Ecuador: CONAIE DENOUNCES SEIZURE OF THE WIFE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CONAIE

Via Ukhamawa noticias/23 February 2008

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador CONAIE announces its objection, before the country, public opinion, international agencies, and the media, to the abduction, and psychological and verbal assault committed against Compañera Miriam Cisneros 28 years, spouse of President Marlon Santi.

While Compañera Miriam was prepapring to travel to Puyo, she was intercepted by two men in civilian clothes at approximately 4:30 pm, Friday 22 Febryuary, 2008, and immediately carried in a van heading south of Quito, where she was repeatedly interrogated with 5 questions:

1 .- Who are the advisers to the CONAIE?
2 .- What is President Marlo Santi's agenda?
3 .- What are the plans of the CONAIE against the government of Rafael Correa?
4 .- Who are the advisers of the CONFENAIE? (Confederation of the Amazon Nationalities of Ecuador. The Amazonian regional organisation of CONAIE)
5 .- Who were the women who were leading the march against the FTA?

When they saw that she would not respond to their questions, they took her several times to the front of the offices of the MICC ("Indigenous and Peasant Movement of Cotopaxi", a subsidiary organisation of the CONAIE), intent on subtle psychological manipulation, while continuing the brutal physical assault, and a series of death threats if she publicised the fact.

In late hours of the night in Shell parish and in the Mera Control near the town of Puyo, the hijackers, after crippling and torturing the victim with cold water, stopped in this area and abandoned the victim almost unconscious, claiming to be carrying out the orders of the government of Rafael Correa. They quickly ran away.

The unconscious body was transferred to a health care facility in Puyo, where Marlon Santí went immediately from Lago Agrio and received a telephone call in which an unknown person threatened him with death if he made any allegation of that fact.

The CONAIE confirms its position to defend every form of life, and flatly rejects any kind of violation of human rights. It calls upon national and international society to be aware of such facts, and demands the immediate investigation of the case, as well as their authors.

Ecuador's Correa: Probe shows illegitimate debt

QUITO (Reuters) Feb 23, 2008 - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Saturday said an ongoing government probe into the country's foreign debt has unveiled "illegitimate" credits that he has vowed not to repay.

Correa, a leftist former economy minister, has pledged to stop payments of "illegitimate" debt or credits which he said were acquired under unfair terms by past corrupt administrations and that forced Ecuador to lower social spending.

But the U.S.-trained economist had until recently lowered his tone and refrained from halting debt payments. Last year he created a special commission of government officials and international experts to investigate any illegalities in foreign credits.

"Their (commission) findings are scandalous... we are not going to pay some of this illegitimate debt," Correa said during his weekly radio address. "We are advancing in the investigation."

Correa did not say what part of the debt is illegitimate or when the commission would finish its probe. But he added the investigation showed the country's global bonds resulted from an earlier renegotiation of its Brady bonds that only protected the interests of bond-holders.

The Brady bonds were U.S.-backed paper created to help Latin American countries out of a debt crisis in the 1980s.

"They fixed everything for creditors not to lose any money and created the global bonds to replace the Brady bonds," said Correa in reference to the country's debt restructure after it defaulted on its credits in 1999.

Global bonds that are due in 2012, 2015 and 2030 amount to around $3.8 billion, according to the Finance Ministry data.

Finance Minister Fausto Ortiz earlier this week told Reuters the government has no plans restructure its foreign debt this year. Wall Street analyst have said Correa is unlikely fulfill his threats to default on some debt.

Ecuador-Bolivia: Conspiring oligarchies

BY NIDIA DIAZ —Special for Granma International— February 18, 2008

• LATIN American right-wing forces are not happy at the failure of their maneuvers against the popular nationalist and revolutionary processes unfolding in the region with the support of the vast majority of the electorate, and which have swept them off the political stage.

First it was Venezuela, where the Bolivarian Revolution has been, and is, the target of the most vicious campaigns to discredit its efforts, including sabotage of its oil industry, the kidnapping of Chávez and multiple plots to assassinate him, the fascist 47-hour coup and innumerable actions that for more than 10 years now simply corroborate the bankruptcy of the opposition within the country, despite the extensive support that it receives from the United States.

The opposition, which is none other than the displaced oligarchy, can feel the earth moving under its feet, with the loss of its privileges spreading irreversibly throughout the region

It is no accident that a number of oppositions are beginning to design a common strategy, something like an international terror blanco (white terror) organization, establishing alliances – always with White House money – to obstruct and subvert internal order with the goal of regaining power in countries whose governments are not in tune with the so-called Washington consensus.

Bolivia and Ecuador have not escaped these machinations. The new year has barely begun, with Evo Morales and Rafael Correa starting the second and third years of their terms, respectively, and confrontations with the most violent sectors of the national oligarchies, entrenched in separatist positions, have increased.

In Ecuador, for example, opposition representatives have warned that the political climate may heat up, even more so than in Bolivia. Well aware of the strategy being employed by governors of the so-called eastern Media Luna departments, the Ecuadorian right wing has allied itself with them in the common cause, particularly at this time, of derailing the Constituent Assemblies established in both countries with the goal of developing new constitutions in which the principles of equity, sovereignty, social inclusion and the recuperation of natural resources will be explicitly established.

Important in this context is that leaders in both countries have publicly denounced these attempts, getting in ahead of the media powers that are playing their part in this dirty war in which separatism will be one of the pieces in play, in order to checkmate those processes, that raise territorial unity as one of the pillars of the national strategy.

In the case of Bolivia, much has been said about the consolidation of the right wing racist oligarchy of the so-called eastern Media Luna

—including the departments of Santa Cruz, Panda, Tarija and Benin, plus Chuquisaca—which has given the Movement Toward Socialism government no respite with its secessionist demands and other contrivances looking to undermine the success of the Constituent Assembly and, of course, that of the new constitution that would re-found the country.

The Bolivian right wing has resorted to violence and racism as weapons against the process led by President Evo Morales, even reaching the point, given the paucity of its ideas, of attacking Assembly members and those sympathizers of the government’s revolutionary project who, in Santa Cruz for example, are simply in the streets.

By raising the banners of departmental autonomy, the opposition is attempting to pressure the government into renouncing its principles and promises to the people and accepting an autonomy which, beyond just words, is nothing else but leaving control of natural resources and jurisdiction over land so as to obstruct agrarian reform in the hands of the oligarchy and in those of the parties representing them.

The current players in this strategy are the opposition governors who a few weeks ago agreed to sit down and talk in the Quemado Presidential Palace, in the face of Morales’ decision to call for a recall referendum of the presidency and the governors’ positions if the political situation in the country did not improve.

For his part, President Rafael Correa in Ecuador, who has just completed the first year of his term, denounced the conspiracy of the Guayaquil right wing opposition with its counterpart in Santa Cruz. He pointed out the similarities between the two groups, both being "opulently rich, semi-ignorant and elitist."

The issue of department autonomy, which is now emerging in Guayaquil as well, has become a veritable Trojan horse to erode and destroy the revolutionary work that, despite the obstacles, is not being halted in Bolivia or in Ecuador.

What this issue is about is preventing the social, political and economic transformations both countries need as a foundation for the fair and equitable use of resources for the good of the people, which, obviously, lacerates the interests of the minority national oligarchies and the discredited party machine; individuals, moreover, who are angry because, in their respective countries, the era of servility and dependence on foreign interests has been brought to an end.

In the case of Ecuador, it is Social-Christian Jaime Nebot, mayor of Guayaquil, who is leading the opposition and receiving multi-million dollar support from Washington to subvert internal order within the country.

Just days ago, the Ecuadorian minister of the interior presented a video revealing a million-dollar blackmail scheme directed towards members of the Constituent Assembly, pressuring them to vote against the new constitutional project and obstruct the process until the end.

Gabriel Rivera, one of the Allianza País assembly members, revealed that he had been contacted and offered one million dollars to join the "zapa" mission and a further $250,000 for every other legislator he recruited. There are indications that point to the participation of former president Lucio Gutiérrez in the obstructionist maneuver.

As is to be expected, the opposition front in Nebot is made up of bankers, cattle ranchers, business operators, displaced politicians who do not find convenient proposed reforms that would eliminate tax evasion, much less state assumption of control over concessions on natural resources granted by neoliberal governments to the transnationals, whose profits which never remained within the country to promote development. Nor do they like measures such as those of price controls to deter speculation, not to mention their rejection of the use of state funds for works of a social nature.

The fact is that they have much to lose with an honest administration willing to do whatever is necessary to bring equity to society and eliminate the enormous social debt that has accumulated within the country.

The days to come will witness an increase in violent activity by the right wing elitist opposition against the revolutionary processes in Bolivia and Ecuador. These maneuvers will increase in direct proportion to the losses of their ancestral privileges. •

First wind turbines on Galapagos Islands

Public release date: 18-Feb-2008
From EurekAlert

Contact: Terry Collins
terrycollins@rogers.com
416-538-8712
e8

First wind turbines on Galapagos Islands will halve diesel imports, reduce risk of future oil spills

Power utilities from US, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia team on project to help protect 'Mona Lisa' of biodiversity

Galapagos Petrel Click here for more information.

In January 2001, the world held its breath when the tanker Jessica, loaded with 150,000 gallons of fuel, struck a reef and began breaking up in the heart of one of the most precious, famous and fragile ecosystems on earth – the Galapagos Islands.

At risk were vast numbers of unique species of flora and fauna renowned through studies by Charles Darwin that contributed to his landmark theory of evolution by natural selection.

While scores of wildlife required cleaning by Galapagos National Park Service staff and volunteers, the wind and currents stepped in to narrowly avert an environmental catastrophe. Yet the sight of thousands of gallons of oil pouring into the ocean off the Galapagos island of San Cristobal triggered a determined international initiative to mitigate risks of future spills by dramatically reducing the islands’ dependence on diesel fuel to generate electricity.

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa today launched his country’s programme to rid the use of fossil fuels on the Galapagos by 2015, an initiative led by the San Cristobal Wind Project – three giant wind turbines that will halve the island’s diesel fuel imports and pave the way for further renewable energy development elsewhere in the archipelago.

Turbines installed by the San Cristobal Wind Project, an international partnership between the government of Ecuador, the UN Development Program and nine of the world’s largest electricity companies (known as the e8), started supplying power on the islands last October. The system will meet 60 to 80% of electrical demand during the windy months of October, November and December.

Umbrella program for archipelago

The San Cristobal Wind Project is the first stage of an umbrella program supported by Equador and UNDP that will eventually bring renewable electricity – hybrid wind-diesel with some photovoltaic (solar) – to the 30,000 residents of the Galapagos archipelago’s five inhabited islands.

The San Cristobal project’s primary objectives:

• Reduce the risk of oil spills associated with the transport and delivery of fuel to the island;

• Reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels;

• Contribute to the protection of the region’s unique biodiversity.

On a larger scale, the project is an example of multilateral collaboration for climate change mitigation and a showcase for the global promotion of small-scale renewable energy power generation and distribution systems in remote areas.

Wind turbines on Galapagos Islands Click here for more information.

While replacing noisy, polluting diesel generators with clean, renewable wind power would seem a natural development for the world’s most famous ecological site, the journey from feasibility study to construction and completion was anything but straightforward.

Lead company in the project’s development, funding and implementation was American Electric Power, which provided about half of the $10.8 million funding. Some $3.2 million was provided by Ecuador and $1 million from the United Nations Foundation, coupled with contributions from the UNDP and other sources. A trust has been established to facilitate the system’s ongoing training, maintenance and operation, and eventual removal.

“From day one, the overriding concern was the need to protect this invaluable place and its incredible biodiversity,” says Michael G. Morris, CEO of AEP. “The e8 team approached this work with a level of caution akin to the curators responsible for da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Michelangelo’s David.”

AEP project team leader Paul Loeffelman says the lengthy feasibility study undertaken to address institutional, financial and environmental questions identified when e8 accepted the project was primarily a result of extensive monitoring and studies of the Galapagos Petrel that nests on the island.

Protecting the Petrel

One of the six endemic marine birds of the Galapagos Archipelago, the long-winged Galapagos Petrel has been declared “critically endangered” by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

The petrel nests in burrows where its eggs and chicks are preyed upon by rats and cats, non-native species first introduced to the islands via pirate and other ships. Petrel nesting areas are located in the highlands of several islands, in sites with dense vegetation and soil. In recent decades, the petrel population has been seriously impacted by agricultural expansion and the associated increase in predators and other invasive species that crowd out plants supporting the petrel, particularly the endangered endemic plant Miconia.

Early in the extensive environmental investigation, the e8 project team found that the site first proposed for the turbines, San Joaquin, had active petrel nests as well as Miconia. The turbine site was changed to the hill known as El Tropezón, an agricultural area with no petrel nests and few Miconia plants.

But the effort to protect the petrel did not end there. Because petrels spend the daylight hours fishing at sea and return to the island at night, little was known about their flight paths. The e8 team undertook studies to find out if the petrel flew near the proposed wind project site.

A Bird Review Committee, formed to assess the field testing results, reported that only a few petrels had been observed flying over the project site during the five month study. It was also believed that the petrels stayed close to the ground when flying over hills such as El Tropezón, well below the sweep of the turbines’ blades.

The committee concluded that although the turbines presented no significant threat to the petrel, some of the birds were being killed when they flew into transmission lines.

As a result, the project buried the transmission line near El Tropezón hill, chose turbine towers with no tension wires and minimized fencing – all to minimize potentially lethal obstructions in the petrels’ flight path.

The EMP also called for a rat control program and a long-term study of petrel flight patterns to determine whether the turbines can operate at night during the nesting season without negative impacts.

Project registered under Kyoto’s Clean Development Mechanism

The San Cristobal Wind Project has been registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project under the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM is designed to help developing countries in achieving sustainable development while supporting industrialized countries in achieving compliance with their greenhouse gas reduction commitments.

The project will now receive Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits for the diesel electricity generation effectively replaced by the wind turbines.

According to project manager Luis Vintimilla of EOLICSA, the company established to operate the project, it is not possible to replace all diesel generation capacity with wind power.

“That would be ideal, but there is not enough wind year round,” he said. “In particular, during four months of the year with unfavorable wind conditions, during certain hours on certain days, it will be necessary to continue using diesel generated electricity. However, it is recommended that future work be done on projects to substitute the diesel currently used with a more environmentally friendly fuel.”

Project partners will formally dedicate the project at a celebration in the Galapagos March 18.

###

About the e8

The e8 is a non-profit international organization, composed of nine leading electricity companies from G8 countries, which promotes sustainable energy development through electricity sector projects and human capacity building activities in developing nations worldwide.

The e8’s mission is: “To play an active role in global electricity issues and to promote sustainable development.” This diverse international group offers electricity sector expertise and practical competency in electricity generation, transmission and distribution. With field proven expertise in the planning, management, design, operation and maintenance of energy facilities, member companies together provide an all-encompassing scope of the global electricity industry to assist developing countries.

Member companies of the e8:

• American Electric Power (USA)

• Electricite de France (France)

• ENEL S.p.a (Italy)

• Hydro-Quebec (Canada)

• Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc (Japan)

• Ontario Power Generation (Canada)

• RAO-UES of Russia (Russia)

• RWE AG (Germany) and

• Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc (Japan)

Project partners

ELECGALAPAGOS

Empresa Electrica Provincial Galapagos S.A. is the public owned Galapagos Electricity Utility, created in 1998. The company generates, distributes and commercializes electricity in the Galapagos Archipelago. Main owner of Elecgalapagos is the governemental Fondo de Solidaridad, in partnership with the Galapagos Provincial Council and local Municipalities. With the support of UNDP and the Ecuadorian Government, the company is implementing a program to replace the existing diesel power plants with renewable sources. (www.elecgalapagos.com.ec)

THE UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION

The UN Foundation was created in 1998 with businessman and philanthropist Ted Turner's historic $1 billion gift to support United Nations' causes. The UN Foundation promotes a more peaceful, prosperous, and just world through the support of the UN. Through its grant making and by building new and innovative public-private partnerships, the UN Foundation acts to meet the most pressing health, humanitarian, socioeconomic, and environmental challenges of the 21st century. (www.unfoundation.org)

UNDP

UNDP is the UN's global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners. (www.undp.org)

Ecuador’s Opposition is on the Move

11 Feb 2008
by Daniel Denvir
From news.nacla.org

Well-pressed white shirts covered the limbs of a few hundred bodies at the opposition march against Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa’s administration. I happened upon this march last month in north Quito’s Parque Carolina. The January 24 march was “in solidarity” with a much larger march of 130,000 in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, in support of that city’s Social Christian Party (PSC) mayor, Jaime Nebot. The Guayaquil mayor is quickly becoming the fractured opposition’s most likely national leader.

Marchers in blue and white, the colors of the Guayaquil flag. (Credit: Santiago Serrano, www.visumphoto.com)

Along with most Ecuadorian television and print media—controlled by wealthy conservatives—the opposition attacks President Rafael Correa for being a “dictator” and a “Communist.” At the moment, however, the elite are mainly upset about a new law that for the first time makes tax evasion more difficult and taxes inheritances. They are also irritated by Correa’s moves to increase state control over oil and mining operations, his confrontations with multilateral lenders and increased economic aid for the poor.

The march comes almost a year after voters overwhelmingly approved Correa’s proposal to convene an assembly charged with writing a new, more progressive, constitution. The assembly is scheduled to put the new constitution up for a referendum this August. The opposition’s biggest challenges this year will be trying to defeat the constitution and an effort to bolster their brand of “autonomy” for the provinces under their control.

Ecuador’s opposition, remnants of the collapsed political parties governing Ecuador since the 1979 transition to civilian rule, is in disarray, but is desperately trying to regroup. It is unclear whether the next year of Correa’s administration will offer opportunities for the mishmash of millionaires and right-wing populists to reorganize. Nebot called for the march in an effort to build a mounting opposition movement to Correa’s left-leaning government.

Correa’s approval ratings, at 57%, are remarkable for an Ecuadorian president—despite a 7% drop since December. This is a country where completing an entire year in office is a major accomplishment: Ecuador has had nine presidents since 1996, none of them completing a full term in office. Guayaquil political analyst William Sánchez Aveiga points out that “never before has a president maintained majority support for such a long time.”

In the 2006 presidential elections, Correa rode this wave of discontent and moved, in a short time, from relative obscurity to a decisive victory over Ecaudor’s richest man, banana magnate Alvaro Noboa. The businessman was the candidate of the neoliberal and religious conservative Institutional Renewal Party of National Action (PRIAN).

The Opposition Regroups?

The opposition is flummoxed. Since independence from the Spanish, competing elites from Quito and Guayaquil have always been able to buy off, trick, or repress the Ecuadorian people while spending most of their time enmeshed in factional power-grabs.

With Correa’s surprise victory and the initiation of a nationalist and anti-neoliberal Constituent Assembly, the government opposition is fragmented among various interests, regional and otherwise. Much of it is coalescing around Guayaquil mayor Nebot, who has distanced himself from the right-wing PSC, portraying himself publicly as an everyman standing up to a repressive central government.

Quito marchers demonstrated in solidarity with the Guayaquil protests. (Credit: Santiago Serrano, www.visumphoto.com)

It is not clear if this geographically based message will resonate beyond Guayaquil, although T-shirts at Quito’s “solidarity march” called for Guayaquil independiente (independent Guayaquil). Historically, highland and coastal elites have clashed over political and economic control of the nation. Elites in the mountains are a traditional landowning aristocracy, their wealth earned from the labor of poor (and in the past near-enslaved) indigenous labor. Coastal elites have made their money from export-oriented agriculture (in the past cacao, now bananas) and foreign trade. It remains to be seen the extent to which highland elites will follow the lead of the coastal populists.

Guayaquil has a long and peculiar history of right-wing populism and clientelism. As Sánchez notes, “Since its beginning, the city has been full of merchants descended from European families that join together in associations. They have formed an elite with major political influence. This elite has taken on populist tones since more than 20 years ago, with the rise of figures like [former president] León Febres Cordero and later Jaime Nebot.”

For example, Guayaquil has a private police force called the Guayaquil Citizen Security Corporation that operates independently of the national police and answers directly to the mayor and his PSC allies. It was created in 2005, with strong support from local business interests, after Nebot failed to win direct control of National Police operating in Guayaquil. This would be akin to the mayor of Boston asking for direct control of all FBI agents operating in his city. This is a prime example of the direct coincidence of Guayaquil-based commercial interests and the elite movement for regional “autonomy.”

Until recently, the private security force received $3 million a year from the federal government. Correa cut the funding, arguing that an unaccountable private security force posed a danger to public safety and democracy. A few weeks ago, Nebot defiantly announced that the Guayaquil police would continue working with the Corporation.

Sánchez says that most of Nebot’s supporters are from the middle and upper classes. But well-targeted public works projects and other clientelist schemes centered on neighborhood leaders has won him a following among poor Guayaquileños. Clientelism combined with reported management pressure on workers in both the public and private sector contributed to the large turnout at the January march.

Visiting Bolivian intellectual Elizabeth Peredo noted that the opposition demonstrations made her “feel right at home.” Like the Bolivian elites of the gas-rich eastern provinces, Ecuadorian opposition leaders are pushing for what they call “regional autonomy,” particularly for the coastal province of Guayas.

Unlike the autonomy demanded by indigenous peoples and other marginalized groups, the growing elite autonomy movement in Latin America is an effort to maintain the privatization of national wealth and resources in the face of social movements demanding—and governments promising—a just redistribution of land and income.

René Báez, an economics professor at Quito’s Catholic University, argues that the movement for autonomy arose in 1999 with the central government’s weak response to the financial crisis that brought down Ecuador’s banks. The government bailed out the bankers themselves and the economy was dollarized, while the country hemorrhaged capital. Provincial governments—especially in Guayas—took advantage of the situation to argue that federal-level governance was fraught with incompetence and that local government was more capable and efficient.

Opposition marcher in Quito. (Credit: Santiago Serrano, www.visumphoto.com)

The focus of the opposition’s march was the recently passed Ley de Equidad Tributaria (Tax Equity Law). The legislation aims to curb widespread tax evasion, as well as tax inheritances and luxury items, and control capital flight. The main complaint of Nelson Maldonado, a Quito doctor, radio host, and opposition leader that I saw at the march, is the so-called centralization of the government and “robbing of inheritances.”

The anti-government march is a sign that the opposition is trying to regroup and unite in the run-up to the referendum vote on the constitution. Sánchez argues the usually fractious traditional parties “have, on this occasion, as they have done before when they have seen their interests threatened, united to try to force their position and defend their mutual interests.”

A “Citizens’ Revolution”

The week before the opposition march, over 100,000 people celebrated Correa’s first year in power in the streets of Guayaquil. Correa’s victory was not only centered on social and economic justice issues, but also on a commitment to transform the country’s political process and culture. Correa’s government has promised a “citizens’ revolution.”

Citing the source of Correa’s rise to power, political scientist Catherine Conaghan says, “If there is any national political consensus, it is the widely held belief that a corrupt, self-interested political class has perverted democratic institutions and that status quo politics will no longer suffice.” Indeed, former director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Michel Camdessus once baldly stated Ecuador suffered from “an incestuous relation between bankers, political-financial pressure groups and corrupt government officials.”

Correa, an economics professor turned politician, wrote his PhD at the University of Illinois at Urbana on the havoc wreaked by free market orthodoxy in Latin America. He made a name for himself as an opponent of neoliberal free-market policies when his predecessor, President Alfredo Palacio named him Economy Minister in 2005. He stayed around four months, just long enough to raise his profile but not so long as to become associated with Palacio’s ineffective administration.

(Credit: Santiago Serrano, www.visumphoto.com)

His government has focused its efforts on the writing of the country’s new constitution—Ecuador’s 20th since independence. But Correa’s supporters hope that this one will be different. The 1998 constitution written in the wake of President Abdalá Bucaram’s overthrow is in many ways socially progressive but staunchly neoliberal in its economic strictures. Government supporters say the new constitution being written will transform Ecuador’s decrepit political system and address the country’s long-standing social and economic inequalities.

So far, it is hard to say if they have been successful. The left is disappointed by, among other things, Correa’s slow approach in taking on multinational oil and mining companies and weak environmental policies. Regardless of these criticisms, Báez notes, “The most important difference between Correa and other presidents is that for once the political and economic models are under debate. This has opened more political space.”

Sánchez concedes the drop in Correa’s approval rating could be related to the President’s sometimes less-than-friendly outbursts and the fact that it is not just the rich who are upset about the new tax law—after all, they were not the only ones evading taxes. Some from Guayaquil may have also bought into the opposition’s propaganda that Correa treats their city unfairly—even though Correa is from Guayaquil.

Meanwhile, the country’s powerful indigenous movement remains wary of the new president, but is at the same time trying to avoid playing into the right’s obstructionist strategy. A position of critical support has proven to be a challenge for social movements across the region. The indigenous movement led by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) is demanding that indigenous rights be recognized by the Constituent Assembly. Specifically, they want the new constitution to explicitly define Ecuador as a plurinational state and defend the country’s rich biodiversity.

Regarding indigenous autonomy, Marlon Santi, the CONAIE’s new president, says indigenous people are not trying to balkanize Ecuador, as Nebot’s proposals would. Instead, he noted the CONAIE has always taken a lead in defending national sovereignty, from the proposed trade deal with the United States, to the overthrow of corrupt presidents and opposition to the U.S. military base in Manta.

At his recent inauguration as president of the indigenous organization, Santi announced a mobilization scheduled for next month and warned Nebot and others on the right that the CONAIE would not allow anyone to stand in the way of sweeping change in Ecuador and the rest of Latin America.

Whether Correa will follow through on demands for change and whether he will be able to survive attacks by an increasingly hostile right remain open questions. But many Ecuadorians, tired of years of deceit and corruption, seem ready to defend what they hope will be the definitive transformation of their country.

---

Daniel Denvir (daniel.denvir(AT)gmail.com) is an activist and freelance journalist living in Quito, Ecuador. His writing has appeared in Labor Notes, Portland Street Roots and upsidedownworld.org. He works with the Latin American Information Agency (www.alainet.org).

Santiago Serrano (santibaniez(AT)gmail.com) is an Ecuadorian photojournalist who splits his time between Buenos Aires and Quito. His work has appeared in www.sudacaphotos.com and other outlets.

Ecuador's government investigates report of attack on Indians in Amazon jungle

QUITO, Ecuador (AP via PR-Inside) - Ecuadorean officials are investigating the reported killings of an undetermined number of Huaorani Indians by illegal loggers in an Amazonian nature reserve, Security Minister Gustavo Larrea said Thursday.
«The information was passed to us by certain people in the region, and we are trying to confirm it now,» Larrea told the Associated Press.
Huaorani leaders said illegal loggers killed five tribesmen with shotguns in Yasuni National Park last Sunday_ revising their initial estimate of as many as 15 killed.
Several indigenous groups live in Yasuni National Park, Ecuador's largest and a UNESCO biosphere reserve where logging is prohibited. Conflicts with illegal loggers are common, but arrests are rare due to the tribes' isolation.
Ecuador's national indigenous federation and an organization representing the Huaorani denounced the killings Wednesday, after a local tribesman sent word that illegal loggers may have fired at the Indians between Feb 4 and 6.
The shootings were not reported for more than a week because the victims, Tagaeri and Taromenane tribesmen belonging to the Huaorani ethnic group, live in voluntary isolation deep within the 758,000 hectare (1,873,059 acres) biosphere reserve.
«It's difficult to know if there were only five murdered or more. To tell the truth, it is a dangerous trip» to the place where the bodies were reported found, said Enqueri Nihua Ehuenguime, president of the Huaorani Nationality Organization of Ecuador.

Yasuni, like much of Ecuador's Amazon basin, is rich in mahogany, cedar and other trees that yield valuable lumber. The jungle area also holds an estimated 1 billion barrels of crude oil.
The Interamerican Human Rights Commission has petitioned Ecuador to implement controls to protect the Tagaeri and Taromenane, and in October the government prohibited all logging and mining activity in the area.
President Rafael Correa has asked the international community for at least US$350 million a year in contributions for 10 years to compensate Ecuador for income lost by not drilling in the park's Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha oil fields.
After an investigation, the government in May 2006 dismissed reports that between two and 30 Huaorani Indians were massacred in retaliation for attacking two loggers with spears in the same region. The two loggers returned wounded to Quito, where one of them died.

Ecuador investigates Indian massacre reports

QUITO, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean authorities combed swaths of the Amazon jungle on Thursday looking for victims of a reported massacre of Indians by loggers, part of a long-running fight over land.

Local media and indigenous leaders said the loggers gunned down 15 Indians from the Taromenani tribe, which in the 1950s cut ties with rest of the country to protect their hunting and gathering customs.

Spear-wielding Indians have clashed with loggers armed with shotguns and machetes, but recent reports of massacres have not been substantiated.

"We have helped out in the investigation with helicopters and transportation into the jungle, but so far there is no proof to confirm any incident," said Gen. Fabian Narvaez, the commander of the army's Fourth division in the Amazon province of Orellana.

Attorney General Xavier Garaicoa called on other government authorities to confirm whether the massacre happened.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has vowed to protect Indian groups in the Amazon from oil development, illegal logging and poaching of rare tropical species.

Ecuador wants rich countries to pay $350 million a year in exchange for it not extracting 1 billion barrels of oil under the Yasuni reserve, where the tribe lives. Quito says leaving the oil in the ground would protect the environment in the Amazon, which would benefit all countries.

Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly Defends Sovereignty

Montecristi, Ecuador, Feb 14 (Prensa Latina) The Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly is defending a defined concept of sovereignty, which is the foundation of the future Constitution.

Supported by 12 assembly members, Commission 9 on International Relations and Latin American Integration stated the meaning of sovereignty.

After several weeks of debate, and considering the proposals and stances by national institutions, the commission reached consensus on the issue, according to a spokesperson for the Assembly.

The concept highlights the presence and participation of men and women from all corners of the country, and promotes Latin America and international integration.

According to the document, "Ecuador's sovereignty lies in our citizens, communities, peoples and nations, who are committed to building a common project of life."

The country's independence guarantees freedom, welfare and individual and collective development, in addition to safeguarding the territory's full integrity, protecting and promoting cultural diversity and identities, and reflecting that context.

This is the Assembly's first definition, which paves the way to draw up the new Constitution, which will be completed on May 24.

Rights group: 15 Indians shot to death in Ecuador's Amazon jungle

QUITO, Ecuador (PR-Inside) Feb 14 2008 - Fifteen Huaorani Indians living in voluntary isolation in Ecuador's largest nature reserve have been shot to death, an indigenous organization said Wednesday.
Saul Quimutari, health director of the Huaorani Nationality Organization of Ecuador, told The Associated Press that a member of the Tagaeri and Taromenanes tribes in Yasuni National Park formed the organization that the 15 Indians were gunned down Sunday by Colombian loggers.
National police spokesman Patricio Quimzo told the AP that the police had «no information» about the incident.
Logging is prohibited in the Yasuni, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Two Huaorani leaders are on their way to the area to investigate, Quimutari said.
Several indigenous groups live in isolation in the reserve and conflicts with loggers are common, but arrests are rare because of the tribes' isolation from outside society.
Yasuni, like much of the Amazon basin, has large quantities of mahogany and other trees valued as lumber.
The jungle area holds close to an estimated 1 billion barrels of crude, and President Rafael Correa's government is seeking a minimum of US$350 million a year from the international community over 10 years in return for not drilling in the Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha fields there. He said the money would compensate Ecuador for income it can generate by drilling for oil at the site.

Ecuador negotiating release of FARC hostages

People's Daily Online, Feb 14, 2008

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said Wednesday he is negotiating with his French and Venezuelan counterparts the release of hostages held by Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).

Correa Wednesday told Quito's Radio Vision that he had met with a delegate of French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Guatemala in January, in order to "advance an immediate and unconditional liberation of all the kidnapped people."

"I demanded of the FARC the immediate liberation of all the kidnapped people and we are working together with Venezuelan government and French government," said Correa.

Correa said he will abstain from branding FARC a "terrorist" group and neither he will describe it as a belligerent force, because its kidnapping does not comply with the "Geneva Conventions."

FARC is holding 43 "interchangeable" hostages, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betan court, who it wants to swap for some 500 FARC troops imprisoned in Colombia and other countries.

"Ecuador has never called FARC terrorists, because if you call them terrorists, you do not allow any possibility of political dialogue," Correa told the radio network.

Meanwhile, Correa also criticized Colombia's lack of control of its border with Ecuador, allowing "FARC to control the northern border with Ecuador, costing us an excessive amount of money and manpower."

Source: Xinhua

Correa to Ecuador: Give Peace a Chance

Quito, Feb 13 (Prensa Latina) Ecuador has the opportunity today to change peacefully with the approval of the new Constitution being drawn up by the Constituent Assembly, President Rafael Correa affirmed on Wednesday.

If the new Constitution is rejected in the coming referendum, "the country will have lost the last chance to change in peace," Correa stressed in a radio address.

"I personally would not lose anything if the Constitution is rebuffed, but the country would," he stressed.

Correa also denied stories that the Executive has its own constitutional project ready for the Assembly, and that it is pressuring Assembly members.

The president expressed pleasure that there is no longer a power battle between Congress and the Executive.

Referring to the new Constitution, he pointed out "basically it must contain principles more than regulations."

During the elections, the people "will decide if the government has done right or wrong, but we must not put everything in the Constitution, because that is a serious mistake," he concluded.

Record Cash Reserves in Ecuador

Quito, Feb 12 (Prensa Latina) The Monetary Reserve of Available Currency of Ecuador achieved a new yearly record with 3.745 billion dollars, informed the Central Bank (BCE).

This figure was at 3.615 billion dollars last February 8 and grew by 120 million, reveals the last BCE report.

The available monetary reserve is fed by income from oil exports as well as through international loans and is used to cover the foreign debt and import goods of the public sector.

According to BCE this deposit sustains domestic circulation of US dollars, a currency adopted by Ecuador in 2000 after elimination of the sucre.

However, Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa denied this argument and pointed out that the money is supported here by the billion dollars sent as remittances by Ecuadorians living abroad and the sale of oil.

Ecuador official: protect Indians from oil drilling

QUITO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Ecuador's attorney general on Saturday urged the government to negotiate with oil firms to stop drilling for crude in a protected area deep in the Amazon jungle where Indian tribes hide from the outside world.

That recommendation could affect operations of Spain's Repsol, Brazil's Petrobras, China's Andes Petroleum and Ecuador's state oil company Petroecuador.

Those companies have part of their oil blocks inside the 700,000 hectare (1.7 million acre) protected area home to two tribes of hunters and gatherers known as Tagaeri and Taromenani who in 1950s decided to cut ties with the rest of the world.

"The attorney general's office considers urgent the exit of oil companies from the protected areas, via a negotiation," the office of Attorney General Xavier Garaicoa said in a statement.

The statement added that the government should include a ban on oil activities in the area in its ongoing negotiations with foreign firms to boost state participation in current deals.

President Rafael Correa, a former college professor who taught environmental economics, has vowed to protect the tribes from development after reports of deadly clashes between Indians wielding spears and illegal loggers armed with guns.

Ecuador wants rich countries to pay $350 million a year in exchange for it not extracting 1 billion barrels of oil under the Yasuni reserve. Quito says leaving the oil in the ground would protect the environment in the Amazon to the benefit of all countries.

In January, Repsol had a small oil spill near the protected area, which is also part of the Yasuni park, the country's largest rain forest reserve, home to rare species of pumas and pink dolphins.

The government said it will fine Repsol up to $100,000 for not reporting the spill to authorities earlier. The company said it spilled 100 barrels of crude while the government said it was 500 barrels of oil and 2,000 barrels of waste water.

Ecuador Tough on Foreign Oil Firms

Quito, Feb 8 (Prensa Latina) Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, threatened suspension of contracts with foreign oil companies if they refuse to invest in crude oil fields in the territory.

Companies from Brazil, China, Spain, France and the United States must reactivate their investments by the end of February or the wells will be transferred to other companies, Correa stressed.

He pointed out the need of these countries to abide by the new rules imposed by the national government in 45 days in a situation that has been going on since January and concludes by the end of this month.

"If we have reached no conclusion and they continue refusing to invest I will take other measures," warned the Head of State in declarations to a local radio station.

Correa mentioned the United States City Oriente, France's Perezco, Petrobras from Brazil, Repsol-YPF from Spain and Chinaós Andes Petroleum as refusing to invest, due to the renegotiation of their contracts.

The government aims to change the agreements of participation signed previously that leave the State only 18% of the volume drilled.

In recent declarations the president explained that the companies have three options: continue with the transference to the State of 99 percent of its extra profits obtained by the hike in oil prices, change their contracts or abandon Ecuador.

At present the companies are renegotiating their agreements and the implementation of a period of transition is foreseen for a change of contracts.

Ecuador is the fifth oil producer in South America with an extraction of about 500 thousand barrels a day.

Correa warns that USA and Colombia want to military attack Venezuela

Mathaba, Feb 8, 2008

The President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, assured that Venezuela has enough reasons to say that United States of America and Colombia try to military attack it.

Caracas, Feb 7 (ABN).- He said tat the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) “had a direct link in the coup d'etat” against President Chávez in 2002.

“Why are not we surprised by these doubts and uncertainties that a country like Venezuela could have if they have been attacked previously?”, he questioned during a a program broadcast by several radio stations of Ecuador and he stressed that the CIA took part at the few hours overthrow of April 2002, as it was reported by AFP.

“I do not have the information that probably President Chávez has, but what it is clear is the direct role played by the CIA at the coup d'etat of 2002, which has been openly admitted”, he held.

Correa also made reference to a recent Chávez' statements where he said that Venezuela borders at the West with the Revolutionary Army Forces of Colombia (FARC) and not with Colombia, because it is a similar situation that he has noticed at the Colombia-Ecuador border.

“What President Chávez did was to paraphrase our Minister of Defense. We know it was a hard phrase, but it is true. The Colombian border (with Ecuador) is unprotected, we need 11,000 men at that border”, Correa stated.

Ecuador President: No Arms Escalation

Quito, Feb 7 (Prensa Latina) Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa denied any escalation of weapons in the country, but explained the need to replace obsolete military equipment in the local Armed Forces.

"We want to change old submarines and helicopters for more modern ones," Correa told a local radio station on Thursday.

He said that Ecuador is discussing purchases with Chile for two repaired and modernized submarines to replace two old ones.

There are other offers from European and US companies that we are analyzing with an eye toward buying helicopters he added, highlighting that Brazil is another market, because it builds airplanes with more advanced military technology.

The Ecuadorian president pointed out that the Super Puma helicopters of the Ecuadorian Air Force are in such bad condition "they are not even Super Cats."

He reiterated that they are trying to replace armament and achieve the operability of equipment, which does not mean to start an arms race.

Communities affected by mining lobby Ecuador’s National Assembly

Jennifer Moore, from ALAInet, 21 Jan, 2008

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Last Wednesday, the 9^th Dialogue for Life organized by the National Coordinating Committee for the Defense of Life and Sovereignty took place in Montecristi, where Ecuador’s National Constituent Assembly will draft the country’s 20^th constitution. Delegations arrived to this coastal town from the Southern Provinces of Azuay, Cañar, El Oro, Morona Santiago, and Zamora Chinchipe. Also present were representatives from Intag in Northern Imbabura Province, as well as the Central Highland Provinces of Chimborazo, Tungurahua and Bolívar.

Prior to meeting with the assembly, delegates gathered in a central park to publicly reiterate their demands and to receive an address from the President of the National Constituent Assembly, the Economist Alberto Acosta. They spent the rest of the day in meetings with various working committees of the Assembly.

No to large scale mining

Speaking from the bandshell in a small park in Montecristi, Lina Solano, President of the National Coordinating Committee, read a letter prepared for Acosta. It demanded the immediate departure of transnational mining corporations from Ecuador, claiming in particular that companies have failed to consult with communities in accordance with the political constitution of 1998. Following from this, she insisted that large scale mining activities be prohibited based upon their social and environmental impacts, requesting that measures also be taken to address related criminalization and human rights violations that have taken place in communities across the country as a result of current conflicts.

Acosta responded with an impassioned address that received the support of the audience. He reiterated his support for an Ecuador free of large scale, open-pit metallic mining particularly in protected areas, and said that the new constitution should set guidelines for mining in Ecuador “so that the current situation will not be repeated again.” He said this framework should include real processes for prior community consultation in which “the community has to say yes or no.”

Assembly Mandate on Mining

Continuing, Acosta emphasized that all Ecuadorians need to understand what is going on with mining in the country. He made reference to the more than 4,000 existing mineral concessions, pointing out that some coincide with the central plaza and church of communities. Several, he added, “are practically territories in the hands of transnational corporations,” referring to those held by Canadian companies Ecuacorriente and Aurelian Resources which are tens of thousands of hectares.

Large scale metallic mining projects in Ecuador have not yet advanced to production, but are being considered by the government as an important source of national revenue in the years to come. However, Acosta announced that the National Constituent Assembly would soon release a mandate in this respect which is anticipated to revoke “the majority, if not all of the current mineral concessions.”

The mandate is not anticipated to apply to at least four major mining projects in the south of the country, including those being developed by IAMGOLD and IMC the in Province of Azuay and Ecuacorriente and Aurelian Resources in the Provinces of Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe.

Acosta also qualified the mandate, saying that its impact will only be long-term if ratified as part of the new constitution. Ecuadorians are expected to vote on the new text in July. Following from this, he said, he supports revising the mining law to regulate small scale, non-metallic and potentially underground mining operations in Ecuador. Several large scale metallic mining projects in Ecuador have been designated as underground operations rather than open-pit, including those of Aurelian and IAMGOLD.

No with proposals

Reflecting on Acosta’s speech, Robinson Guachagmira, a 24 year old campesino from Intag, who has been involved in the struggle against large-scale mining since he was 12, says he is hopeful about the changes they could achieve through the National Constituent Assembly. They’ve had several opportunities to speak with the Assembly President, also former Minister of Energy and Mines within the Correa government, and feels like they have made advances toward having the proposals of campesinos and small-scale producers taken into consideration.

Guachagmira, current secretary of Intag’s Agro-Ecological Campesino Association (ACAI), adds that “We aren’t just saying no to mining. In Intag,” he elaborates, “we are working with alternative proposals…toward a form of development that also takes care of the environment.” They would like to see “new laws developed in favour of small producers and of campesinos,” he says, “not just of those with great economic power.” He’s optimistic that people like Acosta are open to these possibilities and that “as the new constitution takes shape that it will respond to [their] real needs.”

The proposal presented by the National Coordinating Committee to the National Constituent Assembly envisions a new model for Ecuador based upon food sovereignty and water, in particular, as basic rights. They see a future in which their communities are dedicated to sustainable forms of agro-ecology and press for the government’s commitment to resolve current conflicts which are compromising local processes of organization, development and day-to-day life.

A process in construction

The National Constituent Assembly, composed of 130 members, meets on the hill overlooking Montecristi in an area called “The City of Alfaro,” in reference to the past president Eloy Alfaro. Five of ten working groups received presentations from the National Coordinating Committee for Life and Sovereignty including Natural Resources and Biodiversity; the Development Regime; Work, Production and Social Inclusion; Legislation and Public Prosecution; and Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Guarantees. Working committees will receive proposals and delegations from a variety of sectors into February.

Several members of the Natural Resources and Biodiversity working committee, charged in particular with examining mining in Ecuador, responded to the National Coordinating Committee. This group is also responsible for themes of petroleum, biodiversity, water and forests. One member acknowledged that mining companies have disregarded constitutional rights of communities to consultation or haven’t presented adequate environmental impact assessments. Another specifically asked the committee to return with further proposals for financing and national economic alternatives in place of mining.

Monica Chuji, President of the committee and former Secretary of Communications for the Correa Government, said that the presentation was one of many contributions they would receive and seek out. She said that in February, members would travel the country in order to talk with a variety of constituencies. A member of the Kichwa nationality from Sarayacu in the Amazonian Province of Pastaza, Chuji also credited the indigenous movement in Ecuador for being a critical actor in putting environmental concerns and respect for Mother Earth on the national agenda. She concluded saying that she sees it as part of their commitment to develop a new constitution which “guarantees Ecuadorians a healthy environment and respect for both individual and collective rights.”

Success with a sense of urgency

Wrapping up nearly a year of organizing at the national level, the National Coordinating Committee for the Defense of Life and Sovereignty declared the day a success. However, their petitions to Alberto Acosta and the National Constituent Assembly were delivered with a sense of urgency.

Partly driving their appeals are strong indications that the Correa government wants to advance development of the sector and develop a national mining company. The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has also recently announced that it will resume its own National Mining Dialogue with communities in February to discuss the Mining Law. It met with industry representatives in December. The reforms are anticipated to include reinstatement of royalty payments and strengthening of regulatory controls.

Communities are also aware that they have strong competition. Industry representatives have undertaken concerted lobbying efforts before both the assembly and the government. Ecuador Mining News reported last week that one day following presentations made by the National Coordinating Committee, a twelve member group from the industry met with various committees of the National Assembly. Representing an alliance of the Ecuadorian Chamber of Mining (CME), the National Chamber of Mining and the Chamber of Small Scale Mining, their “fundamental objective is to have a single voice before the Constituent Assembly and the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum,” reported Silvia Santacruz.

Mining: A litmus test

Much remains to be seen in the coming months and while the National Coordinating Committee hopes for significant change, it recognizes that it will not be easy. Further success will be measured by actual measures taken by the Assembly and government to move Ecuador away from dependence on extractive industries, toward strengthened basic rights, and an end to criminalization of their movement and resolution of current conflicts. Until then, the itinerant Dialogue for Life continues.

http://www.alainet.org/active/21731〈=en

Ecuador: Mining concessions are unconstitutional

Intag watches Ecuador’s mining reforms with caution

Jennifer Moore, from ALAInet, 28 Jan, 2008

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The decision last week by the Government of President Rafael Correa in Ecuador to revoke several hundred mining concessions reflects its interests to re-regulate the yet undeveloped sector. However, it does not resolve widespread social conflicts, nor will it necessarily lead to a response to proposals from affected communities.

Last Friday, Ecuador’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum announced that it is canceling 587 mining concessions, including two of three held by Canadian-financed Ascendant Copper Corporation in the northwestern valley of Intag. Intag is one of numerous sites of intense social conflict across the country due to efforts to open up a large scale metallic mining sector in the country. Communities in Intag, who have been organizing against mining activities since a Japanese corporation held mineral rights there in mid 90s, have repeatedly expressed their opposition to mining given anticipated impacts on nearby communities and spectacularly diverse cloud forests.

Luis Robalino, Municipal Councilor for Cotacachi, the county in which Intag is located, says that while residents of Intag are receiving the news positively, they have yet to see the official documents. He adds that they would also like to see Ascendant’s third concession revoked, given that “they were all granted without community consultation and as a result are all unconstitutional.”

Correa’s Contradictions

Furthermore, certain contradictions in the government’s position mean that they are also taking the news cautiously. During his first annual speech to the nation last week, President Rafael Correa expressed interest in creating a state-run mining company and in reforming the mining law to ensure royalties for the state.

“The position of Intag,” says Robalino, “is no to mining, whether of transnational or state companies, and yes to sustainable development.” They’re encouraged by the cancellation of some mining concessions, but will continue to watch the news to see what happens in coming weeks. If the government decides to quickly approve a new mining law for instance, he says, while it might redistribute resources it could result in “the same scenario” for communities such as Intag. “We would be free of Ascendant Copper, but then Rio Tinto would arrive, or another company in a joint venture with the state company.”

Robalino also thinks that the steps the government is taking could be out of order with the work of the National Constituent Assembly to reframe and rewrite the constitution. “What would happen,” considers Robalino, “if the new constitution reaches consensus with the aspiration of the great majority of campesinos and communities and decides to restrict unsustainable activities, adopting a sustainable model of development?” Making reforms to the mining sector before the Assembly has finished reframing and drafting the new constitution “doesn’t make sense.” Because if a new model like this is accepted, he says, “mining won’t fit.”

National Constituent Assembly President, Alberto Acosta, announced last week that the assembly will be ready to present their new text of Ecuador’s 20^th constitution on May 24^th. The text will need to be ratified in a national referendum anticipated to take place in July.

Furthermore, before promoting mining activities, Robalino adds, the justice system in Ecuador needs to be strengthened and communities need to be “ensured the right to consultation in which they can say yes or no.” Only then, he says, “in the case that a community says yes, should they proceed while taking the necessary precautions.”

No to Mining, Yes to Sustainable Development

Groups from Intag have been participating in several delegations to the National Constituent Assembly in recent weeks to present their proposals for the new constitutional framework and test. Most recently, with the National Environmental Assembly they presented proposals including the annulment of all mining concessions and prohibition of all projects which could have serious cultural and environmental damage, including mega-hydroelectric dams, as well as large scale mining, oil extraction, and shrimp farming projects.

They further propose that the country invest in agro-ecology, tourism, small and medium scale industry, with a particular interest in hydroelectric operations that are managed largely by local communities, organizations, rural and municipal governments. Such latter initiatives could contribute to reforestation, social reinvestment, amongst other possibilities says Robalino. In the case that other forms of extractive industries be considered, such as artisan subterranean mining, Robalino says the respective technology would have to first be put to the test. The efficacy of such technology would “need to be demonstrated for several years in another location under similar ecological conditions.”

Apart from Intag, numerous communities and related organizations that have been facing social upheaval as a result of large scale metallic mining exploration have been participating in delegations to the National Constituent Assembly. The entire south of the country is especially affected, with hundreds of mineral concessions distributed throughout the southern highlands and southern Amazonian region. The diverse proposals echo the interest in a development model based upon agro-ecology and tourism, with attention to water rights and food sovereignty in the new constitution.

Canadian investments dominate sector

No large scale metallic mining project in Ecuador has yet entered into production, although the sector has been developing, particularly since a World Bank financed study in the mid 90s resulted in part in deregulation of the mining law, in 2000. The most prominent projects in Ecuador are lead by Canadian-financed companies including IAMGOLD, Corriente Resources, Aurelian Resources, IMC, Dynasty Metals and Mining, and Cornerstone Resources. Canada is also currently the largest investor in Ecuador’s extractive sector which attracted 94% of the country’s Foreign Direct Investment in 2006.

Jennifer Moore, ALAI.

http://www.alainet.org/active/21871〈=en

Ecuador volcano spurts molten rock, hundreds flee

New Zealand Herald, February 7, 2008

ECUADOR - Ecuador's "Throat of Fire" volcano roared on Wednesday, spurting molten rock and huge plumes of smoke that showered villages with ash and prompted the evacuation of about 1200 people.

The volcano, called Tungurahua in the native Quichua language, is 130km south of the capital, Quito. It last erupted in August 2006 and has been rumbling and belching rock, gas and ash since January.

Clad in ponchos and rubber boots, farmers who for months have defied Tungurahua to tend crops and livestock clambered into pick-up trucks and fled hamlets on the slopes of the 5020-metre volcano, which exploded noisily overnight.

"We couldn't stand the racket," said Luis Penafiel, a 35-year-old peasant who fled his hamlet to seek safe haven in a shelter in nearby Pelileo.

"The children were scared and yelling a lot. The women were also scared to death so we decided to get out of there."

Police and troops wearing face masks patrolled deserted hamlets, while peasants huddled in churches and schools serving as make-shift shelters.

"It was a really big shake coming from the volcano and that forced civil defence to evacuate the population," said civil defence chief Roberto Rodriguez. More than 1200 people have left their homes.

Juan Salazar, the mayor of Penipe, a municipality near the volcano, said on Wednesday that the Tungurahua sounded like "an old airplane turbine."

No reports of injuries or deaths were reported, but local authorities said ash and rock fragments showered hamlets located near the crater.

In 2006, streams of fast-moving molten rock enveloped several hamlets tucked in the volcano's folds, killing at least four people and forcing thousands to evacuate and lose their corn and potato crops.

Classes were cancelled and roads closed in the area around the mountain on Wednesday. Nearby provinces braced for ash fall as the volcano billowed a 10km-long smoke column.

Officials did not evacuate the nearby Banos hot springs, a popular destination for foreign tourists, but volcano experts said they had not ruled out that streams of fiery rock could reach the town.

In 1999, 17,000 people were forced to evacuate the town of Banos after loud explosions and hot gas blew from the volcano.

President Rafael Correa said the government will extend an emergency decree to quickly release more funds to help evacuees, pay for shelters and repay roads and bridges.

Volcanologists expect still stronger activity from Tungurahua, which is in the middle of an eruption cycle that began in 1999.

"This is an ongoing eruption and we still don't know the magnitude it could reach," said Hugo Yepes, the head of the country's Geophysics Institute.

Ecuador eruption forces hundreds to evacuate

ABC News

Thu Feb 7, 2008

Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano has exploded into action, spewing red hot lava, rocks and a 10-kilometre high plume of ash that forced 1,450 people from their homes, officials say.

"The eruption is going on right now and continues to generate pyroclastic flows" of red-hot gas, ash and rocks down the volcano's western flank, Geophysical Institute director Hugo Yepez said.

The 5,029 metre mountain, 135 kilometres south of the capital Quito, began erupting with a series of loud explosions in the pre-dawn hours, waking more than 20,000 people living in 10 towns and villages in its surroundings.

The eruption so far has caused no injuries or damage, outside of tonnes of ash deposited on buildings and roads in Quero forcing its inhabitants to wear masks.

But some 400 families living closest to the volcano have been evacuated as a precaution.

"Most of the population has left, but we've got 12 families in Bilbao who refuse to leave and we're talking to them. If necessary, we'll use force [to evacuate them]," Tungurahua Province Governor Fernando Gonzalez said.

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa has put the region under a state of emergency to release federal funds and assistance programs.

Shelters and emergency centres in Tungurahua and nearby Chimborazo and Bolivar provinces have been put on standby in case the eruption takes a turn for the worse.

"The volcano has now gone into a period of zero-activity, and that's not good news. It could mean a bigger explosion is in store in the next minutes or hours. But we're ready," Internal and External Security Minister Gustavo Larrea said.

The Tungurahua volcano has been active since last month, with up to 30 explosions, earthquakes or rumblings per hour that forced 1,000 people to relocate to safer areas.

However, the latest eruption was similar to an August 2006 eruption that killed six people, buried several communities under ash and made 6,500 people homeless, the Geophysical Institute reported.