Ecuador Congress replaces lawmakers, convenes

By Alexandra Valencia
QUITO, March 20 (Reuters) - Ecuador's Congress replaced fired lawmakers and convened on Tuesday in an apparent victory for President Rafael Correa over opposition legislators resisting his plans to curb their influence.
Correa, a left-winger elected in November, has been locked in a power struggle with lawmakers since March 7, when a court sacked 57 of them from the 100-member chamber for obstructing his plans for a referendum on rewriting the constitution.
The fired lawmakers had said they would seek to take their seats in the building, which was ringed by hundreds of police wielding batons to prevent a repeat of last week's clashes when opposition members tried to force their way inside.
But Congress President Jorge Cevallos on Tuesday swore in 21 substitutes and allowed the legislature to hold a session without the fired lawmakers.
"We will obey the will of the people," substitute lawmaker Cesar Alonso said. Congress needs at least 51 lawmakers to hold a session and 55 were present.
Correa was monitoring developments and "hopes that Congress will start working in line with the people's demands," a government spokeswoman said.
Elected in November, Correa is popular for promising to sweep away the influence of traditional political parties whom many Ecuadoreans blame for the instability that has ousted three presidents in the last decade. He wants an April 15 vote on holding a popular assembly to rewrite the constitution.
With his strongest opponents now out of Congress, Correa should be able to push ahead with his political proposals and key economic reforms, experts said.
"This is an evident victory for Correa... the opposition has lost a lot of power," said Simon Pachano, analyst with Ecuador's branch of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences. "The government also probably has struck a deal with the substitutes."
Correas opponents fear the U.S.-trained economist and former finance minister will seek to rewrite the constitution to strengthen presidential powers as his left-wing ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, did after his 1998 election.
Wall Street has been monitoring Ecuador's political developments closely after Correa promised to use his mandate to restructure bonds and rewrite foreign oil contracts in South America's fifth-largest crude producer.

Ecuador lawmakers vow to reclaim seats in Congress

QUITO, March 19 (Reuters AlertNet) - Ecuador's fired opposition lawmakers on Monday vowed to break a police cordon and reclaim their parliamentary seats, keeping up the pressure on President Rafael Correa in the volatile Andean state.

Fifty-seven lawmakers have been fired for trying to block a referendum the populist president is proposing. The vote would set up a body to reduce the influence of congressmen in the judiciary and state companies.

The lawmakers refuse to accept their dismissal and last week barged through a police cordon to get into Congress. They promised to do the same on Tuesday.

"Either we all enter Congress or no one will," said Washington Vallejo, one of the 57 fired lawmakers. "We will defend Congress."

Correa, a leftist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, since taking office in January has vowed to break the power of political elites, largely seen as corrupt, in the world's top banana exporting nation.

The fight with the lawmakers is the first major challenge for a president who has vowed to restructure the national debt and renegotiate oil deals. Congress has been instrumental in ousting three presidents in a decade.

Ecuador eyes Argentine-style debt swap-report

BUENOS AIRES, March 18 (Reuters) - Ecuador does not rule out a debt restructuring along the lines of Argentina's 2005 swap, which offered creditors about 25 cents on the dollar, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa told leading Argentine daily Clarin in an interview published on Sunday.
Argentina restructured some $100 billion in defaulted sovereign debt in early 2005, in a swap that involved a steep haircut and extended debt maturities. About three-quarters of bondholders agreed to the terms.
"We would like to renegotiate the external debt as Argentina did, but it's quite difficult to do that now, because Argentina took advantage of its tragedy to renegotiate when bond prices had fallen," Correa was quoted as saying.
Argentina defaulted on its debt at the height of an unprecedented economic crisis in 2002, a year in which the economy shrank nearly 11 percent and the peso currency sharply depreciated.
A U.S-educated economist and friend of U.S. foe Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Correa said he preferred not to discuss his country's restructuring plan, but said he consulted with officials at Argentina's Economy Ministry on a regular basis.
Asked if he could rule out an Argentine-style debt deal, Correa responded: "No, it has not been ruled out. The debt is a heavy burden and we are going to be tough renegotiating it."
Last week, Correa told reporters he would repay foreign debt only if the country could afford it and reiterated that a default was not inconceivable. He also said the country would soon identify which debts were "illegitimate."
Ecuador's president has rattled Wall Street with promises to limit foreign debt payments. Correa made the payment on a foreign debt coupon that came due in February, but has left investors guessing over whether he will settle the next, due in May.

Ecuadorean Opposition Plans Parallel Congress After Shooting

By Alex Kennedy and Bill Faries

March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuador's suspended lawmakers, in a challenge to President Rafael Correa, plan to hold a parallel session outside Quito after police blocked their entry to the capitol and two supporters were wounded in a drive-by shooting.

Congresswoman Gloria Gallardo said opposition leaders now have backing from more than two-thirds of the 100-member congress to meet as an alternative assembly next week. Riot police used tear gas yesterday to stop the lawmakers from reaching their offices after the electoral court suspended the ``political rights'' of 57 opposition members last week.

``We're seeing a regime that's an authentic dictatorship,'' former President Lucio Gutierrez, a leader of the opposition Patriotic Society party, said in a telephone interview from Quito. ``Violence has been rising in a dangerous way, and it could at some point turn into a civil war in Ecuador.''

The shooting, which occurred outside the Marriott Hotel, where the lawmakers retreated, deepens a clash over Correa's plans to remake the country along what he calls socialist economic and political lines. Correa's proposal for a new constitution -- the trigger for the current showdown -- echoes steps taken by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales to consolidate their control over the congress, courts and election authorities.

``They abused their power, they thought they were immune,'' Correa said in comments broadcast on the Cablenoticias television station after the legislators were shut out of their offices. ``Now they're getting a taste of their own medicine,'' he said.

`Quiet For Now'

Ecuador's congress voted March 6 to replace Supreme Electoral Tribunal President Jorge Acosta after the court backed Correa's plan for a national referendum on re-writing the constitution. The next day, the court suspended the lawmakers who sought to remove the judge, ruling their votes violated the constitution. Correa supported the court's decision and said the lawmakers would be replaced.

The top constitutional court yesterday rejected a request by the president of congress to rule on the legality of the suspension.

``With this situation, Correa's ability to govern will be reduced,'' said Claudio Loser, former director of Western Hemisphere affairs at the International Monetary Fund and a political analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.

The U.S. Ambassador in Ecuador, Linda Jewell, said on Cablenoticias that the conflict among Correa, the congress and the courts is a domestic situation.

``We're going to be quiet for now,'' she said.

Correa, 43, a U.S.-trained economist who served a five- month stint as finance minister in 2005, won 57 percent of votes in a Nov. 26 run-off election in which he ran without the formal backing of any political party.

`Government Crisis'

During and after the campaign, Correa aligned himself with Chavez's socialist vision, vowing to boost spending on the poor, renegotiate foreign oil contracts and review Ecuador's approximately $10 billion in foreign debt obligations. Venezuela on Feb. 22 offered Ecuador as much as $500 million of ``financial cooperation.''

Correa took office in January as Ecuador's eighth president in about a decade. On Jan. 30, about 5,000 of his supporters tried to storm congress to demand lawmakers approve plans for a referendum on the constitution.

``Correa is forcing a government crisis,'' Loser said. ``This is going to get investors even more nervous.''

Ecuador has twice backed away from threats to default on debt payments since Correa took power. Finance Minister Ricardo Patino said March 8 that the country wouldn't ignore foreign debt obligations.

``Our creditors should know that we're very responsible,'' Patino said.

Congresswoman Sylka Sanchez said in an interview that the shots were fired from a passing motorcycle carrying two people. One of the opposition lawmakers' supporters outside the hotel was hit in the back, the other in the leg.

20 Fired Ecuadorean Lawmakers Take Seats

Wednesday March 14, 2007

By GONZALO SOLANO

QUITO, Ecuador (AP via The Guardian) - Some 20 lawmakers fired last week by Ecuador's top electoral court for allegedly interfering with plans for a constitutional referendum forced their way past dozens of police guarding Congress and took up their seats on Tuesday.

``We are in a dictatorship!'' shouted one of the dismissed legislators, opposition Congresswoman Gloria Gallardo, who made her way into the chamber through riot police and tear gas.

At least two members of Congress and three other people were injured in the incident, which also prompted rival executive and legislative police forces to scuffle with each other.

The new leftist president, Rafael Correa, blamed the violence on the ousted lawmakers.

``We are peaceful people. We will keep public order,'' he told Radio Vision. ``These people want to create chaos because they know they're already out.''

The executive, legislative and judicial branches of government are all grappling for power in this politically unstable Andean nation, accusing each other of violating the constitution and trying to assert their supremacy.

Correa, an admirer of Venezuela's firebrand leader Hugo Chavez, has vowed to revamp the country's political system since taking office in January. He is determined to hold an April 15 referendum on whether Ecuador should throw out its constitution and write a new charter limiting the power of the traditional political parties he blames for corruption and political instability.

Ecuador's eighth president in 10 years, Correa says he won't respect any decision by Congress or the courts to block the referendum. If approved, Ecuador would have five months to elect 130 members of a special assembly that would begin rewriting the constitution next fall.

Congress approved the referendum plan with the caveat that the assembly would not be able to close the legislature. Correa later overruled that stipulation, saying the assembly would have ultimate power and setting off the constitutional crisis.

The country's top electoral court, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which approved Correa's plan, fired 57 congressmen from the 100-seat unicameral legislature last week after they ordered impeachment proceedings against the court's majority.

The fired president of Congress, Jorge Cevallos, then turned to Ecuador's Constitutional Tribunal, which refused Tuesday to review his complaints until a majority of Congress members sign the appeal. Since the electoral court fired the lawmakers, Congress has lacked a quorum of members to convene a formal session.

Congresswoman Sylka Sanchez, one of the fired legislators who pushed past police Tuesday, said they had acted ``to prevent a dictatorship. We don't want dictatorship. We want democracy.''

Constitutional experts have said both the lawmakers and the court were violating the country's charter - not an uncommon occurrence in Ecuador, where Congress has illegally dismissed three elected presidents in the last decade after they lost popularity.

Violence in Ecuador heats up Congress-Correa feud

By Alonso Soto, March 14, 2007.

QUITO (Reuters) - Ousted Ecuadorean lawmakers scuffled with police and a shooting wounded two of their supporters on Tuesday, worsening discord between Congress and President Rafael Correa in the volatile Andean nation.

About 20 lawmakers barged through a cordon of police, who used riot shields to try to stop them from entering Congress, as tear gas billowed in the air. One legislator was carried away on a stretcher after he was knocked to the ground and injured.

Two congressional aides were lightly wounded by gunshots. Lawmakers said their supporters were targeted by unknown gunmen on motorcycles, but police said the two men had been hit by stray bullets from an unrelated robbery.

Dozens of Correa supporters had earlier traded kicks and punches with protesters backing the dismissed lawmakers.

"We are in a state of emergency and we are being hunted," fired legislator Gloria Gallardo told a television station from inside Congress. "Police are willing to kill lawmakers."

In a radio interview before the shooting, Correa urged his supporters to avoid violence. "Do not let yourselves be provoked by these people who are trying to cause chaos," he said.

The leftist economist, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has demanded that the fired lawmakers be replaced by substitutes from the same parties, in a move that could boost his clout over an unruly and widely unpopular Congress.

Fifty-seven legislators have refused to accept an electoral court decision that fired them last week. They had sought to reverse an earlier ruling that would allow the highly popular Correa to hold a referendum to weaken Congress' powers.

Changes proposed by the referendum are meant to lessen political influence in the judiciary and force lawmakers to live in the small constituencies they represent.

Tuesday's violence forced Congress to suspend sessions for a week.

The dispute has become the biggest challenge to the leftist's presidency since he took office in January in a country where Congress played a pivotal role in ousting three presidents in the last decade.

Investors, already spooked because Correa has threatened to skip some foreign debt payments, worry that the president will struggle to govern despite his high popularity.

"The escalating political confrontation carries the risk of further erosion of the institutional backbone of the country, which could exacerbate perennial weak governability conditions," senior Goldman Sachs economist Alberto Ramos said in a research note.

Ecuador is the world's top banana exporter and South America's No. 5 oil producer.

(Additional reporting by Alexandra Valencia and Guillermo Granja)

Ecuador: Will the Civil Crisis Remain Civil?

Stratfor, March 13, 2007

Summary

Ecuador's Constitutional Tribunal on March 13 declined to decide whether to reinstate 57 legislators dismissed March 7 by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. This leaves the country with an unresolved crisis regarding legitimate authority -- a situation in which the military could intervene.

Analysis

Ecuador's Constitutional Tribunal on March 13 declined to decide on the reinstatement of 57 legislators dismissed six days earlier by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The constitutional court realized that without President Rafael Correa's support, its decision would not matter except as a possible trigger for massive protests. The court announced that the motion filed lacked the required signatures from a congressional majority, but that it could be considered if it is refiled with the signatures.

If the Constitutional Tribunal had ruled on reinstating the 57 legislators, the result could have been chaos on the streets. There would be large demonstrations, led in part by the indigenous groups of the highlands, echoing Correa's demand that the ruling be ignored. Traditionally, at such inflection points in Ecuadorian politics, the military steps in. Since those demonstrations did not materialize, however, the military is waiting to see whether the ongoing crisis reaches a boiling point.

The situation began March 7, when Ecuador's Supreme Electoral Tribunal fired 57 of the 100 members of the country's unicameral Congress, based on allegations of interfering with a constitutional referendum after those 57 attempted to dismiss a majority of the tribunal's members. Correa announced March 8 that if the constitutional court were to reinstate the legislators, he would consider the ruling invalid and call for a popular uprising against the decision. In other words, Correa is de facto dismissing the judicial and legislative branches of Ecuador's government and making himself the sole authority. Strengthened by widespread public support (though it dropped from the 70 percent range in January to around 65 percent in early March, according to polling firm Cedatos/Gallup), Correa has decided to descend the slippery slope from populist to authoritarian.

Ecuador has seen its share of coups, with the military sometimes supporting the sitting president and sometimes overthrowing him, but usually acting decisively either way "for the good of the country." This case is a tricky one for the military, however. Correa is clearly dismantling the government's checks and balances and alienating the country's commercial class. On the other hand, he is very popular. It is not clear whether the military could control the public backlash that would occur if it tried to overthrow Correa, and it probably does not have the stomach to try at this point.

The military appears to have a cordial relationship with Correa thus far -- Correa has even approved military pay raises -- and is not likely to rock the boat. However, if the opposition is able to gather strength, the military will have to make tough decisions.

Many of the deposed congressmen gathered March 13 at a Marriott hotel in Ecuador. Several supported an announcement by Gloria Gallardo, a dismissed legislator from the opposition Institutional Renewal Party of National Action, who said that democracy in Ecuador is dead and Correa has become a dictator. Furthermore, Pedro Almeida of the Patriotic Society Party called for an extraordinary Congress to meet in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, located in the west coast lowlands where the opposition movement is based. If opposition political parties and businessmen can create a well-organized grassroots movement to support the deposed legislators' reinstatement, popular unrest could become significant.

Any such organized opposition would shrink Correa's window of opportunity for attempting to restore a semblance of legitimacy to his decisions by getting Congress to function again. Correa would do this by replacing some of the dismissed congressmen with preselected alternates loyal to him. Even if Correa's popularity holds above the 60 percent mark -- which is likely -- the country is now dangerously divided by competing claims to legitimate authority. Leading up to Ecuador's April 15 referendum on the formation of a constitutional assembly, the military could face increasing pressure to intervene before, after, or during the outbreak of violent demonstrations regarding the dismissed legislators.

The least stable -- and almost certainly bloody -- outcome would be an attempt to oust Correa. The most stable outcome, and still the most likely, is that Correa will keep the military's support, suppress the opposition, continue his constitutional reform, and eventually restore a veneer of respectability to the other branches of government by repopulating Congress with his supporters and committing to honor all court decisions under the new constitution. Such a turn of events might help preserve domestic tranquility, but it would also push Correa further toward becoming an imitation of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Ecuador president demands lawmakers accept firing

By Alonso Soto

QUITO (Reuters), Fri March 9, 2007 - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa ordered 57 lawmakers on Friday to accept a court ruling that fired them, intensifying a power struggle with Congress in the politically unstable Andean country.

Ecuador's electoral court ruled this week that the 57 must step down for trying to oust the court's president in legal wrangling over proposed changes to the constitution that could weaken Congress.

The popular leftist president stepped into the fight with a speech from a balcony of the presidential palace to student supporters, who like many Ecuadoreans back his efforts to use reforms to cut the power of traditional political elites.

"Those 57 lawmakers should comply with the law for their actions and they should be replaced by their substitutes. That is the way it should be," Correa told the cheering crowd.

If the lawmakers step down, they will be replaced by members of their own parties, ensuring Congress remains an opposition body.

But the removal of more than half of the elected legislature would strip power from influential Correa opponents in a Congress which has been pivotal in ousting three presidents in the last decade.

Despite lacking support from a traditional party, Correa won power last November with a pledge to rewrite the constitution to strip Congress of much of its power.

He is a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose supporters rewrote the constitution to boost his powers soon after he was first elected.

Congress has at times accepted Correa's moves against it. But in recent weeks lawmakers have increased their opposition to a referendum on the constitution scheduled for April 15.

Congress suspended its session on Thursday after police surrounded it to enforce the court ruling.

The feud highlights the charismatic Correa's troubles governing a nation which has had eight presidents in a decade.

Still, the U.S.-educated economist is highly popular as many blame lawmakers for chronic instability in the world's top banana exporter and South America's No. 5 oil producer.

LEGAL BATTLE

Congress had approved Correa's plan for a referendum, but opposition legislators say he then changed its text and they now want the vote halted.

They voted this week to fire the election court's president in a move to delay the referendum and secure an opposition majority in the court.

The electoral body hit back, ruling congressmen broke the law and would lose their political rights for a year.

The proposed constitutional changes are meant to reduce the influence of politicians in the judiciary and could force legislators to live in the constituencies they represent.

Correa has no official representatives in Congress, and opponents say he is pushing reform to extend his powers.

A former economy minister, Correa has rattled Wall Street and Washington with plans to restructure foreign debt, rewrite oil contracts and end an agreement giving the U.S. military use of an air base for counter-narcotics operations.

Still, foreign investors also worry the power struggle could weaken Correa's ability to rule and kill off another Ecuadorean government in its infancy.

Ecuador's Correa and Congress in power struggle

By Alonso Soto

QUITO (Reuters) , Mar 9, 2007 - Ecuador's Congress suspended its session on Thursday after police surrounded it to enforce a court ruling to fire 57 lawmakers in a power struggle between President Rafael Correa and the opposition.

Correa hopes to limit his rivals' influence with an April 15 referendum aimed at drafting constitutional reforms, but he faces growing resistance inside Congress.

The feud highlights Correa's troubles governing a country where three presidents have been ousted in a decade, but the left-winger is highly popular after promising to take on lawmakers who many blame for Ecuador's chronic instability.

"My countrymen, you have a true government that will not fail you," Correa told a cheering crowd inside the presidential palace. "There is no going back on the referendum."

Police carrying riot shields and batons greeted the 28 lawmakers who showed up before Congress' president cancelled the morning session because not enough of the total 100 members were present.

Local television showed protesters beating a lawmaker in a hotel car park, and another sped away as demonstrators kicked and banged his car. Neither was seriously hurt.

In a conciliatory tone, Congress president Jorge Cevallos later said he was open to talks with Correa to find a solution to the political deadlock.

"We want to restore peace and stability," Cevallos said.

Congress initially approved Correa's plan for a reform referendum, but opposition legislators say he then changed its text. They now want the vote halted and their demand is before Ecuador's constitutional court.

On Tuesday, 52 lawmakers voted to fire the election court's president, Jorge Acosta, in a move to delay the referendum and secure an opposition majority in the court.

The election court hit back on Wednesday, ruling the 52 and five others had violated the constitution and would be stripped of their political rights for one year.

'TOTALITARIAN'

"We will call local mayors and local officials to support our front against this totalitarian government," opposition lawmaker Carlos Larreategui said.

He said the fired members will appeal to the Organisation of American States for help to invalidate the court ruling.

Correa, a political outsider elected in November, has no official representatives in Congress. His foes say he wants to bypass the legislature and consolidate presidential authority with a special assembly on constitutional reforms as his ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, did after his 1998 election.

"For the first time we are seeing a weak Congress and a government that has the upper hand," said Adrian Bonilla, director of Ecuador's branch of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences. "I believe the government will probably win this time."

Correa, a former economy minister, has rattled Wall Street and Washington with plans to reform foreign debt, rewrite oil contracts and end an agreement allowing the U.S. military to use an air base in Ecuador for counter-narcotics operations.

Political parties often fight for appointments that will allow them to control the key electoral and constitutional courts in Ecuador, South America's No. 5 oil producer.

Ecuador police surround Congress to keep out lawmakers suspended by electoral tribunal

IHT, March 8, 2007

QUITO, Ecuador: Dozens of police officers surrounded Ecuador's Congress Thursday to prevent a majority of lawmakers from entering as the politically unstable Andean nation descended into a constitutional crisis.

The 57 congressmen were fired Wednesday by the same four electoral judges they are seeking to impeach. The judges accused the lawmakers of interfering with a referendum on whether to rewrite the constitution.

Ecuador's new leftist President Rafael Correa, an admirer of Venezuela's firebrand leader Hugo Chavez, sided with the court and was pressing ahead with the referendum, a step the congressmen have called illegal.

Correa wants a constitutional assembly to limit the power of a political class he blames for Ecuador's problems.

The seven-member tribunal voted to oust the congressmen after 57 members of the 100-seat unicameral Congress signed a petition to start impeachment proceedings against the four court members who approved the referendum.

"The impostors and phonies are finished. They've been defeated. No matter what they do, the referendum and the assembly are irreversible," Correa told his supporters from the balcony of the presidential palace Thursday.

But opposition congressman Carlos Larreategui said Thursday that all sides were to blame: "President Correa has violated the constitution, also Congress, also the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. No one respects the law,"

Congress was unable to convene Thursday because it needs a quorum of 51 lawmakers.

The fired congressmen met in a hotel and as they were leaving, a crowd of 50 protesters armed with clubs shouted insults.

Television images showed dozens of protesters punching and beating opposition congressman Osvaldo Flores with clubs. One protester was injured when another lawmaker hit him with a car as he tried to flee the angry crowd.

Gloria Gallardo, one of the lawmakers supposedly suspended, called the tribunal's actions "illegal and unconstitutional" and said the 57 lawmakers would continue in their posts.

"Congress is not a building. It's the legislators. Let this government know that the opposition is not a fragile opposition" like the one in Venezuela that allowed itself to be "smashed" by Chavez, she said.

Correa, who took office Jan. 15, says his proposed reforms aim to make elected officials more accountable.

Constitutional experts said both the lawmakers and the court were violating the country's charter — a common occurrence in this small Andean nation, where Congress has illegally dismissed three elected presidents in the last decade after they lost popularity. Correa is Ecuador's eighth president in 10 years.

"The constitutional framework has been broken," said legal analyst Pablo Guerrero, who argued that the election tribunal has the authority to dismiss public employees and appointees accused of interfering in an election process, but not elected officials.

The vague wording of Ecuador's constitutions has provoked clashes between presidents, lawmakers and the courts since democracy was restored in 1979 after a decade of dictatorship.

A separate Constitutional Tribunal might eventually resolve the new dispute, but its rulings have often been ignored in the past.

Correa has called Congress "a sewer of corruption." But 80 percent of the congressmen who took office in January are first-term lawmakers who say they should have a chance to show they are honest.

Correa, a U.S.-educated economist, ran as a political outsider, earning support from Ecuadoreans fed up with the political establishment.

Ecuadorean lawmakers in the past have engaged in fist fights, cut the cord of an opponent's microphone and hurled ashtrays. One pulled out a pistol and shot a colleague.

And in an episode captured on television, a drunken congressman who is now mayor of Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, staggered over to an opponent and tried to urinate on him.

___

Associated Press Writer Monte Hayes in Lima, Peru, contributed to the report

Ecuador's Congress fires election court chief

QUITO, March 6 (Reuters) - Ecuador's opposition-dominated Congress fired the head of the election court on Tuesday, which could delay President Rafael Correa's referendum in April aimed at cutting the influence of traditional political parties.

The move by Congress was sure to fuel tension between left-winger Correa and lawmakers trying to secure an opposition majority in the seven-member election court as they question the legality of the referendum, experts said.

Correa, a political outsider elected in November, plans to hold a public vote on April 15 on whether to call a special assembly to rewrite the constitution.

He says the overhaul is needed to curb political parties that many Ecuadoreans blame for instability in South America's No. 5 oil producer.

Opposition lawmakers fear Correa will use the assembly to weaken the legislature and bolster presidential powers, as his ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez did after his election.

"This was a political move to further delay the referendum and therefor weaken the government's popularity," said Simon Pachano, an analyst with the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences.

"But this could turn into another scandal because the legality of the vote is not yet clear."

The dismissed Electoral Court president, Jorge Acosta, could try to challenge the ruling to remove him without an impeachment, analysts said.

After weeks of street protests by Correa supporters demanding a referendum, lawmakers in February approved the president's initial proposal.

But opposition lawmakers now say Correa made changes to the referendum text without their approval before handing it to election officials. They say the changed version grants the proposed assembly the power to dissolve Congress and they want the Constitutional Court to declare the referendum invalid.

Fifty-two of the 73 lawmakers at Tuesday's session voted to remove Acosta on the grounds he failed to fulfill his Patriotic Society party's political mandate. Court members are picked by the seven political parties with the most votes.

Acosta, a lawyer close to toppled president Lucio Gutierrez, was one of four court members who voted to approve the referendum last week. Congress said his replacement must be named by Gutierrez's party.

Congress seeks to block Correa referendum

The Peninsular On-line, 3-4-07.

QUITO • Ecuador’s Congress voted on Friday to ask a top court to declare invalid President Rafael Correa’s proposal for a referendum on constitutional reforms.

The decision is likely to strain ties between lawmakers and Correa, a leftist elected in November after he promised to curb the influence of traditional parties whom many blame for instability and poverty in South America’s No. 5 oil producer.

After weeks of haggling, lawmakers in February agreed to Correa’s proposal for an April 15 vote to decide whether to call a special assembly to rewrite the constitution. They agreed after seeking limits on the powers of the assembly.

But lawmakers on Friday said Correa had since introduced a rewritten version of the guidelines for the referendum giving the proposed assembly broader powers, without first consulting the congress on the revisions.

The electoral court this week confirmed April 15 for the referendum, but lawmakers say they now want the constitutional court to declare it invalid because of unauthorized rewrites.

“They have betrayed constitutional principles by taking the step of convoking it in an unconstitutional way,” said Luis Almeida, a lawmaker with the Patriotic Society Party, or PSP, the second largest.

Correa, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, says he wants to overhaul the political system and rewrite the constitution to reduce the influence of corrupt elites on key institutions such as the courts.

But his critics fear Correa will use a popular assembly to bypass the congress and secure broader presidential powers as Chavez did in Venezuela by eliminating limits on immediate re-election and extending the presidential term in office from five to six years.

Correa is popular and many Ecuadoreans are fed up with their traditional political class, but his political movement has no representatives in the congress. Correa’s supporters in January stormed the congress to demand lawmakers accept the president’s proposal for a referendum.

Ecuador election court ratifies referendum date

QUITO, March 1 (Reuters) - Ecuador's top election court on Thursday ratified April 15 as the date for a referendum called by leftist President Rafael Correa on whether to rewrite the politically unstable country's constitution.

"The call for the referendum has been approved as it was planned," Election Court President Jorge Acosta told local radio, adding that an official announcement of the date would be televised on Thursday night.

Correa, a political outsider elected in November last year, has called for the referendum on whether to hold a special assembly to rewrite the constitution. He says changes are needed to curtail the influence of traditional political parties on courts and state-run companies.

Opposition lawmakers say Correa's plans for an assembly would lead him to consolidate his presidential powers as his ally President Hugo Chavez has done in Venezuela.

Voters will be asked whether to approve the formation of a 130-member group made up of lawmakers, leaders of social groups and ordinary citizens.

Ecuadorian Constitutional Reform: A Bend or a Break?

Stratfor, Feb 28, 2007
Summary
Ecuadorians are likely to approve an April 15 referendum to revise the constitution. President Rafael Correa aims to use the constitutional reform process to consolidate his power and kick the country's entrenched party elite out of Congress. With a weak judiciary and an unpopular legislature, Correa could become nearly as powerful in Ecuador as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has become in his country. However, opposition groups appear to be stronger in Ecuador than in Venezuela, so compromises are more likely. Correa's presidency -- which probably will last longer than most recent Ecuadorian presidencies -- is a boon to Chavez's regional ambitions, but Ecuador is peripheral to the region and the overall effects of its domestic politics will be limited.

Analysis
Ecuadorians will vote in a popular referendum April 15 on whether to create an assembly for constitutional reform. Since constitutional reform was one of President Rafael Correa's central campaign promises when he was elected in the November 2006 runoff, the referendum is likely to have enough public support to pass.

Ecuador seems to have caught the constitutional reform fever spreading in Latin American countries within Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's sphere of influence. Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia are all taking steps to amend their constitutions, and Nicaragua might join in. In each country, the rationale for reform is that the current structure favors the elite and foreign business interests at the expense of the general population. Meanwhile, in the grip of populist socialist ideology and charismatic leadership, these countries are edging toward increasingly authoritarian regimes. Though Bolivia and Ecuador broadly support Chavez's regional ambitions, they are much less likely to succumb to a concentration of unchecked power.

Concerns that Correa wishes to expand executive power at the expense of the judiciary and legislature are not mere right-wing paranoia. The judicial and legislative branches in Ecuador have become so discredited that the idea of reform without their constraint is very popular. Judicial appointment processes have deviated from the law that authorizes them, and competing judges are issuing more frequent conflicting rulings. Furthermore, according to a Feb. 15 Cedatos/Gallup poll, Correa's approval rating is just above 70 percent, while Congress, opposition groups' main vehicle for action, is polling at 8 percent. Though Ecuador most likely will bend toward Bolivarianism under Correa's leadership, it is possible that the president will override Congress and undertake a more dramatic break with Ecuador's current governmental structure and political elite.

Correa wanted Ecuador's referendum to take place sooner -- March 18 -- and for the resultant constitutional assembly to have unlimited powers, including the power to dismiss current members of Congress. Unsurprisingly, Congress denied the assembly such powers in the same vote that set the referendum for April 15. The 100-member body voted 57-1 (most of the opposition walked out of the vote in protest of the constitutionality of the proposed assembly), indicating that though almost 60 percent of Congress supports Correa, even that portion does not fully support him. Signaling that he does not intend to be deterred by a deliberative body that requires compromise, Correa threatened Feb. 17 to resign if his agenda does not receive support from at least 70 percent of the constitutional assembly. This is likely a bluff, however, and Congress apparently aims to drive a hard bargain. On Feb. 26, a coalition of congressmen from the National Action Institutional Renewal Party, Patriotic Society Party (PSP), Social Christian Party and Christian Democratic Union announced its intent to further restrict the powers of a constituent assembly. Though confirming a new attorney general, these legislators made statements to the effect that any decisions related to altering Ecuador's companies law, judicial appointments or the formation of assemblies must be brought before the legislature for debate and a vote.

Correa has not announced many details regarding the modifications he proposes, but he has an easy case to make for reforming some aspects of the constitution. Ecuador is hardly a model of effective checks and balances; the most obvious structural problem is that the Supreme Court's members are elected by the Supreme Court itself (though this did not prevent Congress from appointing an entirely new court in 2004). Also, presidents cannot serve two consecutive terms (although this has hardly been an issue lately, considering Ecuador has had eight presidents since 2006). Ecuador also has a unicameral legislature; though this is not necessarily bad in and of itself, it can exacerbate abuses of power and is an easier scapegoat for executive complaints than a bicameral legislature.

If Correa's objective were only to improve the structure of the government, it might be welcome. But his rhetoric suggests that his fundamental objective is to remove a semi-entrenched political class (the "Party-ocracy," as he calls it) from power, inevitably expanding his own power in the process. This players-based approach is an alarming motivation for legal reform, and even more so for constitutional reform.

As long as Congress is not disbanded and the press is not curtailed, Ecuador is not on the brink of becoming another Venezuela. For example, Venezuela's legislature voted Jan. 31 to give Chavez total special powers; in contrast, Ecuador's legislature denied granting similar powers to a constitutional assembly -- and that was the part of the legislature that supports Correa's general direction. Furthermore, in March 2005 Venezuela reformed its criminal code to increase penalties for "insulting" public authorities and institutions; Ecuador has not yet attempted any such infringement upon freedom of the press, and there are no indications that such moves are on the horizon.

Correa needs to navigate between a system badly in need of reform, a public primed for change, deeply concerned business interests and the temptation to push the limits of power consolidation. Indigenous groups such as Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, as well as former President Lucio Gutierrez, leader of the PSP, support constitutional reform. PSP is not monolithically behind Correa, however, and many of its members have voiced concerns that Chavez might rule Ecuador through Correa as a proxy.

This is similar to accusations leveled against Bolivian President Evo Morales. Correa and Morales both have good reason to distance themselves from perceptions of being Venezuelan puppets; but such perceptions do not play well domestically, and burning bridges with leaders other than Chavez could prove dangerous if Chavez cannot be Morales and Correa's eternal patron. And with oil prices falling and Venezuela's hostility to foreign investors impeding expanded oil production, Venezuela increasingly will have to use its cash to solve problems at home rather than renting friends abroad.

Constitutional reform is a dangerous moment for Ecuadorian politics. However, the country's still-vigorous opposition and free press, plus the fact that Correa does not seem to have the same appetite for alienating the United States as Chavez, will make it difficult for power in Ecuador to fall into one man's hands. If Correa chooses to play hardball, however, the deck is stacked in his favor; the judiciary is weak, Congress is unpopular and public sentiment is behind him.

Whatever the outcome of the constitutional reforms, it appears that, geopolitically, Chavez has secured an ally -- and U.S. ally Colombia is flanked on both sides by a reinvigorated Bolivarian revolution. This could particularly concern Colombia since border tensions with Ecuador have escalated over the past few months -- including Ecuador's decision to open a new port authority on the border, and Ecuadorian threats to have its air force escort Colombian crop-dusting planes to the ground if they get too close.

Correa will take steps from time to time to assert his independence from Chavez, but Chavez clearly inspires him, and the two leaders are unlikely to disagree on major regional policy initiatives. Nonetheless, Ecuador does not hold a geographically central position on the continent like Bolivia, nor is it an economic force to be reckoned with like Brazil. Ecuador's momentum will help keep Chavez's regional ambitions alive, but it will not be a major player in the region.

Ecuador says Congress vote prompts debt reform

QUITO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Ecuador's economy minister said on Wednesday that Congress's vote this week to reduce debt service assignments in the budget plan had given the government more reason to push ahead with its debt restructuring plans.
Economy Minister Ricardo Patino, a leftist economist, also said a commission to audit the country's public debt would be named soon to determine "illegitimate debt" that the government says it will not pay.
President Rafael Correa, a political outsider elected last year, has rattled Wall Street by promising to overhaul the country's foreign debt, triggering concerns that Ecuador might default on its obligations.
"Congress has put at my disposal the option of a debt restructuring to reduce debt payments, and we will certainly consider it," Patino told reporters in Quito. "This is one more reason to talk about debt restructuring."
Congress's vote on Tuesday to divert $283.4 million earmarked for debt payments in the government's $9.8 billion budget plan this year worried investors who are already fretting over the government plans to reform bonds.
"This is an example of the contentious nature in which external debt is viewed in Ecuador, where there is a weak credit culture," said Lisa Schineller, of Standard and Poor's in New York.
"But I don't think that would impact the government's decision to move ahead with a restructuring if that is what they choose to do," she added.
Correa, a former economy minister and ally of U.S. foe Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has vowed to slash debt payments to spend more on the country's poor majority.
Even at a time when Ecuador is flush with oil cash from high oil prices, Correa has said some debt issued by past governments is hurting the country's development.
However, the 43-year-old economist has said debt restructuring could be delayed by his political plans to rewrite the Andean country's constitution.
The foreign debt of Ecuador, South America's fifth-largest oil producer, totaled $10.21 billion in December, according to government figures.

Ecuador, Venez Sever Oil Transnats

Esmeraldas, Ecuador, Feb 24 (Prensa Latina) With the beginning of direct exchange of crude oil for by-products, Ecuador and Venezuela did away Saturday with transnational mediators that drain Latin American economies.

"We are taking a first step by eliminating intermediation. We have learned of some mafias in our country that were capable of threatening the government of President Hugo Chavez," stated Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez.

Interviewed by press at Balao sea port in this city, northeast Ecuador, the official highlighted Caracas will to seal direct accords among state regional companies to avoid economic damages.

"We are convinced that state oil companies have lot more in common than intermediation and transnational interests," said Ramirez.

After the arrival here of the first shipment of 220,000 barrels of diesel, the Venezuelan minister noted that this operation is part of a series of projects and agreements signed with this country, including other sectors.

Accompanied by his Ecuadorian counterpart Alberto Acosta, Ramirez expressed his will of "using energy as a tool to join our peoples and build new economic and cultural opportunities."

With the arrival Friday of the ship with diesel, one of the eight agreements inked in January between these two nations was implemented.

The accord includes the delivery of 36,000 barrels of Napo crude oil daily to Venezuela and the purchase of 660,000 barrels of diesel in three shipments through Ecuador.

Ecuador Stands Up to the US

By ROGER BURBACH.

From Counterpunch, February 19, 2007

Quito, Ecuador.

The leftist government of Rafael Correa has moved assertively in its relations with the United States during its first month in office. The Minister of Foreign Relations, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, in a meeting with the Foreign Press Association in Quito declared that Ecuador intends to close the US military base located at Manta. "Ecuador is a sovereign nation, we do not need any foreign troops in our country," she said. The treaty for the base expires in 2009 and will not be renewed.

The largest US base on South America's Pacific coast, it was ostensibly set up to help monitor narco-trafficking over the ocean and in the nearby Amazon basin. But it has become a major operations center for US intelligence gathering and for coordinating counterinsurgency efforts against the leftist guerrillas in neighboring Colombia. The base's air runway, built at a cost of eighty million dollars, is capable of accommodating the largest and most sophisticated US spy and intelligence gathering air craft. Manta is also used as a port for US naval operations in the Pacific. Upwards of 475 US military personal are continually rotated between Manta and the US Southern Command headquarters in Florida.

Popular sentiment in Ecuador overwhelmingly supports the closure of the US base at Manta. Since its establishment in 1999 the civil war in Colombia has spread to Ecuador, bringing refugees, violence and social conflict, particularly in the Amazon region. Aerial spraying of herbicides by planes originating in Colombia eradicates food crops and has deleterious health effects on Ecuadorian children and adults. The Colombian and US governments claim that the defoliants are only sprayed on the Colombian side of the border and that there are no flights over Ecuador. But President Correa vehemently disagrees: "We will not permit the continual violation of Ecuadorian air space by planes, that are not even Colombian, but from the United States. They enter our country, and then fly back to Colombia." Correa has ordered the Ecuadorian air force "to intercept any planes that violate our air space."

The Correa government is preparing a case for the World Court at the Hague against the Colombian government for the conflict and damages in northern Ecuador. Foreign Minister Espinosa is emphatic in saying that this is a "violation of human rights. It is not only a question of the health effects, but also of the psychological traumas caused by the constant over flights and the terrorization of the local population, particularly among the children who hear planes flying overhead and are subjected to war-like conditions." Special teams comprised international health and human rights representatives are being formed to investigate the conditions on the border. "We want to replace the conflictive conditions with a Plan for Peace and Development in the region," says Espinosa.

Last week the Vice-President of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, in a trip to Caracas, Venezuela, stated that the Colombian government "should act more as a friendly neighbor and not respond only to the orders of the empire." Commenting on the upcoming trip in March of President Bush to Latin America that excludes Ecuador, Moreno added: "Every time Bush comes to visit our region we worry because we don't know what proposals he comes to impart and what sorts of statements he will make." His comments caused an uproar, and in an effort to calm the diplomatic waters, Espinosa said that Moreno's remarks were not officially sanctioned. "We want cordial, normal relations with the US embassy and government in order to resolve any issues between us," she said.

The Correa government is also moving adroitly to break with the neo-liberal trade and commercial policies that have been imposed on Ecuador by Washington and international lending agencies. In line with his campaign platform, Rafael Correa has made it clear that he will never sign the Free Trade Agreement with the United States that was being discussed with previous governments. At the same time, Ecuador is negotiating special bilateral trade and economic agreements with Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia. Venezuela has agreed to refine Ecuadorian oil and provide financial assistance for social programs in Ecuador, while the Bolivian government has concluded an agreement to import food commodities from small and medium producers in Ecuador.

For the moment Correa has not opted to join the People's Trade Treaty signed last year between Cuba, Bolivia, and Venezuela. But as Rene Baez, an economic analyst at the Catholic University of Ecuador says: "The treaty is really a series of special accords and financial agreements, and in that sense Ecuador is already an informal member of this alternative bloc."

The financial news that captured the headlines last week was the announcement of Economics Minister Ricardo Patino that Ecuador would make a scheduled debt payment of $135 million to foreign bond holders. Known for his long-held belief that paying off the foreign debt undercuts critical social spending programs and keeps Ecuador in a state of perpetual poverty, Patino's decision came just two days after he had announced that Ecuador would not make the $135 million payment.

Informed sources close to the government say that after high level discussions, Correa opted to pay the bond holders, preferring to concentrate on the upcoming negotiations with international creditors over a reduction in the schedule of debt payments and on the annulment of part of the debt that was the result of corrupt practices by prior Ecuadorian governments and foreign creditors. As Rene Baez says, "the Correa government decided to be selective in the battles it is taking on for the moment. A default now would have caused an international reaction and possibly provoked a domestic financial crisis, just as the government is trying to get its legs under it."

Roger Burbach is director of the Center for the Study of the Americas (CENSA) and a Visiting Scholar at the Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley. He is co-author with Jim Tarbell of "Imperial Overstretch: George W. Bush and the Hubris of Empire," His latest book is: "The Pinochet Affair: State Terrorism and Global Justice."

Ecuadorian Native movements turn up the heat

From Indian Country, February 19, 2007.
By Lisa Garrigues
LA PAZ, Bolivia - On Jan. 15, Native leaders handed the ceremonial ''staff of power'' to Ecuador's new president, Rafael Correa. Now indigenous movements in Ecuador are putting the pressure on the Ecuadorian government to meet their demands, which include the convocation of a Constitutional Assembly and increased territorial rights in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

During the ceremony of Tantarimuy, held in Cotopaxi province, Correa said his government would be ''a government of the indigenous.''

His leftist views align him with Bolivia's Evo Morales and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who attended the ceremony wearing Andean ponchos given to them by Native authorities.

''Latin America will keep changing, because what we are living is not an era of change, it is the change of an era,'' Correa said.

He has promised to build an Ecuador with ''Ecuadorians in charge,'' opposing the free market economic policies of the United States and the International Monetary Fund, and taking back the country's oil wealth from multinational corporations.

Like Morales, he has also promised to convoke a constitutional assembly that will write a new constitution, a move that has the approval of 75 percent of the population of urban centers Quito and Guayaquil, according to recent surveys.

The Constitutional Assembly would have the power ''to limit, restructure (or) dissolve'' any branch of government.

But he faces stiff opposition from Congress and the TSE Supreme Electoral Court, whose members say a constitutional assembly is illegal and fear Correa would use it to consolidate his own power.

''We want the established order to prevail,'' Congressman Federico Perez, of the opposition party, told the radio station Democracy.

Correa has blamed ''mafias'' within the current government who want to hold on to their privilege and power for blocking the constitutional assembly.

CONAIE, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, supported its own candidate in the 2005 elections: Luis Macas, Quichua.

But Macas and other indigenous leaders support Correa's efforts to create a new constitution, and have already begun meeting to discuss what should be included in it - like the nationalization of Ecuador's natural resources, agrarian reform, the defense of biodiversity and sovereignty of indigenous lands.

Humberto Cholango, president of ECUARUNARI, the Confederation of Quichuan Peoples of Ecuador, called on indigenous and social movements to take to the streets of Quito to pressure Congress to approve the Constitutional Assembly.

''If they try to stop it, and an indigenous rebellion is necessary, we'll do it,'' he told one reporter.

Five thousand supporters of the Constitutional Assembly clashed with police when they surrounded the congressional building on Jan. 30.

Cholango said CONAIE, ECUARUNARI and dozens of other organizations have banded together to form the National Front for the Plurinational Constituent Assembly.

Meanwhile, Ecuadorian indigenous groups from the Amazon met in Quito the last week of January in what they called an ''extraordinary'' event, bringing together 304 delegates from the Shuar, Kichwa, Shiwar, Andoa, Zapara, Huaorani and Achuar nations to reconstruct the indigenous organization CONFENIAE.

CONFENIAE, the Confederation of Indigenous Nations of the Ecuadorian Amazon Confederation of the Nationalities Indigenous to the Amazon of Ecuador, is associated with CONAIE and COICA, the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin: two groups that have been working for indigenous rights for the past 20 years.

Delegates said the organization ''was able to put back together its organizational structure, which was damaged by various economic and oil interests that had brought it to the brink of profound division.''

In their statement following the meeting, delegates affirmed their support for Correa and reminded him of the importance of including representatives of indigenous nations and organizations in the new constitutional assembly.

They also asked that CONFENAIE be given more power over administration of Ecuadorian Amazonian indigenous territory and regional development, as well as a budget of $11 million.

Other demands included the withdrawal and/or renegotiation of mining, logging and oil contracts, reparations for damages sustained by oil development, government intervention in the lawsuit brought by indigenous people against Texaco and the strengthening of education, health and cultural services.

Ecuador's indigenous population is about 25 percent, less than that of neighboring Peru or Bolivia, and clustered in 12 different nations throughout the country's diverse terrain, which include high Andes, Amazon and coastal lands.

But Ecuadorian indigenous movements have wielded enormous power in shaping the political, social and economic history of the country in the last 20 years.

By successfully creating alliances with other dispossessed groups, they were instrumental in bringing populist President Lucio Gutierrez to power in 2003, then in bringing him down again when he didn't fulfill campaign promises.

Repeated protests by indigenous organizations against California-based Occidental Petroleum caused the Ecuadorian government to revoke its contract with the oil company in 2006.

Massive demonstrations by Ecuadorian Native groups have also managed to stall a free trade agreement between the United States and Ecuador, which many indigenous people say will harm local agriculturists with an influx of U.S. products.

Ecuador Is Very Pleased with ALBA

Caracas, Feb 13 (Prensa Latina) The Ecuadorian government expressed satisfaction with the Venezuelan proposal of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas) and considers it may join very soon, affirmed official sources Tuesday..

In declarations to the press, Ecuador s Vice President Lenin Moreno noted that the Executive is making the necessary evaluations with a view to joining that initiative.

Moreno, who is visiting Venezuela, said the project is a sample of solidarity, equality and equity in the spheres of economy, society, culture and justice, among others..

Ecuador is also thinking of materializing its return to OPEC.

The vice president met with Venezuelan dignitary Hugo Chavez on Monday to deal with bilateral links and common interests.

The talks were focused on the integration process and the Venezuelan experience in different social programs, as well as and the progress of innovation in the scientific and technological fields

Ecuador: dignity, sovereignty on the rise

W. T. Whitney Jr., Feb 15, 2007
People's Weekly World

Rafael Correa, upon his inauguration as Ecuador’s president on Jan. 15, immediately called for Congress to approve a referendum for a constitutional assembly which he sees as crucial for “a profound transformation” of the country. While campaigning, Correa promised a new constitution, demanded that U.S. troops leave the country and condemned Washington-backed “free trade” agreements.

Despite 80 percent popular support for the assembly, Ecuador’s Congress, controlled by right-wing parties, had rejected the proposed referendum as unconstitutional. Since Jan. 30, widespread demonstrations, led by indigenous groups, have kept the issue open.

Marchers descended upon Congress on Feb. 12, demanding immediate action on the referendum. Indigenous leader Humberto Cholango told the crowd, “We can’t keep on leaving things up to a discredited, neoliberal political sector,” referring to those who advocate NAFTA-like pacts, privatization and public austerity.

Correa promised, if need be, to bypass Congress and set up a special entity to authorize the referendum. The next day, however, Congress, in a compromise, approved the referendum.

The government has also had to deal with a border dispute with Colombia, a U.S. ally. On Dec. 11, Colombian airplanes, fumigating coca plants in Colombia, dispersed the herbicide Glyphosate over inhabited areas in Ecuador, repeating the incursion on Feb. 5. Colombia called off further spraying five days later, after Ecuador announced plans to go to the International Court at The Hague.

The Correa government has outlined a “foreign policy peace initiative” on border problems, especially the humanitarian crisis affecting 250,000 Colombians displaced by that nation’s civil war.

Correa became Ecuador’s eighth president in 10 years after a 57 percent runoff victory on Nov. 26. Speaking partly in the Quechua language, he joined thousands of indigenous people on Jan. 14 for a symbolic inaugural ceremony. “This nation is one of the five Latin American countries with the least investment per inhabitant,” he said, and he has prioritized education, health care and support for the most vulnerable as his goals. Women occupy seven of 17 cabinet posts in his government.

“The neoliberal night is reaching its end,” Correa declared. “A sovereign, dignified, just and socialist Latin America is beginning to rise.”

President Evo Morales of Bolivia, on hand for the ceremony with Venezuelan President Chavez, responded, “The struggle of the Cuban people and Fidel against imperialism was not in vain.” According to the Mexican daily La Jornada, Correa is “taking on responsibility for Indo-America socialism epitomized by José Carlos Mariátegui,” a Peruvian Communist leader of the 1920s.

Under Correa, Ecuador plans to cut its ties with the International Monetary Fund. On Feb. 2, officials announced a 10 percent reduction in foreign debt repayments, allowing for a 6 percent funding increase for social services. Ecuador owes $11 billion, approximately 25 percent of its GDP, to foreign lenders.

In response, Thomas Shannon, U.S. undersecretary of state, advised caution. President Correa, he suggested, should “not place Ecuador in conflict with institutions and countries it needs and that can provide the most help,” adding, “We have an idea of how to do it, based on our experience [which] we are inclined to share.”

According to Correa, Ecuador will re-evaluate foreign debt obligations. He has proposed “an international debt arbitration court” to determine “legitimate foreign debt” and use of the “Bank of the South,” proposed by Venezuela, as repository for monetary reserves.

Under agreements ratified Feb. 9, Venezuela will help modernize Ecuador’s refineries and hydroelectric facilities, process 100,000 barrels of Ecuador’s oil on a daily, no-cost basis, and allow Petroecuador to drill for oil in Venezuela.

A cloud of tragedy, however, pervades these new beginnings. Defense Minister Guadalupe Larriva died Jan. 24 when two helicopters collided during military exercises near the Manta U.S. Air Base installation. She, her 16-year-old daughter, and five officers were passengers. All died.

Larriva, head of Ecuador’s Socialist Party, had condemned Ecuador’s military ties with Colombia, projected military reforms, and confirmed U.S. troop departure from Manta in 2009 when bilateral agreements expire.

President Correa fired Army chief Pedro Machado because of the crash, which, according to an international team, was not caused by mechanical problems. Observers liken Larriva’s death to that of leftist President Jaime Roldos in 1981. His aircraft also crashed under mysterious circumstances.

Lorena Escudero replaced Larriva as defense minister, joining female counterparts serving in Argentina and Uruguay. At Larriva’s funeral, Rafael Correa bade farewell: “Guadalupe, you liked hearing this, from the song for Comandante Che Guevara: ‘Until victory, always.’”

atwhit @ megalink.net