownership have been swift and staggering. Over the past two decades the number of major US media companies fell by more than one half; most of the survivors are controlled by fewer than ten huge media conglomerates. As media outlets continue to be gobbled up by these giants, the marketplace of ideas shrinks. New and independent voices are stifled. And the companies that remain are under little obligation to provide reliable, quality journalism. Stories that matter deeply to the country's well-being have been replaced by sensationalized murders and celebrity gossip.

How did we get here? During the Reagan Administration the Federal Communications Commission made abrupt changes to loosen media regulations. Since then our government has favored benefits to big media over the interests of the people. One of the most blatant examples came in 2003, when then-FCC chairman Michael Powell attempted to implement new rules to allow a corporation to own--in a single local market--up to three TV stations and eight radio stations, along with the area's cable TV system, numerous cable channels and its major (or only) daily newspaper. A federal court temporarily blocked those new rules, but the door remains dangerously open for similar changes to be made under Powell's successor, Kevin Martin. And with President Bush appointing right-wing judges, courts could easily swing in favor of the conglomerates, eliminating a last opportunity for recourse.

That makes Congressional action imperative. Last year I founded the nonpartisan Future of American Media Caucus, which holds briefings designed to give members of Congress new perspectives on pressing media issues. I've also introduced the Media Ownership Reform Act (HR 3302). MORA would restore the Fairness Doctrine--a provision, overturned by the FCC in 1987, that required broadcasters to offer alternative points of view on controversial issues. MORA would reinstate a national cap on radio- and TV-station ownership. It would also lower the number of outlets one company can own in a local market and require more independent programming. In addition to restoring some of the key regulations that have been axed since the 1980s, the bill would insure that broadcasters meet the needs of local communities and would mandate public outreach and public input into programming decisions.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060206/hinchey

[EFerrari]

50. Here's the opening of his 2006 UN "Devil" speech. Notice that he

very distinctly distinguishes between us and BushCo imperialism::


President Chávez: "Madame President, Excellencies, Heads of State, Heads of Governments, and high ranking government representatives from around the world. A very good day to you all.


First of all, with much respect, I would like to invite all of those, who have not had a chance, to read this book that we have read: Noam Chomsky, one of the most prestigious intellectuals of America and the world. One of Chomsky’s most recent works: Hegemony or Survival? America’s Quest for Global Dominance. An excellent piece to help us understand what happened in the world during the 20th century, what is going on now and the greatest threat looming over our planet: the hegemonic pretension of US Imperialism that puts at risk the very survival of the human species. We continue to warn about this danger and call on the people of the US and the world to halt this threat that is like the sword of Damocles.


I intended to read a chapter, but for the sake of time, I will leave it as a recommendation. It’s a fast read. It’s really good Madame President, surely you are familiar with it. It is published in English, German, Russian, and Arabic (applause). Look, I think our brothers and sisters of the United States should be the first citizens to read this book because the threat is in their own house. The Devil is in their home. The Devil, the Devil himself is in their home."


http://www.chavezinenglish.org/2006/UN2006.html

[Say_What]

51. I like this part...

...The US president said the following yesterday in this same hall, I quote: “everywhere you turn, you hear extremists who tell you that you can escape your misery and regain your dignity through violence and terror and martyrdom.” Wherever he looks he sees extremists. I am sure he sees you, brother, with your skin color, and thinks you are an extremist. With his color, the dignified President of Bolivia Evo Morales, who was here yesterday, is an extremist. The imperialists see extremists all around. No, its not that we are extremists. What is happening is that the world is waking up and people everywhere are rising up. I have the impression Mr. Imperialist dictator that you will live the rest of your days as if in a nightmare, because no matter where you look we will be rising up against US imperialism. Yes, they call us extremists, we who demand complete freedom in the world, equality among peoples and respect for national sovereignty. We are rising up against the Empire, against the model of domination.


Later, the president said, “Today I'd like to speak directly to the people across the broader Middle East: My country desires peace.” That is certain. If we walk the streets of the Bronx, if we walk through the streets of New York, Washington, San Diego, California, any city, San Antonio, San Francisco and we ask the people on the street: the people of the US want peace. The difference is that the government of this country, of the US, does not want peace; it wants to impose its model of exploitation and plundering and its hegemony upon us under threat of war. That is the little difference. The people want peace and, what is happening in Iraq? And what happened in Lebanon and Palestine? And what has happened over the last 100 years in Latin America and the world and now the threats against Venezuela, new threats against Iran? He spoke to the people of Lebanon, “Many of you have seen your homes and communities caught in crossfire.” What cynicism! What capacity to blatantly lie before the world! The bombs in Beirut launched with milimetric precision are “crossfire”? I think that the president is thinking of those western movies where they shoot from the hip and someone ends up caught in the middle.

[EFerrari]

52. Thanks! Even more explicit in that passage.

[grahamhgreen]

6. Providing low-cost heating oil to our poor is what a friend would do,

not a foe. He may be a foe of Bush/military/industrialists, but not of the American people.

[maddezmom]

8. good point, how does the Venezuela press attribute comments about * vs the US?

honestly, I think both sides play the same game. :)

[Say_What]

39. Venezuela offers cheap heating oil

To the poorest of the US... after requests by US senators to major petroleum companies for relief for the poor. Only CITGO responded.

<clips>

NEW YORK - An unprecedented gift of warmth is destined for North American reservations this winter, where tribal governments have been offered drastically discounted heating oil by Venezuela's nationally owned petroleum company.

The offer comes through Houston-based CITGO Petroleum Corp., which has committed to 10 million gallons of fuel for tribes at a 40 percent discount, with the discounted portion treated as a charitable donation to American Indians and Alaska Native governments.

CITGO is a subsidiary of Venezuela's Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., which distributed 40 million gallons of discounted fuel through nonprofit organizations last winter in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The program has been expanded to a total of 100 million gallons this year.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez inaugurated the program before an enthusiastic audience in New York on Sept. 21, where blacks, Latinos and more than 300 American Indians packed Harlem's Mount Olive Baptist Church.

''It makes us feel good to give,'' Chavez told the festive crowd that waved Venezuelan flags and chanted his name.

... Far from any evil intentions, however, CITGO says the oil is a gift to America's poor spurred by the request of several U.S. senators who wrote to major petroleum producers requesting relief for the needy in the wake of skyrocketing energy costs and record profits. Only CITGO responded favorably.

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096413741


hotos by Gale Courey Toensing -- Around 50 Alaska Natives attended the inauguration of CITGO's heating oil program at a Harlem, N.Y., church, including a group of teenagers wearing traditional clothes who danced for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the audience at the end of the presentation. The event marked the inauguration of the second year of the program that will provide northern tribes and Alaska Natives with deeply discounted heating oil this winter. Posing on the street after the event, the girls are Louise Nevzoroff, Robin Stepetin and Patricia Galalnion. The boys' names were not available. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez plucked a few children out of the crowd for a hug and smile during an event at the Mount Olive Baptist Church in Harlem, N.Y., including this son of an American Indian leader.

[Say_What]

29. All three are democratically elected leaders who won by very large

margins. But the US propaganda machines continue to try to discredit and demonize them because they are very much a threat to the multinationals corps that for decades robbed their countries of natural resources and tortured and killed whoever got in their way, usually in the name of fighting *communism*.

[Say_What]

33. The 2006 You Didn't Hear About

<clips>

While many of the big stories in 2006 were bad news, there were hundreds of activist successes in 2006 that permanently changed the world.

...Indigenous peoples won victories all over the world in 2006, perhaps beginning with the inauguration of labor leader Evo Morales as president of Bolivia on January 22nd, the first indigenous president of the largely indigenous nation since the Spanish invasion almost five centuries before. He made good on his campaign promises to nationalize energy resources and negotiated contracts giving the impoverished nation far higher percentages of profits from natural-gas extraction. In November, the Achuar people of the Peru-Ecuador rainforest blockaded a major oil producer and forced it and the Peruvian government to implement environmental reforms.

...It wasn't such a great year to be a free-trade advocate, either. The United States's most fervent advocate, Thomas Friedman, was outed by independent journalist Norman Solomon as a person so insanely rich -- through marriage into one of the wealthiest families in the country -- that his opinions are deeply contaminated by membership in the ultra-elite that prospers by policies that bankrupt the rest of us. The Free Trade Area of the Americas was already sabotaged by left-wing leaders in South America in 2005; in 2006, Ecuador canceled a contract with Occidental Petroleum, so annoying the Bush Administration that it broke off trade talks with the country. The World Trade Organization continued to falter -- some activists pronounced the once-fearsome organization dead this summer, when the long-floundering Doha round of negotiations fell apart.

Though binational trade agreements -- such as the U.S.-Peru agreement signed earlier this month -- continue to threaten local power, labor and the environment, the failure of the WTO to become the world's economic superpower is evidence of the power of resistance. Hugo Chavez's Bolivarian revolution continued to evolve, most notably with the early December meeting at which South American leaders looked at forming an economic bloc along the lines of the European Union -- an alternative not just to corporate "free trade," but to the colonialism that has long drained the wealth of the region.

http://www.alternet.org/story/46015

[Judi Lynn]

35. I hope those results can keep on coming. The world needs this to happen.

With any luck, the _Bush administration won't be able to do as much damage to the people of Latin America as it has hoped.

Also, from the article you linked, some interesting info. some of us had not heard:

Halliburton was so besieged by citizen-opponents in Texas that it held its annual shareholder's meeting in Duncan, Oklahoma, and was even there surrounded by people chanting "shame!" Bechtel, driven to move its headquarters out of San Francisco by frequent protest, withdrew from Iraq in ignominy this year, its contracts canceled and its reputation sullied. The children's hospital in Basra that Bechtel was supposed to build and Laura Bush loudly championed as evidence of American virtue was put "on hold" in July far behind schedule and far over budget.
(snip)

[IndianaGreen]

46. Bush is NOT the USA, in fact, Bush is the enemy of the American people

Leader like Chavez, Morales, and Correa are the allies of the American people for they oppose the same regime that has subverted our Constitution and launched Crusader wars in the Middle East.

[Judi Lynn]

49. It makes a person wild seeing the media, day after day, hurl that twisted interpretation

at the Americans who can't be bothered to read enough to know the difference. They will just buy it, if they're not quick enough to listen more closely. What a shame.

[peacetalksforall]

3. I wonder if Chavez, Morales and this guy understand how much

hinges on them staying honest. Our leaders get rich from deals. (Some - filthy rich).

Their predecessors in those countries played the wealth game.

Let's see a difference - I'd like to be inspired. To know it can be done.

100%

[SemperEadem]

17. well, from listening to their inauguration speeches

they understand a lot more than your comment implies to the contrary.

[peacetalksforall]

21. Sorry, I think my distrust of U.S. leaders came through. I am

watching Latin American with high expectations. I truly want these leaders to show the world that targeting the plight of the working poor can be done. (By working poor, I'm not just talking employed poor - I'm talking about the work of being poor and being kept poor, employed or not.)

I am angry from the truths I'm learning about the leaders of our country. From campaign kickbacks, lobbyists, and the circle of taxpayer money that ends up in the pockets of leaders via set-ups - money laundering etc.

I am angry about the decades of our leaders dealing with the leaders in South American - for improved riches for the already rich.

Believing in anyone becomes more and more difficult.

Sometimes we can believe more in some of the dead than the living. Some of us don't realize how much someone has done until they're dead. Or how honest they've been with us.

[Peace Patriot]

4. Look to South America on how to do it here. They are teaching us.

1. Transparent elections.
2. Grass roots organization.
3. Think big.

If the South Americans can restore democracy and justice, after all they have suffered of fascism and brutality--often by US-backed dictators--so can we.

Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and soon Peru and Paraguay. Also Nicaragua. And a huge social movement in Mexico (having much more difficulty because of Mexico's proximity to the U.S.)

Correa's election was a triumph for this leftist (majorityist) revolution in South America. The Bush Junta wanted nothing more than to stop it. They failed, miserably. He won by almost 60% of the vote. That's the future. And if it can happen there, it can happen here.

[Blue_Tires]

5. good points n/t

[EFerrari]

22. PP, I'm *this* far away from checking out college teaching in Caracas.

*This* far. It would be such a relief to be where progressives are in charge.

[Peace Patriot]

41. But you'll keep blogging at DU, right? I'm an old gal, so I still think of people

going to far off lands as having to communicate by slow boat carrying those extremely thin blue airmail letters you had to cram your letter onto.* Viva the internet! You could tell us all about Venezuela, real-time!

-------

*(Airmail, right. Those thin blue letters took forever to go back and forth to Europe.)

[Say_What]

43. Yay!! Reporter on the ground in Caracas!! It would be so refreshing to

get some reliable reporting from someone living there. All the best to you if you decide to go. There's been several great articles lately that describe Caracas from a tourist/observer point of view.

[Flanker]

53. Generally the university faculty are anti government

From the private ones to the public autonomous.

Although the gobernment is starting new universities to cope with massive demand.

[tabasco]

7. Oh no! Another boogyman to be afraid of!!

Terra! Terra! Terra! Leftists! Leftists! Leftists! Terra! Terra! Terra! Leftists! Leftists! Leftists!
:scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared:

[rodeodance]

9. good

[Judi Lynn]

10. Wouldn't hurt some posters to break down and take a moment to do some research

on Ecuador's recent history, and a longer view. It really helps to know something about the subject you're discussing:

Ecuador: People Drive Out President
by Duroyan Fertl
Green Left Weekly
ZNet, April 25, 2005


After four months of mounting political pressure and constitutional crisis, the people of Ecuador have driven President Lucio Gutierrez from office. In the face of unstoppable mass protest, and growing calls for the dissolution of Congress and establishment of popular assemblies, Ecuador's right-wing Congress abandoned Gutierrez, leaving vice-president Alfredo Palacio to assume the role.

Gutierrez was overwhelmingly elected in late 2002, on a campaign supported by the left. Styling himself an "Ecuadorian Chavez", he promised to destroy corruption in Ecuador, remove the contentious United States military presence at the Eloy Alfaro Air Base, and free the country from neoliberalism. Gutierrez had supported the 2000 uprising, led by indigenous groups, that overthrew a corrupt president.

Like most Latin Americans, Ecuadorians have been hit hard by neoliberal economic policies pushed by the US and international financial institutions, including privatisation of basic services that has led to increases in the cost of living; and increased debt that imposes crippling repayments. These policies have increased the economic and political subordination of the country to the US, which has strengthened support for left-nationalism.

Upon his election, however, Gutierrez quickly revealed himself as another US puppet, increasing US military ties; embroiling Ecuador in Plan Colombia (the Washington-Bogota-led war on Colombian left-wing insurgents); increasing Ecuador's IMF debt; supporting the war on Iraq; privatising basic services; agreeing to negotiate a free trade agreement with the US; and approving oil exploration in indigenous and environmentally protected areas.

As his popularity plummeted, and his attempts to replace fleeing left-wing allies with right-wing ones were largely unsuccessful, Gutierrez began to act increasingly autocratically.
(snip/...)

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/South_America/Ecuador_PeopleDriveOutPres.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adults who don't grasp the concept of personal boundaries with other people, respect for other people's rights are actually criminals. Conducting a nation's business along the same lines indicates you are a REPUBLICAN.

Stay the bleep out of the internal business of other countries. PERIOD.

http://www.dw-world.de/image/0,,1554175_4,00.jpg

More citizens celebrating in the streets over their gratitude for _Bush-controlled politicians, in this case, their temporary pResident, Lucio Gutierrez.

Here you see Lucio Gutierrez giving his highly prized endorsement of the richest man in Ecuador, who ran against Rafael Correa, banana magnate Alvaro Noboa. Too bad for them (the right-wing puppets) it didn't work out.

[maddezmom]

11. It's a discussion board, I've learned a lot by asking questions

I don't think everyone needs to have expertise in all areas of the world to ask a question. :shrug:

[SemperEadem]

19. however, they need an open mind

to understand and a loss of stubborness when their erroneous notions have been corrected.

[EFerrari]

20. "Adults who don't grasp the concept of personal boundaries

with other people, respect for other people's rights are actually criminals. Conducting a nation's business along the same lines indicates you are a REPUBLICAN."

:rofl:

Truer words.

lol

[Say_What]

34. How well I remember Gutierrez' inauguration about the time that Lula

was also inaugurated. I don't think it was a month later that he was in Washington kissing El Mono's @ss for mucho dinero. Not long after that they threw his ass out of office.




Souvenirs left by Chevron in Ecuador.

[Judi Lynn]

36. That photo almost has the power to bring tears. That view isn't restricted to a small area, either.

It goes on and on and on. They have poisoned lakes, ponds, streams, destroyed vital water supplies needed by the people and the wildlife. The citizens have tried to get them to clean it up for ages, but, since they are powerful, they blew them off, all but laughing in their faces.

It is HEAVEN to know the people kept on working until they finally got someone in office who says he is going to start work on getting these things settled.

How'd anyone like to see THIS in their lakes?

[Say_What]

38. Yeah, and people wonder why LatAm is speaking out against

the US. A no-brainer if one does a little reading.

There have been lawsuits in the US courts for many years about the contamination of Ecuador and the US courts just keep stalling it. In December there was another article about this mess, Chevron says the contamination claims are "baseless". Video: http://www.chevrontoxico.com/downloads/030506_psa_large.mov

<clips>

Ecuador seeks Chevron probe

U.S. officials asked to look at rain forest contamination claim

Ecuador's attorney general has asked U.S. officials to investigate Chevron Corp's alleged "fraud and deceit" connected with oil-field contamination in the Amazon rain forest, the latest salvo in a long-running legal dispute.

Attorney General Jose Maria Borja Gallegos wrote to his U.S. counterpart on Dec. 5, asking that the Justice Department look into accusations leveled at the company in a report issued by activists last month.

The report was written by lawyers who are suing Chevron in an Ecuadoran court to force the San Ramon company to clean up a portion of the rain forest where Texaco Inc. used to drill for oil. Chevron inherited the dispute when it bought Texaco in 2001.

The report accuses Texaco of deceiving the Ecuadoran government in 1995 when the two parties reached an agreement on restoring an area where Texaco and the state oil company had worked together. That agreement limited how much of the cleanup was Texaco's responsibility.

The report argues that Texaco concealed from the government the true extent of contamination, in part by hiding pits filled with toxic waste. The lawyers also say the company is using misleading lab tests of water and soil contamination in the current suit. Both sides claim that chemical tests of soil and water in the area support their positions.

http://www.chevrontoxico.com/article.php?id=342

[Judi Lynn]

42. That's a great spot on the Texaco devastation. Sure wish they had the money to spread it around.

Too many people still have no idea what they did to Ecuador's citizens and the helpless animals by poisoning their waters.

Chevron's lawyers, as indicated in the second link, apparently imagine it's easy to get Americans to believe the poor of Ecuador are plotting to deprive Chevron of a little "scratch" to feather their nests. What a bunch of forest bullies, eh?



Last Updated: Wednesday, 22 October, 2003, 08:11 GMT 09:11 UK
Texaco faces $1bn lawsuit

A trial has begun in Ecuador's jungle town of Lago Agrio of the US oil giant ChevronTexaco, which is accused of polluting the country's rainforest and water resources.
A billion-dollar lawsuit against the firm was brought by the lawyers for 30,000 Ecuadoreans, who say a Texaco subsidiary - which later merged with Chevron - poured contaminated waste water into open pits.

The plaintiffs say the company's activities have destroyed large areas of rainforest and also led to an increased risk of cancer among the local population.

ChevronTexaco denies the accusations, and its lawyers say the company had cleaned up the area after drilling the oil.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3212698.stm

[gratuitous]

12. Correa and Chavez are "foes" of the U.S.

Only insofar as George W. Bush and his political machine represent the entirety of the United States.

[Judi Lynn]

18. It's so underhanded when U.S. right-wing lunatic Presidents like Bush

do unethical things to other countries, and their leaders take exception, and our "media" will trumpet the other leaders are "anti-American."

Specifically, they are anti-_Bush. BIG difference.

[EFerrari]

23. Or more simply, they are defending themselves from our government's

incursions.

How dare they object to the US interfering in their sovereign affairs!

/ack, spellin'

[Judi Lynn]

26. They're going to have to learn to take a beating, and saying "thank you," or they'll get more of the

same, it appears. The moment they protest, some fool points at them and screams, "aantii-Amurican." Then we're off to another round of covert operations, bribery channeled in to their corruptible oligarchy leaders through NED, or whatever, and badda bing, we've got a brand new right-wing Latin American PRESIDENT!

[EFerrari]

27. That's why the creation of a South American union is such a good idea

Harder to pick off leaders one at a time. I don't know how feasible it is -- Central America tried and failed at it several times, iirc.

But I give Mr. Chavez all the credit in the world for putting his life on the line for his values and vision. Because that is what he has certainly done.

[Mika]

59. No. Not specifically anti-Bush. More like anti US imperialism..

.. which has been going on for much longer than BushInc. Bush merely well represents a caricature of the US government's historic imperialistic attitudes and actions.

[rman]

44. Right - "we" are not "their own people"

Whatever they do to us, they are not doing it to "their own people".

[EFerrari]

14. I thought is was "authorized propaganda".

:)

[Say_What]

28. Whatever the name, it surely is

propaganda--and one doesn't need a degree from Harvard to figure that one out. ;-)

[Judi Lynn]

15. Ecuador swears in new president

Last Updated: Monday, 15 January 2007, 19:32 GMT
Ecuador swears in new president

Ecuador has sworn in its newly-elected president, Rafael Correa, who has promised a "citizens' revolution".
The left-wing economist's proposals include debt restructuring and less US involvement in Ecuadorean affairs.

Mr Correa faces a hostile Congress and must also please an electorate which has ousted the last three elected leaders before the end of their terms.
(snip)

Mr Correa has also rejected a free trade agreement with Washington and has said he will not renew a treaty which allows the US to use an air base on the Pacific coast.
(snip/)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6262555.stm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Last Updated: Monday, 27 November 2006, 13:21 GMT
Profile: Ecuador's Rafael Correa

Pledging a "civilian revolution", Rafael Correa, the man who looks set to lead Ecuador for the next four years, has made much of the fact he is not a traditional political figure.
The 43-year-old economist - who served briefly as finance minister in the outgoing interim administration - is seen as a fresh face in a country which has had eight presidents in the past decade.

Described as charismatic and energetic, Mr Correa appeared at campaign rallies brandishing a leather belt (a play on his name - correa means belt) to show how he would deal with corruption.

During his government, he has said, "the people will have the opportunity to punish the oligarchy and the political parties".

The left-wing Mr Correa did not support any candidates in the congressional election, because he is seeking a referendum to rewrite the constitution and restructure Congress.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6187364.stm

[Judi Lynn]

31. Ecuador's new leader has no kind words for U.S.

Ecuador's new leader has no kind words for U.S.
Last Updated: Monday, January 15, 2007 | 6:15 PM ET
CBC News

In a ceremony attended by some of Washington's staunchest foes, Ecuador's new president — a left-leaning, U.S.-trained economist — took office on Monday, pledging to fight corruption and U.S.-inspired economic policies.

Rafael Correa, who won a run-off election against banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa in November, is the eighth president in ten years in Ecuador, a politically unstable nation of 14 million where the leading exports are oil and bananas
(snip)

According to a statement issued by his office, he declared that "the historical moment of the nation and the whole continent demands a new constitution that prepares the country for the 21st century."

The existing political structure has collapsed, brought down partly by the "claws of corruption and political voracity," he said.

Correa, who holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has described himself as "left-wing, not from the Marxist left but rather a Christian left."
(snip)

In a country where more than 60 per cent of people live in poverty, his platform attracted voters disgusted with the corruption and greed of the political elite, the Associated Press said in a report from Quito.
(snip/...)

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/01/15/correa-ecuador.html

[Peace Patriot]

40. What a beautiful face! Great photo! And it looks like he's got a ferocious

Incan warrior there behind him, keeping an eagle eye on things, and guarding his back. Correa spent time in the Andes learning the language when he was younger. Something going on there, some kind of sacred duty. I'm thinking Knights of the Round Table. That's my reference. Something magical. People rising to heights of courage and generosity. True nobility. Simon Bolivar.

[Judi Lynn]

45. Didn't know he had learned native American language. Admirable.

If you want to see some beautiful faces, these photos are available in HUGE proportions, among a ton of others at this site:

http://www.enfotografias.com/galeria/thumbnails.php?album=295

http://www.enfotografias.com/galeria/index.php?cat=14

Much more open, more honest looking than a lot of the oddities we see normally! Click on the thumbnail, then click the photo of the size shown above to get to the WHOPPERS.

On edit:

Ah, ha ha ha. It doesn't take a vivid imagination to get the feeling these two guys are related, althought there's no caption to prove it.

[Say_What]

47. HAHAHAHAHA... look at this one

that little weasel Uribe looks like he's boring the hell out of Correa.

[Judi Lynn]

48. Truly! It looks as if he's taking a mental vacation while he's talking. His eyes are glazing over!

Uribe is no doubt telling him how exciting it is getting invited to that farm in Texas, and getting the royal treatment!

Correa looks as if he'd LOVE to get up and walk right off.



No doubt he's trying to convince Correa he has no connection to the right-wing death squad paramilitaries who are so afraid the high-ranking right-wingers in Congress and Uribe's cabinet are trying to have them poisoned in prison, that they are refusing to eat their meals.

[Say_What]

37. Venezuelan Oil Reaches Alaska Villages

Oil for the poor of Alaska from US *foe* Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. :crazy:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2690295

[Judi Lynn]

54. Ecuador's Correa takes oath, vows shift to socialism

Posted on Tue, Jan. 16, 2007
ECUADOR
Ecuador's Correa takes oath, vows shift to socialism
Sworn in as Ecuador's president, leftist Rafael Correa spoke of a shift toward socialism and alleviation of external debt.
BY CHRIS KRAUL
Los Angeles Times Service

QUITO - Declaring that ''inhuman and cruel globalization'' has failed his country, leftist economist President Rafael Correa took office Monday with a promise to shift his nation toward socialism and to renegotiate its $10.2 billion foreign debt.

Correa, 43, who received his doctorate at the University of Illinois in the United States, became Ecuador's eighth president in 11 years. He is one of a half-dozen leftist Latin American leaders to win office or be reelected in little more than a year.

In the campaign that culminated in his November victory, Correa pledged to overhaul a political system that many people here view as corrupt, fragmented and inefficient.

At times, Correa employed the anti-American rhetoric favored by his ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, promising not to sign a free-trade agreement with the United States or to extend the U.S. lease on an air base in western Ecuador used by surveillance planes to monitor drug traffickers.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/16468315.htm

[Judi Lynn]

55. A map, for anyone geographically challenged..............

[maddezmom]

57. thanks for the map

Now I know where the countries I used to live in are on the map. :D

[kestrel91316]

56. Does this mean Ecuador is next, after Iran?

[llmart]

58. If this trend keeps up......

the freepers will have a collective coronary because just the word "leftist" drives them batty (well, most of them already are but even more so).

If I were a younger woman, I'd be attracted to living and working in S. America.