Ecuador to vote for assembly to reform constitution

QUITO (AFP) — Ecuadorans on Sunday vote for an assembly tasked with rewriting the constitution with opinion polls showing support for sweeping reforms proposed by leftist President Rafael Correa.

Correa, who was elected one year ago on promises of radical change, wants the assembly members who will be elected on Sunday to dissolve the unicameral Congress, which he calls "corrupt and incompetent," and boost state control of the economy.

"It's necessary to do away with the myths of neo-liberalism," Correa has said repeatedly during the campaign.

While calling for "21st century socialism" with guarantees for education and free health care, Correa has ruled out nationalizing private companies.

Pre-election polls indicate there is strong support for the wide-ranging reforms the president is seeking, and Interior Minister Gustavo Larrea said 66 to 72 of the 130 mandates would likely go to Correa supporters.

A US and European-educated former finance minister, Correa, 44, says the 130-seat Constituent Assembly will stem political instability in the South American country despite warnings his economic reforms could scare off foreign investors.

The most prominent of the 3,229 candidates is Correa's nemesis, right-wing billionaire Alvaro Noboa, who was defeated in the November presidential election.

Ecuador's wealthiest man, and a folksy politician, Noboa has invoked God's name in his electoral campaign, vowing to defeat what he says are the power ambitions of Correa, whom he calls "the communist devil."

"Correa has become a tyrant who maintains you in poverty, the tyrant who keeps you sick, the tyrant who keeps you without a home or health care. But I am here, Ecuadorans," Noboa said during his last electoral rally.

Critics claim Correa is following in the footsteps of Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez, who in 1999 had successfully pushed for the election of a constituent assembly packed with his supporters.

They claim that like Chavez, Correa would use the Constituent Assembly to concentrate power in his own hands and that this would scare off foreign investors.

Controversy over the proposed constitutional reforms had sparked a deep political crisis earlier this year when a court fired half the 100 members of Congress for seeking to block the project.

Correa has called the assembly a key component of the "citizens' revolution" he says will make Ecuador a more just country, where 40 percent of wealth is concentrated in the hands of 10 percent of the 13 million population.

He believes the new constitution will help regulate the economy and end the political volatility in a country that saw seven presidents come and go in the past decade, including three who left office amid tumultuous uprisings.

Alexei Paez, an analyst at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, believes the make-up of the new assembly will reflect support for Correa's ideals amid widespread discontent with the political management of past years.

Some 9.3 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots on Sunday.

It will mark the fourth time in a year Ecuadorans go to the polls, after two rounds of voting in the presidential election, and a referendum that cleared the way for the creation of the Constituent Assembly.

Once installed, the new body will have six months to write a draft constitution that will be put to a referendum.

Ecuador Correa gains before assembly vote: pollster

By Alonso Soto

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa is close to winning a majority in Sunday's election of a national assembly to rewrite the constitution, a local pollster said on Saturday.

Polibio Cordova of Cedatos-Gallup told Reuters Correa's party had gained ground and was near the 66-seat majority needed to pass constitutional reforms in the 130-member assembly, which the leftist president says should dissolve Congress and limit the influence of traditional parties.

Investors are watching Ecuador's vote closely as they are worried a convincing win could give the leader a stronger mandate to carry out his promises to increase state control over the economy and natural resources.

"There is a very favorable trend for the government. ... there is a high probability he will win a simple majority with only a few alliances," said Cordova, who declined to release figures, citing an agreement with poll subscribers.

More than 3,000 candidates including an ex-guerrilla, a priest and former beauty queens are vying for a seat in the assembly that will draft the oil-producing country's 20th constitution.

Correa, a leftist allied with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, says the assembly should introduce sweeping reforms in a country where many blame traditional political parties for ousting three elected presidents in the last decade.

The 44-year-old former economy minister has campaigned hard in tough barrios and rural hamlets before the vote, calling on backers "to deliver a beating to the traditional parties."

A weakened opposition led by toppled President Lucio Gutierrez and Correa's former presidential rival Alvaro Noboa has vowed to block the president from using the assembly to consolidate his powers as his ally Chavez did in 1999.

"A crushing victory will give Correa enough strength to forge ahead with his most radical policies," said Simon Pachano, a professor with Ecuador's branch of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences.

"He will not seek too many concessions or negotiate with centrist parties," he said. "I don't think he will turn more moderate."

Correa has recently softened his tone on pledges to restructure the country's foreign debt and overhaul foreign oil contracts.

A Cedatos poll earlier this week showed Correa's party would win 50 seats in the assembly, but Cordova said the most recent survey conducted September 25-28 showed he could win "much more now."

Cordova said 28 percent of voters are still undecided. The national poll interviewed 3,887 people and had a margin of error of five percentage points.

Previous constitutions never represented the Ecuadorian people's interest

Via Mathaba
Caracas, Sep. 27th. ABN.- The Ecuador’s ambassador to Venezuela, Francisco Suéscum, affirmed that the creation of the twentieth Magna Carta in the Andean country is essential because the previous 19 were just attempts to have a Constitution and that they never represented the Ecuadorian’s interests.

During an interview conceded to the Bolivarian Agency of News (ABN, by its acronym in Spanish), Suéscum explained the main changes that the Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, aims to carry out, through his champion project, the setting of a new Constituent Assembly and the subsequent drafting of a new Magna Carta.

Regarding to this, he spoke on the possibility to reform the institutional system of the State; the concept of the revoking referendum; the territorial reorganization; regional autonomies and on the necessity to dismantle the legitimized neo liberal model in the 1998 Constitution (currently in force), according the expressed by Correa in different opportunities.

All the mentioned above will be debated by the 130 assembly members to be elected next September 30th, date in which around 9 million 300 thousand Ecuadorians will vote by the representatives they choose out of the 3,229 who are nominated.

The interview, which content is stated below, was also useful to raise national issues with the Ecuadorian diplomacy leader in Venezuela, as the Constitutional Reform Bill and the XXI century socialism.

''We are not talking about a foreign doctrine without answers. We are talking about a socialism adapted to our own reality and we are building it,'' he said on this matter.

ABN: What is the basic purpose of creating a new Constitution, number 20, in Ecuador? Why not presenting the possibility of promoting the essential changes through a constitutional reform?

FS: In Ecuador we have had, in a kind of pseudo-democracy that has been historically becoming evident in our country, many attempts to have a Constitution. But the result of such attempts are negative because there has not been a constitution that really express the interests of a sovereign people, which desires to be the owner of its auto determination, as it should be.

As you just said, we have had 19 constitutions that in the end the only thing they have done is to repeat the previous vices and faults without giving that answer that the people are demanding, is not that they ask for it, they demand it, because it is part of their rights.

Now, we are promoting the setting of a Constituent Assembly really representative of these people, which is a considerable switch to those institutions apparently democratic that definitively did not reflect what a real democracy should reflect.

The current constitution we have (1998) is the result of a Constituent Assembly that bothered to benefit the sector of the traditional political parties, those who certainly President Rafael Correa calls the ''Ecuadorian partidocracia,'' because they represent the vice interests of emaciated groups that no longer have any credibility and who have been rejected in all elections.

ABN: What is the institutional reform of the State about, as stated Rafael Correa in his electoral campaign?

FS: Look, the thing is that, in Ecuador, we have an institutional system that has always been managed by that political class I told you about, associated and representative of economic interests which have nothing to do with social interests.

Those institutions, as the National Congress or the Supreme Court of Justice, to talk about two essential bodies of the State, Legislative and Judicial, have been showing all those vices. Those same things that had been happening in all Latin American countries, before the revolutionary processes in which our America is now immersed.

Then, those institutions are occupied by sectors that, abusing from people’s confidence, using economic means by illegal ways just as a merchant does, they sell the image of a candidate to achieve an objective: get a seat in Congress, for example, and then betray the people they are supposed to represent. At the moment the reach the seat, they become enemies of that people, forgetting and dissociating from everything they said wanted to represent. They become what I call representatives of the anti-country.

ABN: And what does this Government aim to do in order to change that reality?

FS: President Correa, in his government program he presented to the Ecuadorian people before becoming president, talked with great clarity on this politic institutional crisis of our country. He said it was necessary to call for a Constituent Assembly, but one integrated by people chosen by Ecuadorians, involving those sectors previously excluded; like Ecuadorians living in other countries, giving them the chance to be represented in this process.

This Constituent Assembly intends to draw a new Constitution, yes, but not a clone, a copy of all previous vice constitutions, like the one we currently have. The new Magna Carta compulsory has to reflect the interests of a people tired of so much atrocity and outrage. It has to be that way.

From this point of view it has been proposed that, undeniably and because we are dealing with a Constituent Assembly with full powers, the President should operate according that Constituent, and so should do all the officials of free removal. The Assembly has to ratify them.

That is the whole problem of the current Congress. We have a Parliament that reflects all the vices of the emaciated political class that resists to the change, which only tries to maintain their privileges untouched. For this reason, they opposed to the fact that the Constituent has full powers, because they know the will have to go home if the people decide so.

ABN: So, this reform of the institutions would consist on making them more representatives instead of creating new ones, right?

FS: Look, the Assembly has full powers to do everything that should be done in a country to be rebuilt, and the reconstruction of a country demands a change from its basis. The reach of this change is in the hands of the people: it is on Sunday September 30th.

It is an opportunity that the Ecuadorians have to express our real interests, as the Venezuelan people did with the Constituent that wrote the Venezuelan Magna Carta of 1999, and as we have to go improving things, since surely, if necessary, we will make steps towards the basic reforms, as well as the Venezuelan government is doing here, through the Reform Bill.

ABN: Had previously occurred a process like this in Ecuador, in which people vote for the installment of a Constituent, choose the assembly men and then go back to the polls to approve the new Constitution?

FS: No, this is an unprecedented process in Ecuador. Apparently, any supporter of the Statu Quo (the established power system) may say it is not, but it is. It is a deeply and genuinely democratic process.

ABN: President Rafael Correa says that, in economic matters, the 1998 Constitution legitimize neoliberalism. Why?

FS: Because the 1998 Constitution is one that, as I said at the beginning of the interview, the only thing it pursued was to fit the situation according what the government of the moment needed; fit the country and its institutions to the neoliberal leanings imposed to the Latin American countries; preserve the parameters of a society where individuals, human beings are merely numbers, almost merchandise, countable goods for economic and commercial means, instead of beings subject to a comprehensive development of a society where the human being should be more important than the resources a country possesses.

Neoliberal globalization, which has brought disastrous consequences for our countries, insists on counting us as necessary subjects for trade exchange. This is one of the realities that leads us to consider everything from a different perspective, to evolve into a socialist world, a human one, from the XXI century, from there it comes XXI century socialism.

ABN: Now that you raise the issue, what would you answer to those who perceive the XXI century socialism as a ''ghost consideration, a theory which is still not written''?

FS: I would say that we are talking about a kind of socialism adapted to our own realities and that we are building. We are not talking about a foreign doctrine that no longer has answers. That the dialectical evolution of the world, of humanity, has taken us to make reconsiderations away from foreign dogmatisms we know do not lead us to that better and progressive realization of the human being.

I would tell them to update themselves, to live reality and to coexist with the society we live in. to get out of their cenacles (isolated rooms) in which they just hobnobs with big bankers, with the representatives of the big transnational companies, and to realize that the world has changed, that the receipts that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were not the more suitable measures. That, if they continue like that, they will be out of history.

ABN: Will the new Constitution of Ecuador include mechanisms of citizen participation for the taking of decisions of the State, besides going to polls?

FS: Absolutely, if we had kept on that we would do nothing but to repeat the already done. It will now exists, for example, the possibility of revoking the term of office to every governmental official at the moment that the people verify that such representative did not carried out with what he was supposed to do, starting with the President as well as the local governors, majors, etc.

ABN: Have you ever consider any mechanism similar to the Communal Councils here in Venezuela?

FS: I might not foresee that because the Constituent Assembly has not been set, but I am sure that our clear-sighted assembly members will establish the mechanisms they consider necessary according the Ecuadorian reality, in order to carry on the best goals.

ABN: How does this Government conceive the so-called regional autonomies? How should they be and which what purpose?

FS: Autonomies should be clearly understood inside the organic whole of the country but not as a few absurd sectors pretend to conceive them, almost like kind of independent republics or mini-republics. That is definitively ridiculous.

They should be understood as the autonomies the municipal governments need to manage those municipalities with the resources they generate.

The autonomies should be promoted in the regions of the country where they are required and needed for an administration of the most efficient resources, to break with the lock that a total centralism means.

ABN: There is another proposal to be debated on the Constituent and it is the territorial reorganization. Why is it necessary to rethink the political-territorial division of the country?

FS: The government has a very clear idea on this issue: the country has to be administratively conformed in a different way to that which is currently traced, which is from north to south.

What happens is that we have three regions that are like three vertical stripes: the coast region on the occident; the region of the mountain range in the center, and the Amazonian region or west region.

Then, regarding the configuration of the political map of Ecuador, we are thinking in the establishment of regions aligned horizontally instead of vertically as they are set. It means that there will be provinces that integrate in their territories the coast, the mountain range and the Amazonian region, that all of them form part of those three regions.

We have always seen in our country such regional division: coast provinces, mountain provinces and Amazonian provinces, like three remnants. What we pretend is to change those isolationist perspectives. That would be a substantial change.

ABN: So it means that there will be created new provinces or the 22 already existing will be reduced?

FS: There will still be the 22 provinces, unless the Constituent Assembly decides another territorial conformation, it proposes any kind of formation of federal states or something like that, but for the moment thing will keep that way.

Translated by Felitza Nava

Announced surveillance operation for Ecuadorian polls

Via Mathaba
Quito, Sep. 28th. ABN.- (Yesenia Chacón/ special correspondent).- The authorities of the National Police and the Armed Forces of Ecuador announced the details of the surveillance operation that both parts will deploy during the holding of constituent elections in the Andean country, next Sunday September 30th.

The leader of the Ecuador National Police, Bolivar Cisneros, stated that ''30 thousand 54 police officers will be ready for Sunday; 233 out of it are higher-ranking officers, 1,307 are officers, 27 thousand 227 are policemen, and 1,287 are future police officers.''

Different national mass media spread the announce of the National Police leader, who added that the institution will also have 1,890 vehicles, 2,232 motorbikes, 33 ambulances, 5 tow trucks, 3 helicopters and an aircraft.

Therefore, the Ecuadorian Armed Forces will do the same deploying an amount of 42 thousand 865 officers of the Army, the Marine and the Aviation.

According a press release published this Thursday by the journal Expreso de Guayaquil, Guayas department (southwest), the Armed Forces will have 2 thousand 320 vehicles, 17 helicopters, 28 motorboats and 30 trucks.

Likewise, the armed group guaranteed the arrival of all the electoral material to the committees in charge of collecting the votes of the country before the small hours on Sunday.

That day, more than 9 million Ecuadorians will go to the polls to choose the 130 representatives to conform the Constituent Assembly of full powers, which main task will be to draft a new Magna Carta, number 20 since 1830.

According the established on the Constituent Assembly statutes, this one will be settled without previous notification ten days after the Electoral Supreme Court (TSE, by its acronym in Spanish), the governing body of the process, announce the official results of the elections.

Since the day of its settling, the Constituent will have a 180 term to carry out its task, unless it establish a deferral that will jot exceed 60 days, counted from the due date of the first period.

Therefore, the police authorities and the mass media of all the country keep informing to the Ecuadorian population that the general banning to sell and consume alcoholic drinks will start on 12:00 of midday (local hour) of this Friday until the same time on Monday October 1st.

Translated by Felitza Nava

Ecuador vote a short-term tonic; risks return in 2008

By Walker Simon - Analysis

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ecuador votes Sunday for the framers of a new constitution, a step which could defuse volatility in the country's bond prices, but could also pave the way for radical 2008 reforms which may hurt the economy's repayment capacity.

The bond market has already priced in a resounding win by leftist President Rafael Correa's party and his allies in the elections for a constitutional assembly, so Ecuador's $3.8 billion in global bonds are unlikely to show any sharp reaction to that outcome, Wall Street analysts said.

Sworn in last January as Ecuador's eighth president in a decade, Correa in the past threatened to default on the country's debt.

Ecuador last defaulted on debt, totaling $6.5 billion, during a popular revolt in 1999 that toppled a president, so for investors in the country political instability is a chronic worry.

However, despite his leftist policy platform, a landslide win on Sunday by Correa may endow him with more authority, and at least in the short term that may reduce political instability and temper volatility in Ecuador's bond prices, analysts said.

"With a Correa win, there will be less political uncertainty in Ecuador, at least this year," said Goldman Sachs analyst Alberto Ramos. "But for next year, the risk dynamics increase with the possibility of an increasing radical agenda."

"We fear that the new assembly will validate greater government intervention, a laxer fiscal policy and this could hurt investment and expose Ecuadorean debt to the vicissitudes of international oil prices," Ramos added.

Ecuador's debt is rated by Wall Street as the least credit-worthy in Latin America. Downgraded deep into junk category, its bonds hover barely above default status.

"21ST CENTURY SOCIALISM"

Correa is an avowed admirer of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and both have vowed to build "21sth century socialism."

Applauded by Correa, Chavez this year launched a nationalization drive, targeting over $30 billion in assets in the oil, telecommunications and electricity sectors.

"Correa and Chavez have basically the same agenda," said Moody's economy.com analyst Juan Pablo Flores.

"They both want to increase the power of the state and eliminate the private sector's role in mining and energy."

The key difference is that Venezuela, one of the world's largest oil producers, pumps enough crude to easily repay its debt even in an oil price downturn.

But a price slump could jeopardize Ecuador's capacity to repay its debt, even if it wanted to, Flores said.

In addition, Ecuador's oil production has been declining for a decade, so a big question for Wall Street is whether the new constitutional assembly will adopt policies that would deter private investment seen as key to boosting oil output.

For now, Correa has sought to allay default fears, telling Wall Street investors on Tuesday in New York that Ecuador had ample income to meet debt payments and even launch new bonds.

He softened his hard-line stance in talking to Wall Street investors, said HSBC analyst Marjorie Hernandez.

"He showed signs of flexibility and pragmatism, talking about potential external debt buybacks and expressing satisfaction with Ecuador's 5.5 percent of GDP debt servicing costs for next year," she said.

"The last time he was here he talked about defaults and reducing debt service to 3 percent of GDP," she said, recalling his earlier statement about considering Argentina debt restructuring as a possible model for reducing Ecuador's debt burden.

Argentina in 2002 defaulted on $100 billion debt and restructured in 2005 at a steep loss to bondholders.

The next Ecuador bond payment litmus test comes on November 15, with $30.6 million due on its 2015 bond. Ecuador this year has kept investors on tenterhooks, only announcing days before a coupon is due if it will actually pay it.

RISKS ALSO SEEN IN AN OPPOSITION WIN

Because Sunday's vote falls under a complex proportional representation system, it can take weeks before the definitive makeup of the Assembly is known, analysts said.

An upset opposition win, while unlikely, also entailed the potential to hurt the business climate, said Lisa M. Schineller, Director, Sovereign Ratings at Standard & Poor's.

"A sharply divided Constituent Assembly following a strong opposition showing would complicate any sort of decision-making in the assembly and could impair the investment climate, but so could an assembly dominated by President Correa's supporters," she said.

The first exit polls are expected around 5 p.m. local time (6 p.m. EDT), with an independent quick count due around 8 p.m. local time (9 p.m. EDT).

(With additional reporting by Alonso Soto and Pat Markey in Quito and Saul Hudson in Caraca)

Range of candidates seek Ecuador assembly seats

(Ecuadorean law prohibits the dissemination of polls in the 20 days prior to the assembly election. This article is for publication outside of Ecuador)

By Alonso Soto

CUENCA, Ecuador, Sept 28 (Reuters) - A revolutionary Roman Catholic priest, a masked self-proclaimed crime fighter and several former beauty queens are unlikely candidates from a long list vying on Sunday for Ecuador's assembly to rewrite the constitution.

Leftist President Rafael Correa wants the 130-member assembly to dissolve Congress and slash the powers of traditional political parties, which many Ecuadoreans blame for instability that has ousted three presidents in a decade.

But voters are confused over the process and by a myriad of offers from evangelists to Marxists pushing everything from price cuts to introducing the death penalty to nationalizing the oil industry.

"I felt this was a call from God," said priest Fernando Vega, who campaigns for Correa's party in mountain hamlets near Cuenca. "We are living a revolutionary process ... I'm gathering votes in bordellos and prisons."

Vega joins 3,224 candidates competing for the assembly, where Correa is expected to win close to the 66 seats his party needs to pass constitutional changes. The former economy minister may form alliances to secure a strong majority.

Recent polls showed Correa remains popular, but that 38 percent of voters are still undecided. Observers say voters could take as long as ten minutes each to fill out ballots.

"Anything goes given the crisis discrediting traditional parties," said Felipe Burbano, a political analyst in Quito. "Parties want to fill that vacuum and outsiders are just what they need."

A former college professor, Correa came to office in January promising sweeping changes to purge party influence over courts and state companies.

But his opponents say they worry the U.S.-trained economist is trying to bolster presidential powers as his ally President Hugo Chavez has done in oil-producing Venezuela.

OUTSIDERS FOR CHANGE

Aside from the priest Vega, Correa's party also features a local film director and a former top model. The long-haired priest walks dirt roads in sandals as he calls on voters to "finally take from the rich."

Contrasting with Vega's revolutionary rhetoric, a masked candidate clad in a bulletproof vest and known as the "Punisher" has become widely popular in the poor province of Manabi with promises to cut crime.

Built like a wrestling pro, the burly the 36-year-old businessman, clad in a bulletproof vest, told Reuters he covers his face "because I'm allergic to corruption."

A weakened opposition led by toppled president Lucio Gutierrez and Correa's former presidential rival Alvaro Noboa has vowed to block the president from using the assembly to consolidate his powers.

They play on fears that Correa will wreck the economy of South America's No. 5 oil producer by spooking foreign investment. Wall Street is worried by his plans to renegotiate foreign debt.

But most Ecuadoreans know little about the candidates or even recognize them, which could benefit Correa, experts say.

Ecuadoreans must fill out two ballots -- one national list measuring nearly a meter long and another for provincial candidates -- and election officials said the final tally using a proportional representation method could take a month.

"We have never seen such a complicated election process in which candidates cannot really connect with voters," said Gandhy Espinosa, a pollster with Informe Confidencial.

"The government will benefit from this because Correa has been able to get in touch with Ecuadoreans."

Correa's address to the UN General Assembly

Ecuador

Permanent Mission to the United Nations

Statement by His Excellency

Economist Rafael Correa

President of the Republic of Ecuador

At the Sixty-Second Session

Of the United Nations General Assembly

New York, 26 September, 2007

Mister President, Heads of State and Government, Representatives of the Governments of the world, Excellencies,

Allow me to begin my statement today by reflecting on the commitment to fight against poverty in force since September, 2000 when 189 countries signed the Declaration of the Millennium Development Goals. Due to this agreement, we committed ourselves to fulfill, by the year 2015, several basic goals in the road towards Human Development.

Today, at the head of a democratic, ethical and nationalistic Citizen's Revolution, we would like to invite you to critically reflect on the definition of the MDG, its limitations and dangers caused by the design of minimum agendas that eventually give basis to the profound social and economic asymmetries of our planet.

The first limitation of the MDG rests on the fact that, as a strategy to diminish poverty, it represents a minimum framework. Our goal goes beyond those minimums, deepening key objectives and incorporating several others. To focus exclusively on minimum agendas as suggested by the MDG would mean a high risk that certain consciences would be appeased but it would limit the desires for profound social changes.

In this regard, we can assume that there are two characteristics that describe peoples’ lives. One that deals with the indispensable capabilities of human beings to subsist within a society, abilities without which life could not even be called human. A second aspect has to do with the capabilities that enable each one of us to develop our potential within a society. We are, therefore, talking not only about subsistence but of the right of people to enjoy a human life worthy of being lived.

Mr. President, Excellencies,

Having a goal of living with one dollar, plus one cent, in order to overcome extreme poverty or avoid a premature death, as intended by the MDG, does not mean leading a decent life. The development of public policies, in a country which tries to make radical changes, as in our case in Ecuador, cannot be content with reaching minimum objectives, although no one can deny that preventing the premature death of boys and girls or of nursing mothers is without doubt a fundamental goal.

However, by focusing only on these, we are taking the risk of reducing human life to simply a process of resistance with a goal of prolonging people’s lives by adding some hours to their existence. Therefore, we propose common goals that should be based on social maximums, and not on life minimums. For example, we believe that it is possible to share different identities, to build and recover public spaces, to guarantee access to justice, to have an appropriate job that allows or guarantees our right to earn our own livelihoods, to have time for contemplation, artistic creation and leisure, among other goals found in the National Development Plan of Ecuador being carried out by my government. It is in this way that we relinquish the idea that the present is an historically preordained fate before which we must surrender in our efforts to search for basic goals.

Furthermore, the perspective of sticking to minimums also means legitimising the reality in which we live and that said minimums do not seek to overcome the distances nor the power relations between citizens and their societies. Therefore, we also advocate the recognition of the equal dignity of all human beings. Granting to some people unequal rights must always be a temporary objective and must not ever be considered the modus operandi of public policy because it assumes that the “beneficiary” is placed in a position of subordination and indignity with respect to others. In other words, it assumes that the World Bank always elaborates “poverty reports” and has never thought of publishing “inequality reports”.

The best strategy to reduce poverty levels with dignity is to shorten social, economic, territorial, environmental and cultural gap differences. Thus, one of our government’s main goals is to diminish inequalities in an endogenous development framework, of economic inclusion and socio-territorial cohesion domestically as well as worldwide.

In this sense, what the government of the Citizen's Revolution wishes to impose in Ecuador is the empire of human rights and universal values. The long sad neoliberal night, in its privatising and excluding efforts, forgot said universal values and human rights, and by advocating for a staunch defence of the market, it proposed social programs that ended up fragmenting society in as many parts as there are social groups. A national project and a change in power relations within a society does not mean that a puzzle will be assembled without the complete number of pieces. It is indispensable to outline a shared project that must be constantly redesigned having us all precisely as parts of it.

In Ecuador, therefore, we proposed the creation of a democratic and participative National Plan for Development as we understand that without the public participation of all citizens in fundamental decisions of our society, no country could legitimise and make efficient any such political decisions. In other words, we must change a political practice applied by traditional sectors, with their technocracy and elitism, to return the voice and action to those who must be the sovereign owners, actors and beneficiaries of our public policies.

I would like to point out that the MDG is wrong in its vision of development tied to criteria of consumption and strategies linked to processes of economic liberalisation. We view development in a different way: understanding development as a way to create welfare for all, peace and harmony with nature and fostering measures to prolong human lives. In this sense, we gladly debated in this Assembly on the devastating and unjust effects of climate change. Ecuador has brought a concrete and innovative contribution to reduce CO2 emissions to preserve biodiversity with our Yasuni-ITT project.

This initiative stresses the commitment to maintain 920 million barrels of oil unexploited in order to avoid the emission of approximately 111 million tons of carbon due to fossil fuel combustion. However, this will mean a decrease to the amount of 720 million dollars in foreign investment that will affect the Ecuadorian economy significantly. We are ready to undertake this enormous sacrifice by simply demanding the international community take joint responsibility and pay minimum compensation for the environmentally generated goods. This extraordinary initiative should set an example to be followed by the international community in order to reduce global warming on our planet, while at the same time inaugurating a new economic logic in the 21^st Century - that is to compensate for the generation of value, not merely for the generation of commodities.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a few days ago the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which was co-sponsored and actively negotiated by Ecuador. This legal instrument has waited more than twenty years for its approval and will be a fundamental base for the protection of human rights of our indigenous people.

The welfare we are dealing with now means that the liberties, opportunities and real potential for the individuals will widen in order that they may achieve their desired goals. In this sense, there is a paradox: on one hand, free flow of goods and Capital seeking maximum, in contrast with the punishment people receive for using their freedom to travel globally in search for a better life, which can not be tolerated. The Government of the Ecuador does not believe in illegal human beings and is actively working to promote changes to the shameful international migration laws, bearing in mind obviously that our great responsibility is to build a country that offers guarantees for a worthy life as a mechanism to prevent migration caused by poverty and exclusion.

Mr. President, Excellencies,

The end of ideologies, the end of history has not come true as many try to preach worldwide. Conservative sectors tend to make us believe that the world we live in today is the best, urging us to give up any attempt to change in order to build our future history. We advocate then for building solutions and commitments that allow us to search for better lives and organise a different global society. Our concept of development forces us to recognise, understand and value each other, so as to enable self-realisation and the construction of a shared future.

It is to the occasion of the building of this new world, this dream, that Ecuador would like to invite you all today.

Thank you very much.

Correa foes fragmented before Ecuador assembly vote

By Patrick Markey

QUITO, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Rolling through Quito in a white campaign truck, ousted Ecuadorean president Lucio Gutierrez chants his party's message into a microphone like a mantra: vote for us against soaring prices, communism and tyranny.

Foes are eager to brand President Rafael Correa a demagogue and investor's nightmare, but that may not keep him from winning a majority on Sunday in a new assembly he says should dissolve Congress and curb the country's traditional elites with a new constitution.

"If Correa wins in a fair vote we will be the first to recognize that," Gutierrez told Reuters as he waved from his open-bed truck. "We will not support projects for people to stay in power, totalitarian projects and communist projects."

The leftist Correa is still riding high in popularity after his reform message propelled him to the presidency last year in a country where many are fed up with traditional parties blamed for instability that has toppled three presidents in a decade.

The U.S.-educated, former economy minister now wants to secure a majority in the 130-member assembly to purge Ecuador's courts and institutions of party influence and push through key bills that have been blocked by Congress.

Opponents have raised the specter of Correa copying his ally Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, who used a similar assembly in 1999 to shore up presidential powers that six years later helped set his OPEC nation on a socialist path.

Correa's talk about a new socialism and foreign debt restructuring has worried investors.

But while opposition parties clashed with Correa over the assembly, they remain splintered, handing his Alianza Pais movement an advantage in securing a 66-seat majority it needs to pass constitutional reforms, analysts said.

"I don't see other national leaders who can challenge him," said Felipe Burbano, a political analyst in Quito. "The opposition has weakened in recent months, ceding ground."

FREE MARKET VS SOCIALISM

Many Ecuadoreans say they are confused over the 3,224 candidates, the flood of proposals and a complex proportional representation system for assigning seating in the national assembly, which is set to debate for six months.

Gutierrez has emerged as a leading opposition figure after his brother Gilmar won a surprising third place in last year's election. Barred from political office due to past campaign irregularities, he is campaigning for his brother, who is his Patriotic Society Party's (PSP's) key assembly candidate.

A former army officer ousted in 2005 by street protests and unruly lawmakers, Gutierrez has a strong following among poor Ecuadoreans who still remember his presidency for its economic subsidies to keep food and fuel prices low.

The PSP could secure around 39 seats, but will work independently of other parties to promote investment and political stability, he said.

Banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa, who lost to Correa in last year's election, has also tried to distance himself from the traditional parties and play up his business experience.

Ecuador's richest man, Noboa handed out cash and wheelchairs to the poor in the presidential vote. But stricter campaign rules have curtailed his donations this year.

"May God pay you, because we're not able to," one of his Prian party candidates said at a rally after Noboa landed in a helicopter on a soccer field in a poor Quito neighborhood.

Guayaquil mayor Jaime Nebot, head of the country's largest party, the Social Christians, could prove a new rallying point for the opposition although he is not himself a candidate.

"There is a vacuum in the opposition," said political analyst Walter Spurrier. "Nebot is the last opposition hope, but while Correa enjoys the support he has and does not make any huge mistakes it will be difficult for the opposition."

PREVIEW: Ecuador's president, Congress face off in election

Digital Journal, 27, September, 2007
Ecuador's chronically weak democracy stands yet again on the brink of a precipice.

On Sunday, some 9 million voters are called upon to elect the members of a constituent assembly in the South American country. And - depending on the outcome of the election - Ecuador will again have either no president or no Congress.

The left-wing populist Rafael Correa, directly elected president a year ago, has repeatedly said that he will only remain in power if his party, Alianza Pais, obtains an absolute majority, or at least 66 of the 130 seats in the constituent assembly.

Given that there are 3,229 candidates for 130 seats, few opinion polls have been made. A September 10 survey by Cedatos-Gallup International, however, estimated that Alianza Pais would only get 41 to 52 seats.

If Correa does attain his objective, the constituent assembly will have as its first task the dissolution of the unicameral Congress. It would then be tasked with drawing up a new constitution to implement "21st Century socialism" in the Andean country.

For Correa, this concept, borrowed from his friend Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, entails the correction of sharp social inequalities between the country's few rich and its empoverished majority.

Based on its oil wealth, Ecuador could be a prosperous country, but 38.5 per cent of its people live in poverty.

People should further be able to remove elected officials, "from the lowliest municipal councillors to the president," between elections, Correa said last week during a visit to Buenos Aires.

"If a guy does not deliver, then he has to go home," he said.

Democracy should not be limited to casting a vote every four years, Correa noted, although he offered no details as to how exactly such a direct democracy is expected to work.

The Ecuadorian Congress naturally resists its possible dissolution. Speaker Jorge Cevallos has denied that the constitutional assembly would have the right to decide over Correa as president. He said that only Congress can decide the office of the president.

Correa does not have representatives of his own party in Congress, because he declined to field candidates for the socially-discredited legislative body in last year's election.

"Parties have no ideology. They are only mafias organized in order to defend the interests of the boss of the day," Correa said in denouncing his rivals.

The Ecuadorian president had no mercy for his political rivals.

He made fun of banana magnate Alvaro Noboa, the richest man in Ecuador, whom Correa beat in the runoff for the presidency and who now seeks a seat in the constituent assembly.

"Alvarito (Noboa) does not bray, because he is lazy as well as stupid," Correa said.

Of former Ecuadorian president Gustavo Noboa (2000-2002), Correa said that he was "totally under the influence" of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

And Lucio Gutierrez - elected president in 2003 and brought down in 2005 - "lied to everyone," according to the current president. Gutierrez "is an accident in history: he does not even have the capacity to be an errand boy."

"The only thing that beats his lack of mental ability is his moral flexibility," Correa said of Gutierrez.

Correa - like Chavez or Bolivian President Evo Morales - talks a lot about "national dignity" and the "recovery of the homeland."

Ecuadorians are demanding a decisive fight against corruption, more jobs with reasonable wages, homes, food and health services.

Ecuador has had 19 constitutions since it became a republic in 1830, and the current one has only been in place for four years.

Beyond sweet words and new constitutions, Correa will be judged according to whether he can fulfil these hopes of the people.

Indeed, dissatisfied Ecuadorians have in the past had little patience with their leaders, and Correa's last three elected predecessors lost power before the end of their terms.

The constituent assembly is scheduled to start working on October 31 in the small coastal town of Montecristi. The assembly will have six months to draw up a text, which could be extended for an additional three months.

The new Ecuadorian constitution is set to be subjected to a referendum before going into force.

Global anti-poverty targets insufficient to meet needs, Ecuador's president says

UN News Centre, 26 September 2007 – The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of global anti-poverty targets adopted by the United Nations in 2000, serve only as a minimum standard and even if achieved would not approach decent living conditions, the President of Ecuador said today.

“To focus exclusively on minimum agendas as suggested by the MDGs may imply a high risk that would please certain consciences but limit the achievement of profound social changes,” Rafael Correa told the Assembly's annual high-level debate.

He called for looking beyond subsistence to “the right of people to enjoy a human life worthy of being lived.”

Referring to a frequently cited statistic about the poor living on $1 a day, he said: “Having a goal of living on one dollar, or one dollar plus one cent, in order to overcome extreme poverty or avoid a premature death, as implied by the MDGs, does not mean leading a decent life.”

Countries should not be content with reaching minimum objectives “although no one can deny that preventing the premature deaths of boys and girls is without a doubt a fundamental goal.”

He proposed instead common objectives based on “social maximums rather than life minimums.” These should include guarantees to artistic creation and leisure, for example, he said.

The President also spoke out on the issue of migration. “There is a paradox: on the one hand, the free flow of goods and capital searching for maximum profits crashes against the punishment people receive on their freedom to travel globally in search of a better life,” he said. “This cannot be tolerated.”

Ecuador, he said, “does not believe in 'illegal' human beings and is actively working to promote changes to shameful international migration laws, bearing in mind obviously that our great responsibility is to build a country that offers guarantees for a worthy life as a means of preventing migration caused by poverty and exclusion.”

Elias Antonio Saca, the President of El Salvador, emphasized the importance of a humane approach to the issue of migration, pointing out that immigrants make important contributions to the economies of host countries. He voiced appreciation for the work of the United Nations on the matter, which he said must be dealt with from a human rights perspective.

He said Central America has achieved a great deal of security but cautioned that threats persist, especially in relation to the activities of gangs. “These antisocial groups do not follow the patterns of traditional criminals,” he said, adding that the threat is extending to the level of organized crime reaching beyond the region.

The treatment of this issue requires action and cooperation from all States, especially in Latin America, he said.

Last Call for Ecuador Assembly

Quito, Sep 26 (Prensa Latina) Ecuadorian parties and political movements close their campaigns Wednesday with acts and gatherings in a last endeavor to attract votes prior to the Constituent Assembly elections on Sunday.

The campaign, started on August 13 and to close about midnight, provided the same opportunities for all groups, and for the first time the State financed media advertising. In addition, social and popular groups were allowed to take part in the electoral race for the Assembly.

The movements will try to attract votes of those still undecided, who account for less than 45 percent of the population.

The ruling Alianza Pais movement will hold its acts in Quito and Guayaquil, with mass meetings presided over by former minister Alberto Acosta, national candidate of that faction.

Meanwhile, the Popular Democratic Movement, the Democratic Leftwing, and Movimiento Uno announced they will close their activities in Quito, while PRIAN and the Social Christian group will do so in Guayaquil.

Key test for Correa in Ecuador assembly election

By Patrick Markey

QUITO, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa faces a sharp test of his young government on Sunday when voters select a national assembly to draft a new constitution he says will wrest power from discredited elites.

Since taking office in January, Correa has made the assembly the centerpiece of his drive against Ecuador's traditional parties. He blames them for a decade of instability and corruption scandals in the poor Andean country.

Blasting lawmakers as a mafia, Correa has bet on winning an assembly majority to allow him to dissolve the unpopular Congress blocking his key bills. But foes vow to stop a leader they say threatens democracy by seeking to amass power.

Victory on Sunday would allow Correa to shore up his legislative control and tighten the state's grip on the central bank, but a weak showing could hobble him and keep South America's No. 5 oil producer snared in institutional crisis.

"It is all or nothing. We have to vote for a definitive victory, give the old parties a beating or lose everything we have achieved," Correa said recently.

Should he succeed, Correa will join his closest left-wing ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in using a popular mandate to bypass lawmakers and rework the constitution.

Bolivian President Evo Morales is struggling with opponents as he takes a similar path.

Correa's Alianza Pais movement hopes for a majority bloc in the 130-member assembly in order to pass constitutional reforms. If it falls short, it will try to build alliances with other parties, but that may force him to moderate his goals.

Two recent polls show Correa remains popular, but they differed on whether he has gained enough momentum for his movement to obtain a simple majority without forging deals.

"With a working majority in place, the government will have a relatively easy means to dissolve Congress, draft a new constitution that guarantees greater state control and push a market negative legislative agenda," said Patrick Esteruelas, a Latin America analyst at Eurasia Group consultants.

OLD AND NEW FOES

A little-known college professor and former economics minister, Correa stepped into the political limelight more than a year ago with an outsider's promise to challenge political elites who have helped oust three presidents since 1997.

The U.S.-educated economist dismisses charges he wants to consolidate power. But his attacks on free-market policies and promises to renegotiate Ecuador's debt have worried Wall Street.

Ecuadoreans must choose from more than 3,000 candidates for the assembly, which will debate a draft of constitutional reforms put together by academics. After months of debate, a final version must be approved in a popular referendum.

But the myriad of candidates, including a masked man calling himself the punisher, a priest and beauty queens, and a complex proportional vote system have some Ecuadoreans lost.

That could allow Correa's candidates to benefit from his popularity, heavy campaigning and social spending in a country where two thirds live in poverty, analysts said.

Still, Correa's drive for the assembly has been marked by clashes with Congress as opposition lawmakers sought to scuttle some of his proposals and preserve their influence.

The opposition remains fragmented, but his rivals include the brother of former President Lucio Gutierrez, who is popular among the poor despite being ousted during protests in 2005, and Alvaro Noboa, the banana mogul who Correa defeated in last year's election.

"We won't leave this country, Mr Correa, just because you want to impose policies on us," roared pro-Noboa candidate Luis Gonzaga campaigning on Tuesday night before a Quito crowd.

Key facts on Ecuador's assembly as country votes

Sept 26 (Reuters) - Ecuadoreans vote on Sunday for members of a national assembly with powers to rewrite the Andean country's constitution.

Left-wing President Rafael Correa has promised to use the assembly to curb the influence of traditional political parties and says if his party wins a majority he will dissolve Congress, which has blocked some of his key proposals.

Here are some details about the assembly:

* A former economy minister, Correa was elected last year promising to challenge the political elite who many Ecuadoreans blame for the instability that has toppled three presidents in the last decade. Opponents say Correa wants to consolidate his presidential power.

* Ecuadoreans will choose the assembly's 130 members from more than 3,000 candidates and it will have broad powers to write a new constitution. It is expected to start working on Oct. 31 and will sit for six months with a possible 60-day extension.

* All reforms will need support from a simple majority of assembly members, or at least 66 votes. A final draft of the new constitution must be approved in a referendum.

* Polls show Correa's Alianza Pais will get the most seats but it is unclear whether it will win a simple majority.

* The assembly seats will be decided by a complex system of proportional representation. One hundred members of the assembly will be elected by province and voters will pick 24 others from a national list. The remaining six will be elected by more than 140,000 registered voters living abroad.

* A draft of constitutional reforms has been drawn up by a group of academics. Among Correa's proposals are measures to reduce the influence of political parties on key institutions such as the courts, curbing central bank autonomy and creating a two-chamber legislature.

Correa to win around 50 seats in Ecuador vote-poll

(Ecuadorean law prohibits the dissemination of polls in the 20 days prior to the assembly election. This article is for publication outside of Ecuador)

QUITO, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa's Alianza Pais movement should win around 50 seats in Sunday's election for a 130-member assembly, but he will need to form alliances to pass constitutional reforms, a local pollster said on Wednesday.

Cedatos-Gallup chief pollster Polibio Cordova told Reuters the voting intention for Correa's party was stable compared to the previous poll taken earlier this month.

"The government party has the highest chance of forming a simple majority through alliances," Cordova said.

The national assembly will be charged with drafting a new constitution and Correa, a leftist former economy minister, needs a simple majority of 66 seats to pass reforms he says will curb the influence of traditional political parties.

The Cedatos results vary from local pollster Informe Confidencial, which said earlier this week Correa's party could win a simple majority or 66 seats even without alliances and that his popularity remained stable at 75 percent.

Correa's opponents said he wants to use the assembly to consolidate his presidential powers and control key state institutions.

Cedatos' Cordova said 38 percent of voters are still undecided. The poll interviewed 3,992 people and had a margin of error of five percentage points.

Ascendant Copper affirms government support for its Junin copper/molybdenum project in Ecuador

DENVER, Sept. 25 /CNW via TradingMarkets.com/ -
Ascendant Copper Corporation ("Ascendant") or ("the Company") confirms that today the Minister of Mines and Petroleum of Ecuador, Mr. Galo Chiriboga, held a press conference in Quito in which he addressed the general mining situation in Ecuador and made specific reference to Ascendant's Junin mining concessions located in northern Ecuador. The Company has since spoken directly with the Minister's advisors to ask for clarification of his remarks and is confident that the Minister continues to support a productive solution for the advancement of the Junin project.

Mr. Chiriboga repeated an earlier statement, reported by Ascendant in December 2006, that the Company should not conduct mining-related activities on Junin until such time as an Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") study for the conducting of drilling is completed and approved by the government.

To facilitate final preparation of the EIA, the Company signed an agreement with the government in March 2007 to provide Ascendant free access to the Junin concessions so that certain on-ground studies, for the collection of baseline studies to support proposed exploration, may be conducted. Through subsequent meetings and communications with the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, the specifics of the amount and type of work that the Company can perform in the area until such time as the EIA is approved were defined. A commission of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has recently been to the Junin concession area and confirmed that the Company is in compliance with these agreements.

Included in Minister Chiriboga's comments was the implicit invitation for the Company to continue negotiations with the local communities and authorities to advance the Junin project. Ascendant has always welcomed such discussion and believes that the existing positive attitude of the communities in the direct area of influence of the Junin project and the awakening interest in mining in Ecuador have created a positive environment in which to promote sustainable development for the Intag valley through the advancement of rational mineral exploration and mining.

Finally, it has been reported that Minister Chiriboga said that violations of the Mining Law could lead to revocation of mining concessions. Mr. Chiriboga mentioned a particular Article of the Mining Law which applies to mining activities conducted within urban areas. This Article of the Law does not apply to the Junin project. According to Mr. Davis, the Company's CEO and President, "We know of no reason why the concessions of Junin would be in any jeopardy. We routinely evaluate the status of all of our concessions in Ecuador and firmly believe that we are in compliance across the board. Indeed, no one in the government has contacted us to suggest that Ascendant is other than in full compliance with the Law."

Mr. Davis continued, "The new government continues to support mining in the country, including Minister Chiriboga's public affirmation of this principle last week at a mining conference in Quito. This position was further amplified during President Correa's visit last week to the U.S., during which he indicated that mining will play a key and important role in providing sustainable development of and employment in the country."

Ecuador Will Pay Debt While It Has Funds, Correa Says

By Andrew Barden and Lester Pimentel

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said the South American country will pay its debts this year and next and will continue to do so as long as it has the funds.

``There is no financing problem this year and there won't be a financing problem next year,'' Correa, 44, said in a speech at the Council of the Americas in New York.

Correa has threatened to halt payments on the nation's $10 billion foreign debt as recently as December to free up funds for social spending. He reiterated today the government will prioritize social needs over debt and will not pay ``illegitimate debt.'' The president appointed a debt commission earlier this year to audit the country's debt.

Ecuador is also studying a debt restructuring to lower interest payments, Correa said without providing details. The country may buy back more expensive debt and sell bonds to regional lenders or Venezuela, Correa said. Ecuador's benchmark dollar bonds pay a 10 percent interest rate and mature in 2030.

``Surely we can find much cheaper financing,'' Correa said.

The yield on the securities today fell 5 basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 11.07 percent, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. The bond's price, which moves inversely to the yield, rose 0.40 cent on the dollar to 91.15.

Correa, Ecuador's eighth president in 10 years, won a landslide victory on Nov. 26 after promising to rewrite the constitution and boost spending on the poor. The president's plan to call a constituent assembly won the support of 82 percent of voters in April in a national referendum.

`Grand Fallacy'

``We've managed to give our people their faith back,'' Correa said.

Correa questioned today the need for an independent central bank and for foreign currency reserves. In May, central bank General Manager Mauricio Pareja resigned after clashing with Correa over the bank's autonomy. Ecuador adopted the dollar as its currency in 2000. Correa said today that Ecuador won't abandon dollarization.

``Why does a central bank need to be independent? It is a grand fallacy of the 1990s,'' Correa said. ``Why do we need international reserves for a country without a currency?''

Correa said he wants to diversify Ecuador's economy to reduce its dependence on oil. In 2006, 77 percent of Ecuador's exports to the U.S. were oil-related, according to Credit Suisse.

``The plan to diversify the economy is fundamental,'' Correa said.

GUTSY ECUADOR PROPOSES TO PUT A LID ON OIL.

September 25, 2007 – Green Energy News, Vol.12 No. 27

Little countries can find the strength to do big things that big countries fear to do.

For the good of itself, for the good of the planet, the South American country of Ecuador has proposed to keep the lid on nearly one billion barrels of oil under its Yasuni National Park.

Despite the fact that Ecuador depends on one-third of its budget from oil exports, there will be no oil extraction, no oil exploration from the ITT oil field under Yasuni. Under the YasunÌ-ITT Initiative the country will forgo the stream of revenues the oil would provide. Ecuador will be the first country in the world to deliberately leave significant oil reserves underground - and those revenues - for the betterment of the planet while seeking to build a sustainable green economy.

There is of course mention of compensation by other nations for its efforts to keep potential greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. By leaving the oil underground Ecuador would, in effect, be sequestering the equivalent of 436 million tons of carbon dioxide.

To date global carbon dioxide emissions from Ecuador amount to less than a half-percent of the existing rise in emissions from pre-industrial levels. Highly industrialized countries have contributed over fifty percent of the atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions.

Ecuador thinks those industrialized countries should step forward, show some strength, and assume stronger targets for greenhouse gas reductions and greater commitments of support to initiatives that combat additional increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.

Yasuni National Park is home to at least two indigenous tribes that live in voluntary isolation in one of the most biodiverse places on earth. It is a unique and treasured place that Ecuador wants to leave just as it is.

Compare Yasuni with another treasured place, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), while comparing the attitudes of the Ecuadorian government and the US toward oil.

A few votes in Washington could lead to drilling in ANWR even though the eventual greenhouse gas emissions will contribute to the flooding of some of the nation’s own cities. Leadership in Quito would rather leave Yasuni’s oil in the ground, continue to build its nation with less dependence on oil and do its part to keep other nations’ cities from being inundated by rising oceans.

Ecuador’s long term vision is that the YasunÌ-ITT Initiative, which could include Ecuador accepting fair compensation for its efforts, will underwrite the implementation of its National Development Plan.

Under that Plan the nation will prioritize the use of renewable energy, build efficient transportation systems, attempt to eradicate poverty and provide universal access to quality healthcare and education. The Plan also includes promotion of ecotourism and sustainable development for Ecuador’s Amazonian region. Ecuador is also the home of the Galapagos Islands.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa presented the Yasuni-ITT Initiative at a United Nations meeting of world leaders on global climate change.

Links:

National Government of Ecuador (Spanish)
http://www.presidencia.gov.ec

Yasuni National Park
http://www.ecuador-travel.net/biodiversity.parks.yasuni.htm

Ecuador Assembly Campaign Heats Up

Quito, Sep 25 (Prensa Latina) With less than a week before Sunday's election, and 48 hours before the campaign ends for the 130 seats in the Constituent Assembly, Ecuadorian movements and political parties are trying hard to be recognized by the voters.

Although President Correa's political movement, Alianza Pais, leads the polls, between 34 and 45 percent of the nine million voters are undecided, so with flags and colored signs, insignias, and the groups' numbers, candidates are trying hard to attract attention.

Cars bear photographs of candidates, while signs and pamphlets abound in the cities, and organizations are putting final details on the demonstrations they will hold to end the campaign.

The goal is for people to identify the color with the group; hence banners with the color of the political tendency fly from many buildings and large houses.

Ecuador Leader Has No Interest in Power

NEW YORK (AP) — Ecuador's leftist president said he would not follow the lead of his close Venezuelan ally Hugo Chavez and seek to abolish limits on his re-election, vowing he had no interest in perpetuating himself in power as part of his sweeping constitutional reforms.

Ecuadoreans are voting Sunday for a 130-member special assembly that will rewrite the constitution to reduce the power of political parties President Rafael Correa blames for the Andean country's problem. He has said the assembly should have the power to dissolve congress and other elected officials.

The process mirrors the constitutional overhaul pushed through eight years ago by Chavez. Critics say both presidents are part of a wave of Latin American leaders who have tapped into frustration among the poor to dismantle democratic systems and amass dictatorial powers.

Chavez recently proposed another set of constitutional changes that would allow him to be re-elected indefinitely.

But in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, Correa vowed he had no plans to follow suit, impatiently shrugging off suggestions that his own reforms are inspired by Chavez. Ecuador's new constitution, Correa said, should allow two consecutive four-year terms, a change from the current system that allows only one.

"Because the opposition is so mediocre, they have focused ... on accusing Correa of seeking indefinite re-election and trying to be dictator for life," Correa said in New York ahead of the U.N. General Assembly meeting. "These elections and the process for the constituent assembly is the most democratic process that Ecuador has had in its entire history."

Correa, who took office in January, proclaims himself part of a new generation of Latin American leaders steering their countries away from U.S.-prescribed capitalism.

But he does not describe his policies in the same grandiose terms as Chavez, who says he is leading a "revolution" for Venezuela's poor and following in the footsteps of South American liberator Simon Bolivar. Correa is an avowed socialist, but promises Ecuador's constitution would not "impose any kind of ideology."

Envisioning two consecutive terms in power is hugely optimistic in a country whose last three elected presidents failed to make it through one. But Correa, 44, has remained intensely popular since taking office in January, helped by high crude prices that have kept the oil-based economy stable. In an April referendum, 82 percent of voters approved the need for the constituent assembly.

Like Chavez, Correa's policies have tested relations with Washington. He has said his government will not renew an agreement allowing the U.S. military to use an Ecuadorean air base for anti-drug surveillance flights when it expires in 2009. He has also refused to renew a bilateral investment protection agreement with the U.S.

Yet there has been little rhetorical vitriol between the two countries. While the Bush administration has called Chavez a threat to democracy, it has not directed such accusations against Correa. The top U.S. diplomat for the Americas, Thomas Shannon, has even voiced support for political reform in Ecuador, saying the country "spoke with a firm voice" in the April vote.

In the interview, Correa denounced the U.S. surveillance flights as a violation of Ecuador's sovereignty. He insisted it would be "suicidal" for Ecuador to follow neighboring Peru and Colombia into a free trade agreement with the U.S.

But he displayed little of Chavez's anti-imperialist bombast.

An economist with a doctorate from the University of Illinois, Correa tried to cast his concerns in rational terms, saying Ecuador's industries simply could not compete against an onslaught of U.S. imports, particularly subsidized ones. He did suggest a free trade pact might some day be possible — "when we are ready."

"If we had the level of productivity of the United States, we also would be going around to all our neighbors saying, 'open up, let's compete!' he said.

Correa and Chavez have signed several deals for Venezuela to invest in Ecuador's oil industry, which has struggled to keep up production.

Correa described Chavez as a friend and Venezuela's help as vital. But he has not jumped to join all of Chavez's schemes for Latin American integration.

He said he is somewhat mystified by the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, a pact Chavez has championed as an alternative to free trade. Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua have signed on, along with far-off Iran as an observer.

"The ALBA is very ... ambiguous. We don't even understand it," he said, referring to the pact by its Spanish acronym.