The people of Ecuador are rising up to refound their country as a pluri-national homeland for all. This inspiring movement, with Ecuador's indigenous peoples at its heart, is part of the revolution spreading across the Americas, laying the groundwork for a new, fairer, world. Ecuador Rising aims to bring news and analysis of events unfolding in Ecuador to english speakers.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Ecuador Undergoes Mining Makeover

Written by Cyril Mychalejko
From UpsideDownWorld, Wednesday, 23 April 2008


Anti-Mining ProtestEcuador's constitutional assembly passed a mining mandate last week that cancelled a majority of the country's mining concessions, suspended remaining projects, and imposed a moratorium on awarding new concessions while giving the government a six month deadline to re-write the country's mining legislation.

"What's at stake here is to define the future of large-scale metallic mining in Ecuador,"
said the assembly's president Alberto Acosta, in a speech before the mandate was passed 95 to 1 (with 25 abstentions).

International mining companies operating in Ecuador, many of which are Canadian (such as
Ascendant Copper, Aurelian Resources Inc., Dynasty Metals & Mining Inc, and IamGold Corp. ), have no legal recourse to challenge the ruling. This will be the first time the Ecuadorian government will change its mining laws since the early 1990's, when the World Bank "assisted" Ecuador in deregulating the industry at the expense of protecting the environment and upholding the rights of local communities to self-determination.

"The accepted proposal is fraught with negative actions that make Ecuador inhospitable to mining investment,"
stated Haywood Securities analyst Eric Zaunscherb in a note to clients.

Dynasty spokesman William McCartney
told Bloomberg News that the decision was "devastating" and cost his company "millions of dollars of market capitalization."

Patrick Anderson, Aurelian's chief executive,
suggested to Reuters that Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's administration was "not fully aware" of the benefits of mining and that his party has been hijacked by extremists.

"It's an extremely left-wing faction of the president's party who have an anti-mining agenda," said Anderson.
There are also plans to create a state-owned mining company and to increase the percentage of mining revenues owed to the government. The mandate also bans all mining projects that may impact water resources and that could threaten publicly protected areas.

"The current dilemma is not to say yes or no to mining, but rather to seek for responsible, economical, social and environmental mining," said Correa.

Carlos Zorrilla, executive director of Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Intag (
DECOIN), calls the assembly's decision a victory of "right over might." Zorrilla, who was forced to temporarily go into hiding because of his anti-mining and environmental activism against Ascendant Copper's controversial Junin project, also believes this could "lead to an Ecuador free of large and medium scale metal mining in the near future."

Cyril Mychalejko is an editor at
www.UpsideDownWorld.org.

Ecuador offers FARC recognition if rebels drop 'terrorism'

QUITO (AFP) 24 April 2008 — Leftist Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said during an interview he was willing to recognize Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels as legitimate combatants if they stop acting like terrorists.

"To attain that status they would have to give up all activities contrary to the rules of war, such as kidnappings, attacks that can qualify as acts of terrorism, bombings, etcetera," Correa said in an interview with Venezuelan television Wednesday.

"We say this categorically, they must give up actions that go against human rights ... and free unconditionally all the hostages they are holding," Correa added.

It was the first time Correa spoke about the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia either as a legitimate fighting force -- he used the term "belligerent force" -- or as a terrorist group, which is how the United States, Europe and Colombia brand them.

Correa a week ago denied Colombian charges he was too lenient with FARC rebels, and warned that any rebel incursion into Ecuador would be deemed an "an act of war" to be dealt with accordingly.

The FARC rebels persistently cross the border into Ecuador. A Colombian military attack March 1 on a FARC rebel camp inside Ecuador triggered a week-long diplomatic row, in which Venezuela took Quito's side.

Leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recently pressed the international community to stop branding FARC rebels as terrorists, insisting that they be given "belligerent status" as a legitimate fighting force.

The FARC, South America's oldest and largest insurgency, are accused of holding an estimated 750 people hostage and funding their activities through drug trafficking.

Ecuador's Correa facing ire over Colombia dispute

By Alonso Soto
QUITO, April 23 (Reuters) - President Rafael Correa's popularity will likely suffer if he further prolongs a dispute with Colombia because Ecuadoreans want him to focus instead on fighting inflation and spurring an anemic economy.

Correa, who has used much of the political capital from his popularity to exert control over Ecuador's institutions, initially boosted his high ratings seven weeks ago with a tough response to Colombia's bombing of rebels inside his country.

The leftist leader severed diplomatic ties with Bogota and rallied regional leaders to condemn President Alvaro Uribe.

But now he is the main obstacle to ending a dispute that the rest of Latin America, including his chief ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, thought was over just days after it began when Uribe shook Correa's hand at a summit.

Correa, whose confrontational style discomfits many Ecuadoreans, still refuses to restore ties or even talk with his conservative counterpart, limiting his comments to a public discourse laced with accusations such as "bare-faced liar."

Correa says he can no longer trust Uribe and has so far shrugged off pleas from the Organization of American States -- the Western Hemisphere's top diplomatic body -- to move on.

That poses a risk to Correa's popularity and means tensions will remain between two neighbors over Marxist Colombian rebels who finance their war against the state with drugs and launch bombings, kidnappings and army ambushes from the border area.

Ecuadoreans are increasingly focused on the problems of a slow-growing economy rather than a dispute that is unlikely anyway to escalate into an armed conflict.

"It is not that I'm unpatriotic, but what our people want is lower prices and more jobs, not a war with Colombia," said Patricio Gomez, a 25-year-old computer salesman.

Correa is expected to have to stand for re-election this year due to a change in the constitution. And when they vote, most Ecuadoreans will be focusing on sharply higher prices for staples such as bread and milk and an economy that is generating few new jobs.

The economy grew by less than 3 percent last year due to scarce foreign investment, and lengthy floods in the agricultural coastal region are likely to hurt growth in 2008.

RATINGS MUSCLE

Correa and Uribe are both are strong-willed, highly popular, and used to confronting their opponents head-on.
Still, pollsters say Correa will lose at home by continuing to seek a diplomatic victory.

"If there is no solution to this issue in sight, it will likely take a toll" on Correa's image, said Santiago Perez, an independent pollster often hired by the government. "The dispute is irrelevant and little understood by Ecuadoreans ... Employment, poverty and (food) prices are the key issues."

Correa's popularity is unusual in the unstable oil-exporting nation that saw three of his predecessors toppled in just over a decade when Congress and the military sided repeatedly with street protesters.

Correa has pledged to help the poor and uproot corruption from traditional power centers such as the legislature.

He has used his popularity to wrest influence from institutions. He emasculated Congress with a new assembly and, this month, he did what would have been unthinkable for previous governments -- attacked the powerful military.

He railed at the armed forces over their handling of intelligence on the raid, replaced his defense minister with a close palace aide and prompted resignations byt top generals.

According to the country's most influential pollster Cedatos-Gallup poll, Correa's popularity bounced at the height of the Colombia crisis in mid-March to 66 percent, up from a low of 54 percent the previous month.

But that support began to erode as the spat dragged on, dipping to 62 percent by April.

"It seems the government attention is focused only in Colombia, and Ecuadoreans are not too happy with that," said Cedatos' head pollster Polibio Cordova.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Correa - My Hands are Clean and Bloodless, Something Uribe Can’t Say

Via Machetera

Interview with Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador

Gorka Castillo - Público

Translation: Machetera

In an interview with Público, the Ecuadoran head of state accuses the Colombian government of lying, and its president, Álvaro Uribe, of links with paramilitaries.

Ecuador’s president doesn’t mince words. Over an hour’s interview he analyzed the Latin American political situation and didn’t hide the wound opened by Colombia that will take some time to heal.

The British writer Richard Gott considers Colombia to be the main element in the region’s instability. Do you share his view?

This is nothing new, rather something that goes way back. Colombia is the only country that has paramilitaries, guerrillas, drug traffickers, extensive coca cultivation and extensive zones of the country uncontrolled by the state. Paramilitarism and narco-politics doesn’t exist in Ecuador. Nor do we cultivate coca. Those are exclusively Colombian terms. I say this regretfully because [the Colombians] are our brothers, but Colombia today is the focus of the greatest instability that exists in Latin America and this hurts all of us.

Do you wish to say that the Colombian government’s image in Latin America is not a good one?

Uribe’s government is completely discredited. We’ve already pointed out his lies; now no-one believes him.

In Europe it’s not seen that way.

It’s true that in the European Union as much as the United States, the backing of his lies by some powerful media has harmed us and for that reason, very soon, I will undertake a tour of Europe to let people know about Ecuador and show that we are a decent government and a peaceful land. What’s problematic is on the other side of the border. We’re victims of the Colombian conflict. We’re not perpetrators nor are we accomplices.

You give the impression that a media war has been launched.

It’s not that I’m giving that impression, it’s that it’s a fact. We know with whom we are dealing; with a militaristic country, with a president who has an imperfect past, with enormous support from foreign intelligence agencies and with an impressive propaganda machine. We have faith that the truth and justice will prevail. We’ve already achieved that in Latin America, where Colombia has been soundly defeated politically, diplomatically and informationally.

What drives Colombia to accuse its neighboring countries of collaboration with the FARC?

Uribe’s militaristic policies began when he became president. First in contradicting the strategy of his predecessor, Andrés Pastrana, who came to embrace Manuel Marulanda. But in came Uribe with the hard line and he wanted us all to do the same. He’s like the little emperor who follows his boss’s dictates. It’s obvious that his political and economic power is based on the struggle against the FARC. Peace is not convenient for Uribe because fighting guerrillas gives the Colombian electorate a secure feeling. What is troubling is that this conflict is spilling over the borders.

But before the bombing on March 1, relations between the two countries was ruled by respect.

Uribe has always shown a lack of respect toward Ecuador. So much so that our territory continues to be fumigated with glyphosate and to the point of frequently violating our airspace with their planes. Anyway, as to the March 1 bombing, there’s a question that still remains unanswered.

What?

They had Raúl Reyes’ group under their control when they could still be found on Colombian soil. Why did they wait until they passed over to Ecuador to kill them?

Why?

Was it by any chance done in order to involve Ecuador in a conflict that is not theirs? Was it not a matter of intimidation? Could it have been to force us to participate in Plan Colombia? What Uribe didn’t count on was our response, nor the condemnation he received from the countries in the OAS. The plan failed because we didn’t fall for it.

During the meeting of the Rio Group in Santo Domingo, you showed your hands to Uribe and told him to take a good look at them because they are clean and without blood. What were you referring to?

Uribe has tried to involve us, not only my government, but also the Armed Forces, as supporters of the FARC. Later he alleged that my presidential campaign had been financed by the guerrillas. It’s disgraceful. Where does this gentleman get off, after having violating every international law, accusing us of support for guerrilla groups whose actions we’ve said a thousand times we reject; it’s insulting. That’s why I told him to look at my hands. Just to highlight the contradiction with Uribe’s position, which has been so scandalously related to drug trafficking. His warmongering policy is not going to end the conflict, instead it will exacerbate it and he’s going to leave thousands dead as a result. My hands are clean and bloodless. That’s something Uribe cannot say.

However they continue to claim that you were aware of the FARC’s activities in your territory. They say that you were warned as many as 16 times of guerrilla bases in your territory, and were ignored. Is it true?

This is an unbelievable infamy. All my orders are on record. It’s all so coarse and ridiculous that we’ve decided it’s not worth answering. It’s just that we don’t know why he does it. Just when relations improve with him, something strange happens and you get stabbed in the back. Something in his head’s not working right.

How is it possible that this climate of tension has been reached if at the end of the Rio Group meeting, you managed to shake hands?

That’s Álvaro Uribe Vélez. Something’s wrong. His behavior is terribly psychotic.

Is it true that Reyes had contacted the French in order to negotiate the liberation of Ingrid Betancourt, when he was bombed?

Uribe doesn’t want peace, nor does he want hostages released, because Betancourt is a potential presidential candidate. It’s true that we’d known that contact would be made in a neutral third country in order to liberate them later on Ecuadoran soil. President Chávez also asked me if we could receive hostages in our territory because a transfer over the Colombian-Venezuelan border had become very dangerous. We were in the middle of that process. Those movements toward liberation of the hostages that the guerrillas entrusted to Reyes were precisely the reason Reyes was destroyed.

Ecuador has just denounced Colombia before the Hague Tribunal for illegal spraying on its territory.

The verdict will still take many years but we hope that a stiff sentence will be handed down to force Bogotá to suspend the aerial glyphosate spraying they’ve been doing since 2006. These fumigations have caused Ecuadoran farmers on the border to leave their homes, lose their crops, their income, and have caused serious illnesses, even death. However, do you know what the Colombian government’s reaction has been up until today? It’s to say that our demand that the spraying cease coincides with the FARC’s pleas. It’s shameful.

The crisis has revealed huge cracks in the Ecuadoran intelligence system that have caused military leadership to be relieved of its duties. What reforms should it undertake?

Something serious is going on with our intelligence services. We still don’t have all the firm data but we can say that we have been infiltrated by the CIA and this agency works for Colombia.

There are some who criticize you for being naive in having waited so long to change the military leadership, with its loyalties to the prior regime.

They’re probably right. And also for having trusted Bogotá. You might say that we underestimated the threat of external attack once things had been resolved with Perú and we had good relations with Colombia. But we underestimated the fact that Uribe was there.

THE BORDER

Is it true that Ecuador draws its line with the FARC and not with Colombia?

We have a jungle border with 13 posts. Colombia only has two, when the guerrilla conflict is theirs. Why? Because it hopes that we will put them to death. Despite this, we have 11,000 men deployed which costs the state coffers around $100 million annually. Last year 13 soldiers died in a war that is not ours and on top of that we have to swallow the insolence of Álvaro Uribe Vélez. Bogotá has around 170,000 square kilometers where its army cannot go. Against this situation, I repeat that we don’t limit ourselves with Colombia, we limit ourselves with the FARC.

SPAIN

What has been the response of the Socialist government to the political crisis?

It’s been a little ambiguous. I am very appreciative of the Socialist government and of President Zapatero, but his statement was extremely vague, trying to please both sides when we were the ones attacked. The explanation that we were given was that he was in the final stretch of his electoral campaign. We understand that but we expect something more of the Spanish government. God willing, the hundred odd transnational businesses operating in Colombia are not being pressured, because in this kind of affair the principles and convictions that we share with President Zapatero are more important. We agree that international law should always prevail.

HOSTAGES

Are you willing to be a mediator with the FARC to achieve a humanitarian exchange?

I’ve said this a thousand times to President Álvaro Uribe: the Colombian people can count on Ecuador to resolve this civil war that’s been bleeding it dry for so many decades. That’s what we were trying to do before the attack. However, they don’t want to resolve it. The campaign against Ecuador from Bogotá shows that. We don’t reject the theory that they want to destabilize us for not following Washington’s policies. Neither do we rule out that it may be a strategy to put a puppet government in Quito that would accept Plan Colombia and permit the Manta airbase to continue operating beyond 2009, when the contract expires.

INVESTMENTS

Are you thinking of eliminating the concessions for resource extraction by large companies?

The new Constitution that is now being debated in the Constituent Assembly is part of a new legal framework for this issue. We will change the law made by those indescribable bureaucrats at the World Bank, that was such a disaster. It managed to grant more than 4,000 concessions, of which 70% never even managed to start any operation whatsoever. The contracts will be renegotiated. A very short time ago we met with Repsol. The interest is mutual. As long as the workers and the environment are respected and the state is paid the taxes it is owed, there will not be problems and the projects will be profitable. The oil belongs to the state, and we want the contracts to be signed for services rendered.

IMMIGRATION

What measures are being directed toward immigrants so that they do not feel so uprooted?

On reaching the presidency, our government created an immigration ministry. We are in the process of strengthening our embassies and consulates, especially in Spain, because we believe that Ecuadoran migration is already the country’s fifth region. We have just adopted a provision of $9 million for Plan Return (a program of tax exemption so that those who return to the country may do so with their goods and housing subsidies). We are also creating a Migrant’s Bank. At the political level I will say that there are six immigrant representatives in the Constituent Assembly for the first time in its history.

Ecuadorian president calls for unity among Latin American nations

QUITO, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa on Monday called for unity among Latin American nations.

The region must leave behind the "long night of neo-liberalism," said Correa during a meeting with visiting Argentine President Cristina Fernandez.

The time was over when Latin American nations were separated, isolated from each other and forced into compliance, he said.

"Latin America is living a new era with sovereign governments, dignified, independent and progressive," he said.

Meanwhile, Correa called for the establishment of a new "regional financial architecture in order to banish forever the defect of the selfishness, isolation and fratricidal competition for the resources in our countries."

Correa urged the Latin American nations to strive to build a new financial architecture "that eliminates the subordination to the international financial organism and that exceeds the limits of trade integration."

Correa also thanked Fernandez for Argentina's support during the recent crisis between Ecuador and Colombia.

Ecuador broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia on March 3after Colombia's army attacked a rebel base of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on Ecuadorian territory on March 1,which killed 26 people.

Argentina, Ecuador Sign on Energy

Argentina, Ecuador Sign on Energy

Quito, Apr 21 (Prensa Latina) Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa met here with his Argentinean counterpart Cristina Fernandez to sign a joint agreement to build a hydroelectrical plant.

After her arrival on a 24-hour official visit Fernandez and Correa analyzed ways to strengthen bilateral links.

The Ecuadorian Head of State highlighted this weekend that important Argentinean investments are expected and emphasized signing of a covenant to build the Coca-Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant

It is a project that will be carried out by Termo Pichincha national company and Enarsa from Argentina with 1.6 billion dollars.

The plant will also have a generation capacity of 1,500 megawatts per hour.

The leaders are also expected to sign other agreements and Correa will give the visitor the National Order of Merit award with the Great Chain level that constitutes Ecuador's highest recognition.

Quito's major Paco Moncayo will also receive Fernandez at the Society of Jesus church where he will receive the keys of the city.

The Argentinean Head of State, who is on her first visit to this Andean nation, will also attend book donations to the Latin American Social Science Faculty (FLACSO).

The dignitary is expected to return to Buenos Aires Monday night.

Ecuador fights US infiltration

Duroyan Fertl
Green Left Weekly, 19 April 2008

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa shook up the establishment in early April after forcing the resignation of defence minister Wellington Sandoval, the military Chiefs of Staff, and the country's police chief amid accusations that the military and intelligence organisations were infiltrated by, and under the control of, the CIA.

Among those accused was the army intelligence chief, Colonel Mario Pazmino, who has been linked with White Legion, a far-right group that has issued death threats against journalists, human rights activists and social movement leaders.

The scandal broke out only 6 weeks after the Colombian military illegally bombed and raided Ecuadorian territory on March 1, attacking a camp of the left-wing guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

In the aftermath of Colombia’s attack, news began to surface about US involvement in the attack, and the prior knowledge of some sectors of the Ecuadorian military.

The US currently holds a lease to the Ecuador’s Eloy Alfaro Military Air Base, at Manta, which has been used to assist in Colombia’s spraying of coca crops in the border region.

Correa has repeatedly insisted that the lease, which ends next year, is an unconstitutional violation of sovereignty and will not be renewed. The Ecuadorian government has commenced proceedings against Colombia in the International Court of Justice, claiming that the spraying is causing birth defects, cancer, and environmental damage.

The prospect of US infiltration of Ecuador’s military and state apparatus raises the spectre of Colombia’s internal conflict spilling into Ecuador — not to mention the role of the US and CIA in backing coups, dictatorships and crimes against humanity across Latin America.

However, it also indicates Washington’s frustration, as Latin America turns to the left on a wave of popular reform led by left-wing governments that are increasingly challenging Washington’s hegemony in the region — and seeking to replace it with a system based on social, economic and environmental justice.

ECUADOR-COLOMBIA: No Ready Solution in Sight

By Kintto Lucas
QUITO, Apr 18 (IPS) - The diplomatic row between Ecuador and Colombia that was triggered by the Mar. 1 Colombian bombing raid of a FARC rebel camp in Ecuadorean territory unleashed a flurry of mutual accusations and cast a pall of uncertainty over the future relations between the neighbouring countries.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa told IPS Friday that his government does not want to "deepen the conflict" with Colombia, but that it cannot keep silent in the face of the constant verbal attacks from Colombia’s right-wing President Álvaro Uribe.

Correa asked Organisation of American States (OAS) Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, in their meeting Friday in Quito, to take a hand in the matter, in order to get the Colombian government to cease its verbal aggression against Ecuador.

It will be difficult to re-establish diplomatic ties -- which Ecuador broke off after the Colombian military bombed the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) camp within Ecuadorean territory -- as long as "Bogotá’s lies, maliciousness and media campaign continue," the president added.

With respect to the Colombian government’s claims that Correa had ordered Ecuador’s armed forces not to pursue the FARC within the national territory, the president said he would reveal "certain confidential recordings of COSENA (National Security Council) meetings dealing with the defence of our national territory."

He said the COSENA meetings in question, in which the members of the Council talk about pursuing any armed Colombian forces who enter Ecuador, clearly refute the Uribe administration’s "libel and slander."

"How can it be that Mr. Uribe commits himself to something in the OAS and the Rio Group, and later says he does not regret the attack?" said Correa.

He was referring to meetings held by the two regional bodies shortly after the Mar. 1 attack that killed FARC’s international spokesman Raúl Reyes and two dozen other people.

Both the OAS and Rio Group -- a regional mechanism of political consultation and coordination -- adopted resolutions rejecting the Mar. 1 bombing raid and urging Colombia to respect the principles of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, which Bogotá promised to do.

But in later statements, Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos made it clear that his country would not hesitate to do the same thing over again in similar circumstances.

Authorities in Colombia have accused Quito of links to the FARC, and have published cryptic fragments of documents that were allegedly found in laptop computers seized at Raúl Reyes’ camp, and which the Colombian government has interpreted as evidence of such ties.

"Who can keep Colombia from bombing us again one of these days? We have to be particularly wary when Uribe acts like he is close to Ecuador," said Correa, who added that when the Colombian leader said he would stop anti-coca fumigations along the border between the two countries, spraying operations in the area were actually stepped up.

On Mar. 31, the Correa administration brought legal action against Colombia before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague for damages caused by the spraying of glyphosate, an herbicide, along the border.

Scientific studies have found that Ecuadoreans living near the border have suffered health effects as a result of the spraying of coca crops in Colombia. The fumigation has also affected crops and livestock.

Ecuador has asked the ICJ to order Colombia to pay reparations for the damages caused to the local population and the environment over the past seven years.

The lawsuit states that several indigenous communities have fled Ecuador’s border region as a result of the aerial fumigation.

Ecuadorean Foreign Minister María Isabel Salvador said that in January and February, her government once again attempted to tackle the problem in talks between the two countries’ foreign ministries.

But Salvador said the Colombian government refused to sign an agreement to refrain from spraying within 10 kilometres of the border, and, "with no other option left open to us, after seven years of diplomatic efforts, Ecuador decided to take legal action."

Quito wants the ICJ to declare that Colombia’s spraying has violated Ecuador’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity; order that it stop spraying within 10 kilometres of the border; and establish reparations to be paid for the damages caused.

Although the government had been preparing the lawsuit since last year and it was not directly related to the Mar. 1 bombing, the cross-border raid prompted the Correa administration to move ahead more decisively with the issue.

"There is no doubt that the spraying constitutes a grave violation of sovereignty and international law," said Salvador.

The Uribe administration has rejected the legal action, arguing in a statement that "the FARC have been the main promoters of the cultivation of illegal crops in Colombian territory, and it is they who manipulate the people into protesting any initiative aimed at eradicating such crops."

In January, "President Uribe reiterated the offer to indemnify, in accordance with Colombian law, Ecuadorean citizens who may have suffered damages as a result of the aerial spraying," added the communiqué.

The statement also said that Uribe "expressed his intention of intensifying manual (coca) eradication programmes in the area," but had decided against making a commitment to suspend the spraying.

Correa told IPS that he would begin a diplomatic campaign in Europe to debunk the Colombian government’s allegations against his government.

Bogotá’s "smear campaign based on misinformation has done us a great deal of harm, given how susceptible the European Union is to this kind of thing," said Correa.

On the other hand, "the Colombia’s government has suffered a complete political, diplomatic and media defeat in Latin America; no one in the region believes Uribe anymore, and the Rio Group condemnation was couched in very strong terms," said the left-leaning president. Correa told the press Thursday that "We won't allow any regular or irregular foreign forces to set foot on Ecuadorean soil. If we come across patrols, or FARC camps, in Ecuadorean territory, it will be considered an act of war." He also called on the FARC to release all of the hostages the rebel group is holding, and said Ecuador was willing to help broker a humanitarian solution to the hostage crisis.

"If we can serve as intermediaries, we will do so," he said, adding that prior to the bombing of the FARC camp, he had already offered to host on Ecuadorean territory an operation for the release of the 37 hostages still held by the Colombian insurgents, who want to trade them for some 500 imprisoned guerrillas.

Correa said that while Ecuador maintains control over its territory, Colombia has been unable to do the same with respect to its own, despite the fact that it has more than 400,000 military troops and police officers, compared to Ecuador’s 40,000.

He also pointed out that Colombia’s civil war, which has dragged on for nearly half a century, is the "biggest source of instability in Latin America," while stressing the continuous flow of U.S. aid received by Bogotá from the United States, through the Plan Colombia anti-drug and counterinsurgency strategy.

"I hope that someday there will be an integrated regional defence policy and armed forces," said the 45-year-old U.S.- and European-educated economist.

Integrated forces "would be free of foreign tutelage from countries unfamiliar with our reality, our history," he said, referring to the United States.

Ecuador: Mexicans were not Guerrillas

Mexico, Apr 17 (Prensa Latina) Ecuadorian Vice President Lenin Moreno rejected the fact that Mexican young people who died in the Colombian attack to Ecuadorian national territory on March 1st were regarded as guerrillas, just as the Colombian government is trying to make people believe.

Moreno took part in a UN regional conference on the rights of disabled people Thursday and make strongly critical statements on the recent statements of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe when he accused those Mexican young people of drug-trafficking.

"Uribe also accused those people of terrorism and he is trying to find a justification to what is unjustifiable. The Ecuadorian government has no information that the deceased Mexican people and survivor Lucia Morett have been guerrillas," he stated.

He pointed out all of them were having a little time in Ecuador, and the work they were doing was basically on research.

Ecuador's Correa backs large-scale mining freeze

By Alonso Soto
QUITO, April 17 (Reuters via The Guardian) - Ecuador will suspend large-scale mining exploration projects while a new mining law is approved to regulate the country's nascent sector, President Rafael Correa said on Thursday.

Correa, who has sought to tighten state control over Ecuador's natural resources, said a new mining law is expected to be approved in six months. A special assembly rewriting the constitution is expected to pass a decree on Friday to revoke illegal concessions and suspend mining activity in medium and large-scale exploration projects.

"Some concessions where there has been investment and exploration and that were about to enter the exploitation phase will be suspended for 180 days until there is a new legal framework," Correa told foreign reporters in Quito. "And we will write new (mining) contracts based on that legal framework."

The constitutional assembly is working to overhaul the mining sector to increase state control, which is fueling investor concerns over whether Correa will seek more control over mining operations as his ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has done with the oil sector.

A suspension would delay the construction plans of companies that found large deposits in the Andean country, which lacks significant output of precious metals. Dozens of Canadian companies such as Aurelian Resources and Corriente Resources are exploring for gold and copper.
The stock price of Aurelian was down 13 percent to $7.49 while Corriente shares were down 17 percent to $4.53.
Assembly member Betty Tola, the head author of the decree, said if approved the order would suspend all activity in exploration projects, including gathering samples for environmental studies.

"It applies to all medium- and large-scale exploration concessions," Tola told Reuters. "The suspension will take effect immediately after the decree is approved."

The decree will also slash mining holdings for companies to three concessions.

Correa reiterated he supports large mining projects that could bring billions of dollars in revenues to the poor nation, but said companies will have to comply with stricter controls and share more of its future profits with the state.

"The issue here is not about if we say yes or no to mining ... the challenge is to do it (mining) right," Correa said.

The 130-member assembly, controlled by Correa's Alianza Pais party, plans to vote on the decree that will also revoke concessions owned by companies that have not invested until late 2007 or have failed to pay their government fees.

Ecuador for LatAm States Org

Ecuador for LatAm States Org


Quito, Apr 17 (Prensa Latina) Ecuador President Rafael Correa reaffirmed his efforts to create an Organization of Latin American States (OLAS) to overcome differences without "invoking foreign tutelage upon our history."

Correa drew attention to destabilization attacks against his government precisely when the country is boosting the creation of an OLAS without the presence of United States and Canada.

Addressing the First Meeting of the Andres Bello Agreement Universities on Integration sessioning in Quito, Correa reiterated his firmness to create a Latin American structure.

There is an international campaign against Ecuador, denounced the head of State saying that he won't "allow other countries to destabilize this sovereign process with lies and disgrace, to impose on us an agenda void of national interests."

The statesman denied all attempts of a government of the region to involve Ecuador in the Colombian Plan and reiterated that whoever wants this "is wrong."

Correa persisted in promoting regional integration and clarified he supports the Colombian people, and hopes they join this continent's process.

At the signing of the Andres Bello Agreement the Ecuadorian president said the role of universities is fundamental for the development of nations faced with the need to decrease dependence on large world producers of technologies.

Such step will enable the construction of a sovereign and independent culture, Correa concluded.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Uribe: No Apology for Ecuador Raid

Mexico, Apr 16 (Prensa Latina) Colombian President Alvaro Uribe refused to apologize for the March 1 air raid of Ecuadorian territory and called to try Mexican survivor Lucia Morett.

In interview for the Mexican TV while attending the World Economic Forum in Cancun, Uribe blamed the four Mexican late students and Morett of holding direct ties with the FARC.

Uribe also rejected Morett's version and the Mexican Autonomous University rejection of the late students' membership in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and asked him not to criminalize the students' social concerns.

The Colombian head of state called to take Morett to trial either in Mexico or Colombia for alleged felony and rejected Mexico's official request to compensate the late students' families.

He also stressed that the FARC operated in Ecuador with consent of the Ecuadorian government, but Quito has denied it and urged Bogota for proof.

The journalist reminded Uribe that the world condemned the raid he does not regret.

Mexico's Attorney General Office received Colombian official documents that try to prove that Morett as coordinator of the FARC in Mexico.

At the meeting with Uribe, President Calderon reminded that Morett, the late students and their relatives enjoy protection by Mexican and international laws.

Mexico also volunteered official support to demand for justice and interest to settle regional conflicts as Alternate Secretary of the Group of Rio.

Ecuador reaches agreement with Occidental in tax dispute

QUITO, Ecuador: IHT, 16 April, 2008: Ecuador has settled a dispute with the U.S. oil company Occidental and will return US$100 million (€63 million) in taxes, the energy minister said Wednesday.

But another dispute with foreign investors appeared to be brewing, as members of the assembly writing a new constitution said it will probably cancel most of the country's mining concessions.

In 2006, the government canceled the contract of California-based Occidental Petroleum Corp., accusing the company of violating its terms. But industry observers believed a major reason for the cancellation was the company's demand for a return of tax payments.

Occidental at the time said it was due a US$171 million (€108 million) refund.

Energy Minister Galo Chiriboga told a news conference on Wednesday that the settlement on a US$100 million (€63 million) payment was a success for Ecuador.

In Los Angeles, Occidental spokesman Richard S. Kline called it an equitable settlement for both sides. He said the dispute involved the company's requested refund of some value-added tax payments between 2001 and 2006.

The agreement was reached March 31 within the framework of the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, said Attorney General Xavier Garaicoa, who also attended the news conference.

Occidental operated in Ecuador from 1999 to 2006.

Ecuador's previous administration said the company illegally sold 40 percent of its concession to EnCana Corp. of Canada without Energy Ministry authorization.

In a separate arbitration claim, Occidental is seeking US$1 billion (€630 million) in damages, alleging its property was confiscated illegally. Occidental, whose production represented about 20 percent of Ecuador's total output, also is seeking to recover the oil fields.

Separately Wednesday, three members of the government majority that controls an assembly writing a new constitution said the body was close to approving a decree that would cancel 80 percent of Ecuador's mining concessions.

Assemblywoman Rossana Alvarado said the objective is "to prevent the abuses that have been made in mining in this country."

Xavier Cruz, executive director of the National Mining Chamber, called the proposed decree "a confiscation" that would "drive away foreign investment."

"It will hurt the country's growth and development," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

A number of large Canadian mining companies have concessions and could be affected.
The decree has been approved in a commission and delivered to the body's president, who is expected to bring it up for a vote later this week, Alvarado said.

The proposal would cancel 3,100 of the country's 4,112 concessions and suspend another 1,220 that are in the process of being registered.

Lawmaker Betty Tola, also a member of the majority, said only about 7 percent of concessions are actually being exploited.

The proposed decree would end all concessions that showed no actual investment by the end of last year.

Companies not affected would still have to renegotiate their contracts within a new mining law that is being prepared.

Ecuador to Blow off Colombia Claims

Quito, Apr 16 (Prensa Latina) Ecuador affirmed it will no longer reply to new declarations by the Colombian government, given the lack of clear evidence in its accusations.

In an official release, Ecuador "regrets" the tense situation between the two countries, and sustains "it is evident Bogota authorities are not trustworthy."

The text sustains that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has once again appeared to be a liar, because he failed to provide solid evidence on the alleged statements that President Rafael Correa ordered his army not to face the guerrillas, after the 48-hour-term given by Ecuador.

Uribe has once more shown his lack of seriousness and conviction toward peaceful relations with Ecuador and the world, by having broken the commitment to decrease bilateral tensions, the document adds.

When reading the release, the secretary for management at the Presidency, Vinicio Alvarado, pointed out the Colombian leader is trying to confuse his people with the slander that the Ecuadorian government supports the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

In his opinion, what is apparent is Bogota's lack of capacity to avoid drug trafficking and cultivation, paramilitarism, and the guerrilla movement, as well as the parapolitics in which Uribe and his government have been involved.

Ecuador Rules Out Tension with USA

Quito, Apr 15 (Prensa Latina) Ecuadorian Defense Minister Javier Ponce ruled out on Tuesday problems with the United States, due to a decision to review military cooperation and collaboration with that northern country.

I can not believe Ecuador's position about this issue motivates a break off of relations with Washington, said Ponce in statements to a local television station.

"It has caused no tension so far, and I believe that the government's decision, over a year ago, of not renewing the agreement of the Manta base did not generate it either," he said, referring to the agreement about the presence of US troops in that base, which expires in 2009.

The minister highlighted that Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was brave enough to denounce the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s infiltration in the national intelligence services, something that was already known.

They have spoken behind the scenes for several years, about the CIA presence in the military security and police corpses, in the political circles, and the economic upper echelons, he asserted.
Ponce said the US intelligence influence is not just from two or three officers that could be related to that agency.


That influence entails courses, seminars, agreements, and other forms of training that generate in the end a strategy that does not exactly respond to national interests."

The Ecuadorian minister was in favor of reviewing military trainings in the United States and "it will be suspended or limited if necessary," because subjugation of the Ecuadorian society, and political and military circles, concerning Washington's security, is evident.

"Other training sources will be found if necessary," with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, because Latin America is rich in that regard, he said.

The minister highlighted this government's interest in looking "to the South and not only to the North," where there are great possibilities of development.

Ecuador-Colombia Crisis Worsens

Quito, Apr 15 (Prensa Latina) New Colombian accusations against Ecuador aggravated the current bilateral crisis, and hinder possibilities for a prompt reestablishment of mutual links.

"It is a defamation campaign by the government of Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, with never-ending slander against Ecuador," President Rafael Correa denounced last night.

The president warned today that if Bogota does not present irrefutable evidence of his alleged link with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), he will once again denounce to Latin America and the world that the Uribe government "is a liar."

Correa noted that on Sunday, Colombia once more issued a libelous, insulting release, in which they try to say he ordered the Armed Forces not to chase FARC in Ecuadorian territory.

After highlighting that Uribe "is making a fool of himself," he warned of possible external attempts to destabilize his government to put in a puppet government submissive to foreign interests.

Correa noted the presence in Ecuador of FARC spokesman Raul Reyes, killed in a Colombian attack, is no proof that there was an order not to face that guerrilla movement.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Chevron speaks out as Ecuadoran activists honored in S.F.

San Francisco Chronicle, April 14, 2008 -- The award of the Goldman Environmental Prize to a pair of Ecuadoran activists fighting Chevron Corp. to clean up oil contamination in the Amazon rain forest brings a raging controversy over an international ecological disaster home to San Francisco today.

The two men, lawyer Pablo Fajardo Mendoza and community organizer Luis Yanza, were among half a dozen grassroots environmentalists from around the world who were feted at the San Francisco Opera House today and awarded $150,000 apiece to continue their work on projects that range from improving sanitation in Mozambique to protecting wetlands in Puerto Rico to shutting down polluters in Russia.

"For us personally, the prize is important; it strengthens our will to keep going," said Yanza after a press conference this morning at the Fairmont Hotel. "It's also a political boost for all the people working all across the Amazon to protect the environment."

The prize, initiated by San Francisco philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman 19 years ago, has gone to Kenyan tree planter Wangari Maathai, who went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize, and the late Nigerian playwright Ken Saro Wiwa, who fought Shell Oil Co.'s practices in his homeland.

San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi has called the award "on a par with the Nobel Peace Prize in terms of its recognition of courage and brilliance in protecting our environment."

But this year the award to Fajardo and Yanza has triggered a harsh response from Chevron Corp., which is being sued in Ecuadoran court for despoiling the Amazon. The company insists it cleaned up its share of the mess - described by plaintiffs as a fouled area the size of Rhode Island - and says the Goldman Foundation was hoodwinked.

"We believe they were misled," said Chevron spokesman David Samson, who also retained a room at the Fairmont to be available to the press. "We tried to reach out to the Goldman Foundation when we heard they might be in consideration, but we were stiff-armed. No one ever cared to hear our side of the story."

Richard Goldman responded with a statement reiterating his pride in Fajardo and Yanza, whom he described as "two ordinary Ecuadorians addressing a problem that impacts 30,000 of their countrymen: petrochemical waste spoiling hundreds of square miles of Amazon rain forest. Their work is motivated by a single desire: to ensure that their corner of the Amazon - one of the world's most contaminated industrial sites - is cleaned up."

He said the men were chosen through a nomination process that includes research by environmental experts from 50 organizations and five months of fact-checking by foundation staff.

The roots of the lawsuit against Chevron - in which Yanza organized thousands of plaintiffs and Fajardo is a lead attorney - date back to 1964, when Texaco began pumping oil in a remote corner of northern Ecuador, in a partnership with Petroecuador, the state oil company. The suit alleges that Texaco, which was bought by Chevron in 2001, dumped 18 billion gallons of crude oil-tainted water in 1,000 unlined toxic waste pits.

The company left Ecuador in 1992 and carried out a $40 million cleanup, which the Ecuadoran government approved. Chevron maintains it has done its fair share. And it says Petroecuador, which continues to pump oil in the region, bears responsibility for the remainder of the problem.

"We feel confident that we'll ultimately prevail," said Chevron General Counsel Charles James in a telephone interview from the company's San Ramon headquarters. "Even if they get a bogus decree out of a court in Ecuador, their ability to enforce this is going to be very limited. We would contest enforcement based on the poor (legal) process."

At the press conference, Fajardo said that a report filed earlier this month by a court-appointed expert in Ecuador found high levels of cancer and miscarriages and continuing toxic contamination, attributable at least in part to Chevron. The expert put the clean up cost at $7 to 16 billion.

"I live in Sucumbios, where Chevron operated. I've seen the reality for more than 2o years," Fajardo said. "The Goldman Prize allows us to tell even more people about the damage Chevron did in our country. It motivates us to continue on until we repair the damage."

Ecuador seeks new oil deals in 6 mos, control hike

By Alonso Soto

QUITO, April 14 (Reuters) - Ecuador will seek to persuade foreign oil firms to downgrade their status in the country from joint-venture partner to contractor, the country's top energy official said on Monday, in a move that could hamper investment in the key sector.

Oil Minister Galo Chiriboga said the government plans to sign temporary agreements with firms that in six months would change from participation deals to service contracts, in which the state would keep all the oil they extract in exchange for a service fee.

"They knew from the start we wanted to switch to service deals ... we hope they agree," Chiriboga told reporters. "For the judicial security of both parties that period (to change contracts) has to be reduced."

However, Chiriboga said the service-contract status could be modified for companies to be compensated for their investment, and that the government could still seek joint ventures with those firms.

Current participation contracts allow companies to keep part of the oil they extract. Chiriboga did not give details of a new service contract.

The announcement came as a surprise to foreign oil executives who said they were close to an agreement with the government to boost state participation in deals that started earlier this year.

"If things are not clear, nobody will invest, it is as a simple as that," an oil company executive, who asked not to be named because he was not allowed to speak, told Reuters.

President Rafael Correa, a leftist economist, has said since early in his government that he wants companies to switch to service contracts. Correa has launched an aggressive drive to rework foreign contracts to boost state income in key sectors of the economy from oil and mining to cell-phone providers.

Augusto Tandazo, an oil analyst who was an adviser to Correa during his presidential campaign in 2006, said the government's announcement could be used as a bargaining tool in negotiations to obtain more benefits.

"Also take into account that we will have general elections later this year, and this is a hot topic," Tandazo said. "This could be a political move."

A government-controlled assembly rewriting the country's constitution is expected to call for early presidential and congressional elections in the second half of this year.

Foreign oil companies renegotiating their contracts include Brazil's Petrobras, Spain's Repsol, China's consortium Andes Petroleum and France's Perenco.

Ecuador, South America's fifth-largest oil producer, has an output of around 510,000 barrels per day, of which private companies produce nearly half. (Reporting by Alonso Soto; editing by Matthew Lewis)

Protesters target Canada's Iamgold in Ecuador

Written by Teresa Velasquez for UpsideDownWorld
Tuesday, 08 April 2008
Residents from the southern Ecuadorian province of Azuay used rocks and burning tires to block a stretch of the Panamerican Highway on April 2 to protest a planned industrial-sized goldmine, which they say will contamine the local water supply. Canadian gold giant Iamgold has been eyeing entry into the region.

The peaceful demonstration began at 5am was met with state repression around noon, leading to the arrest of 17 protestors, which include the parish priest of Victoria del Portete, dairy farmers, and University of Cuenca students. Approximately 80 soldiers blasted tear gas into to the crowd of protestors— around 300 strong. Female students report that they were later taken to a casino for police and forced to undress.

“We are here to defend the right to pure and clean water," declared Miriam Chuchuka, a 36-year-old dairy farmer from Victoria del Portete. Small farmers fear that cyanide and mercury related to gold mining and production will pollute local water sources.

Local farmers draw drinking and irrigation water from the high paramo where Toronto-based Iamgold has discovered the second largest gold deposit in Ecuador. Protestors want the government to nullify Iamgold's mineral concession.

Farmers and rural residents working under the National Coordinating Committee in Defense of Life and Sovereignty had staged a national twelve-hour protest to nullify four major gold and copper concessions in southern Ecuador. They oppose the stance of President Rafael Correa, who despite a leftist rhetoric, wants to develop large-scale export oriented gold and copper mining projects to finance education and healthcare programs. Residents in the path of these projects are concerned about their short and long-term environmental impacts.

Detained protestors were released the next day, but they may face sabotage and terrorism charges. In his nationally-syndicated radio show, President Correa lambasted the National Coordinating Committee and said that anti-mining protestors will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Anti-mining activists have said that Correa's response threatens the right to dissent and criminalizes activism.

Movement leaders are looking to follow up on recent successes. In February, the Ecuadorian government revoked the concession for Ascendant Copper, after it was found that the company contracted security firms to rough up local opposition leaders. Occidental Petroleum was kicked out of Ecuador in 2006 for business and tax improprieties.

The National Coordinating Committee and the national indigenous movement have planned an April 21 follow-up protest.

Correa Asks Calderon to Fight Poverty

Mexico, Apr 12 (Prensa Latina) Ecuador President Rafael Correa said 85 percent of the problems in Latin America can be solved with pragmatism and sensibility, and invited his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderon, to join such efforts.

Interviewed by Televisa television network before winding up a 48-hour official visit to Mexico, Correa claimed his stay here also gave him the opportunity to strengthen personal ties with Calderon.

The Ecuadorian president also thanked the Mexican government for its constructive position at the Rio Group summit held last month in the Dominican Republic.

Mexico then criticized the Colombian military raid into Ecuadorian territory which resulted in the death of several Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas and four Mexican students.

Correa encouraged Mexican nationals to visit Ecuador, in order to strengthen ties between both peoples.

During his official visit, Correa and Calderon agreed to eliminate visa procedures for Ecuadorean and Mexican citizens visiting each country.

Correa gave a lecture yesterday at Mexico´s National Autonomous University and met with relatives of the four Mexican students killed during the March 1 Colombian air strike against the FARC camp.

After signing a joint communiqué with his Mexican counterpart, Correa visited the Mexico City town hall, where he met with Mayor Marcelo Ebrad, who named him a distinguished city guest.

Before leaving Mexico today, the Ecuadorean President will give a press conference.

ECUADOR: ‘CIA Infiltration’ Charges Prompt Shake-Up in Armed Forces

By Kintto Lucas

QUITO, Apr 10 (IPS) - President Rafael Correa’s allegations that intelligence services in Ecuador had been infiltrated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have led to a shake-up in the armed forces of unforeseeable consequences.

Resignations and dismissals are the order of the day. Wellington Sandoval resigned as defence minister Wednesday and was replaced by Correa’s personal secretary Javier Ponce. The head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hector Camacho, army commander Guillermo Vásconez, and the chief of police, General Bolívar Cisneros, also stepped down.

A high-level Ecuadorean military officer who asked not to be identified told IPS that the country is at a critical juncture, with only two possible routes: "either the military as an institution returns to its nationalist orientation or it submits itself once and for all to impositions from the U.S."

It is necessary, he added, for "independent and progressive sectors to regain control over the institution." He also called for "a reduction of the power of a group that answers to former president Lucio Gutiérrez" (2003-2005), a former army colonel who was removed as president by Congress and replaced by his vice president Alfredo Palacio.

The current crisis broke out as a result of Colombia’s Mar. 1 bombing raid of a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) camp in Ecuadorean territory, which led to a brief rupture in relations between Ecuador and Colombia and sparked a regional crisis that was quickly overcome through dialogue.

At least two other members of the Ecuadorean high command have also offered their resignations, said Camacho.

Ponce, the new defence minister, said "this is not setting the stage for a witch hunt, but for a healthy critical exercise of transparency. The stability of our democracy is not based on cover-ups but on the courageous analysis of our actions."

He also urged the armed forces "to undertake a generous review of their structures and practices."

On Saturday, Correa denounced in his weekly radio broadcast that the CIA "has totally infiltrated some of Ecuador’s military intelligence bodies."

A few days earlier he had sacked the army intelligence chief, Colonel Mario Pazmiño, for hiding information from the government, and announced that further measures would be taken.

According to Correa, the failure to share critical information gave rise to errors in the country’s military and diplomatic handling of the conflict with Colombia.

Sandoval’s resignation came two days after the announcement of the creation of a high-level civilian commission to "determine the extent of unauthorised links between intelligence officers and units in Ecuador" and "foreign intelligence agencies," according to the Notimil military news agency.

The agency also reported that an investigation had been launched to determine whether Pazmiño had provided the government with "timely and complete" information with respect to the bombing of the FARC camp, which killed the rebel group’s international spokesman Raúl Reyes, who was negotiating a release of hostages held by the insurgents.

Citing military sources, the on-line news site Ecuadorinmediato said Monday that "Pazmiño’s fall is apparently the result of a series of complaints and denunciations from higher ranking officers who were disobeyed by the colonel," who served as army intelligence chief for more than 10 years.

According to the news report, when it began to be revealed that the armed forces had previous knowledge of the Colombian air strike on the FARC camp in Ecuador, several military officers complained internally that the intelligence service had not passed on the information.

Local media outlets reported that military intelligence had been following Franklin Aizalla, an Ecuadorean citizen who died in the attack on the FARC camp, without informing Correa.

On Mar. 17, Correa and then defence minister Sandoval learned from the press that Aizalla had been under surveillance, which Colombia’s rightwing President Álvaro Uribe had been aware of for some time.

Colonel Pazmiño’s curriculum indicates "very effective training by the U.S. and Israeli security bodies," wrote Ecuadorinmediato, which added that "he handled military intelligence operations in a nearly autonomous manner, without duly reporting to his superiors, many of whom were unaware of those actions."

The military source who spoke to IPS said it was true that Pazmiño had accumulated enormous influence, but also criticised the negligence shown by the intelligence chief’s direct superiors over the last 10 years.

He also said Pazmiño merits "a dishonourable discharge and a trial for treason." But, he added, "perhaps there are fears that Pazmiño knows a great deal about many officers, and could talk."

Alexis Ponce of the Permanent Assembly on Human Rights said "this is the first time that a head of state has touched on this issue, and I think it is a historic opportunity to dismantle groups that are autonomously carrying out parallel intelligence work, often against the very interests of Ecuadorean national security."

Retired colonel Jorge Brito, one of the army officers who took part in the January 2000 uprising by indigenous groups and junior officers that toppled president Jamil Mahuad, brought legal action against Pazmiño in 2001, accusing him of being the founder of the Legión Blanca (White Legion), a far-right group that has issued death threats against journalists, human rights activists and political and social leaders.

With respect to Pazmiño’s possible ties to Colombia’s intelligence services, Alexis Ponce pointed out that people living near the site of the Mar. 1 bombing raid were given warning to leave the area, "because there were going to be armed clashes."

Camacho and U.S. Ambassador to Ecuador Linda Jewell opened a seminar Monday on "Strategic Opportunities and Challenges", which forms part of the cooperation between the U.S. Army Southern Command and the Ecuadorean military.

The officer consulted by IPS expressed his opposition to such activities which, he argued, "condition" Ecuador’s armed forces.

He also said that, "besides the CIA’s infiltration in the armed forces, it is essential to take a look at what is happening in the police, who have traditionally had the closest ties to U.S. security policies for the region."

Former U.S. Southern Command chief Charles Wilhelm said in 2000 that after Ecuador signed an agreement leasing the air base in the port city of Manta to the U.S. military, one of Washington’s aims was to "reorient" the Ecuadorean armed forces.

The officer who spoke anonymously to IPS said "part of that reorientation was the modification of the training received by the Ecuadorean military, to make it more similar to the training received by the Colombian army."

To bring that about, "it was necessary to eliminate more progressive elements and modify the social relationship between the military and different social sectors like indigenous groups," while "implementing more closely the training agreements signed by the U.S. and Ecuadorean armed forces."

The source said a rift occurred in the armed forces after the January 2000 uprising by indigenous associations and the group of junior officers that overthrew Mahuad, and that U.S. influence took deeper root at that time.

In January 2004, after the arrest in Quito of FARC leader Simón Trinidad, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Marti Estell said the "joint operation, which turned out perfectly," was "an example of cooperation between the Ecuadorean and Colombian police," with the support of the U.S. secret services.

A few days after the Mar. 1 bombing of the FARC camp, the Colombian magazine Cambio reported that members of the Ecuadorean police intelligence services had helped locate the camp. (END/2008)

Ecuador President Removes Police Head

Quito, Apr 9 (Prensa Latina) Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa removed the Police general comander, Gen. Bolivar Cisneros, and appointed Gen. Jaime Aquilino Hurtado Vaca as the new minister, who will take up his post on Wednesday.

Cisneros' removal has been decided right after dismissal of Defense Minister Wellington Sandoval, who leaves his post due to the controversial performance of the intelligence services during the crisis unleashed with Colombia.

Government palace spokespeople said the decision of dismissing the police commander is related to the inadequate work by the intelligence service of that public force after the Colombian bombing against an Ecuadorian area on March 1.

Cisneros confirmed that he put his post at the head of State's disposal, but denied any negligence in handing over information to the president.

Correa denounced on Friday that the Ecuadorian intelligence services have been penetrated by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and demanded concrete actions to end this situation.

He complained for having received wrong information from the military intelligence service and said Ecuadorian agents gave information to the CIA and Colombia instead.

National media said a meeting between the head of State and the military top command was suspended and new appointments to the Defense Ministry and the National Police were announced

Ecuador's military chiefs resign

BBC, April , 2008
Ecuadorean Army Commander Guillermo Vasconez (L), Defence Minister Wellington Sandoval (C) and Air Force Commander Jorgue Gavela during a press conference on 4 March, 2008
Gen Vasconez (L) said the president had questioned the military's behaviour

Ecuador's top four military commanders have resigned after the president accused the military of aiding the US in operations against Farc rebels.

General Guillermo Vasconez, the head of the army, said all four had resigned because President Rafael Correa had questioned the military's behaviour.

The resignations came hours after Defence Minister Wellington Sandoval stepped down without explanation.

Mr Correa claimed last week the CIA had been manipulating his spy agencies.

The commanders of the army, navy and air force, as well as the chief of staff, had all stood down, Gen Vasconez said.

"We have sent the president our resignation letters... because of the questioning of the behaviour of the military and I don't agree with that," said Gen Vasconez.

Ecuador is in the midst a diplomatic row with neighbouring Colombia following a raid by its forces on rebels inside Ecuador last month.

Farc guerrilla leader Raul Reyes was among 25 people killed in the attack, which sparked fears of a regional war.

Ecuador President Sacks Defense Minister

Quito, Apr 9 (Prensa Latina) Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa removed Defense Minister Wellington Sandoval, and appointed his private secretary Javier Ponce to occupy that position, government sources confirmed on Wednesday.

The new minister will take up his post Wednesday noon at the Carondelet Palace, the presidential headquarters, the sources said.

Sandoval was removed from his position after the crisis unleashed in the Armed Forces, due to Correa's denunciation, saying that the Ecuadorian espionage services have been taken by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The president demanded urgent changes in that authority to finish the national intelligence submission to the CIA.

This dismissal also happened amid a request by the top military command of a dialogue with the president, and a warning about supposed risks of instability in the country.

A statement by the military leadership shows concern about publication of some information by the national media, about relations of the military institution with foreign entities and nations.

The Armed Force Joint Command leader, Gen. Hector Camacho and commanders of the Ground, Naval, and Air Forces said the dialogue with the head of State will allow avoiding putting the national security and stability at risk, the note revealed.

Before being Correa's secretary, the new minister worked as feature writer for the Hoy daily and has written several books

Ecuador Army for Correa Dialog

Ecuador Army for Correa Dialog

Quito, Apr 9 (Prensa Latina) The high military command is seeking dialog with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to lay out how it cooperates with other countries and stop a campaign to discredit that institution.

The meeting will analyze problems emerged after Correa denounced subjugation of the National Espionage Services to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), revealed a communique from the Armed Forces, according to Ecuadorinmediato.com web site.

The military chiefs also expressed concern about certain news by the national media regarding links of the government institution with other entities and foreign nations.

The Chief of the Armed Forces Joint Command general Hector Camacho and Commanders of the Land, Naval and Air Forces stated that the talks with the Head of State will prevent risking national stability and security, stated the note.

The conversation will allow to arrive at conclusions published for public opinion, noted the document.

After Correa denounced that Ecuadorian officials are working for the US Intelligence Agency political leaders demanded an overhaul of the national intelligence body.

Ecuador's Correa fires defense minister-sources

QUITO, April 9 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has fired his defense minister after rattling military commanders by accusing the United States of controlling part of the country's intelligence agencies, government sources said.

Defense Minister Wellington Sandoval will be replaced by a close Correa aide, two top government officials told Reuters late on Tuesday, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

The officials did not specify why Sandoval was removed, but he has faced criticism recently over his lack of leadership within the armed forces. Correa last week accused the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency of manipulating his spy agencies.

The U.S. Embassy has not commented on Correa's accusations.

Correa, a left-wing former economy minister who took office over a year ago, has scolded the military and police for not delivering timely intelligence during a diplomatic spat with Bogota over a Colombian military incursion last month.

On Tuesday, Ecuador's top military commanders called for a meeting with Correa to discuss the president's criticism of intelligence agencies "to prevent putting at risk the country's security and stability."

The military has been a major player in Ecuador's often rocky politics and removed its support for the last three elected presidents. All three were toppled by congressional and street turmoil.

But Correa's high popularity and planned reforms of the armed forces should shield him from military retaliation, experts say. The military is one of the most trusted institutions among Ecuadoreans and holds strong business interests in industries ranging from airlines to shrimp farms.

A March 1, Colombian raid on a Colombian rebel camp inside Ecuador killed a top guerrilla and sparked a crisis involving Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. Bogota's Andean neighbors sent troops to their frontiers until a summit eased tensions.

Correa said recently that the CIA controlled some of Ecuador's intelligence agencies, getting a hold of confidential information gathered in Ecuador and sharing it with Colombian forces. Colombia is a top U.S. ally in the region and receives billions of dollars in military aid from Washington.

Ecuador’s Oil Change: An Exporter’s Historic Proposal

Written by Kevin Koenig
Tuesday, 08 April 2008

Source: Multinational Monitor via UpsideDownWorld

ImageQuito, Ecuador — On a clear day, high in this Andean capital city, the nearby volcanoes glisten in the distance under the equatorial sun. Of the five visible volcanoes, the most startling is Cotopaxi — both for its proximity and for its remarkably receding glacier. Cotopaxi has lost 30 percent of its glacier over the last several years and people are taking notice.

The first pronounced impacts of climate change in Ecuador are just one of a multitude of reasons why this small country, roughly the size of Colorado, is positioning itself as a new environmental leader for a world confronting climate change. Noted for its political upheavals and popular protest, Ecuador is now raising eyebrows in the international policy arena with a bold proposal aimed at achieving the seemingly impossible: leaving its oil in the ground.

For more than three decades, oil has been a mainstay of the Ecuadorian economy. It accounted for one third of the state’s revenues between 1972 and 2006 and, by 2006, 60 percent of exports. Today, Ecuador is South America’s second largest oil exporter to the United States and on the verge of rejoining OPEC after a 15-year absence. With oil revenue accounting for more than half of its national budget, past governments salivated over the estimated 1 billion barrels of heavy crude that lie beneath the country’s Amazon region bordering Peru.

But in June 2007, the Ecuadorian government launched perhaps its most pioneering proposal. President Rafael Correa, a U.S.-trained economist, announced the country would be willing to forgo the development of its largest oil reserve, the Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini (ITT) field, and forfeit estimated revenues of $9.2 billion, if the international community would match its financial sacrifice through a variety of mechanisms including debt cancellation, bilateral aid and direct financial commitments. At least $350 million in commitments is sought by June 2008 to gauge whether there is enough international support to make the proposal viable.

But why would a net oil exporter forgo development of its largest reserve and such substantial revenues?

Yasuní National Park

The ITT oil bloc lies beneath the Amazon basin’s most biodiverse area of rainforest, the Yasuní National Park. Dubbed the “cradle of the Amazon,” the park is a United Nations Biosphere Reserve. It is also home to some of the planet’s last remaining uncontacted indigenous peoples, whose cultural survival depends on protecting the park.

Established in 1979, Yasuní is comprised of more than 2.4 million acres of pristine primary tropical rainforest and boasts the highest concentration of floral and faunal species anywhere in the world. The park contains some 4,000 plant species, 173 species of mammals and 610 bird species, and almost as many tree species in 2.5 acres as found in all of North America. Yasuní also contains more than 100,000 insect species per hectare — the highest level of insect diversity in the world.

Much of this stunning biodiversity is due to unique geographic and climate conditions during the Pleistocene era, which rendered the area now known as Yasuní with warmer temperatures than surrounding regions. Its moderate temperatures allowed plant and animal life to flourish, and Yasuní became a hotspot of biodiversity and animal migration, which greatly contributed to the propagation of the rest of the Amazon Basin. Yasuní is one of the few places on the planet distinguished as a Pleistocene Refuge Area — an area in which numerous species survived extinction during periods of dramatic climate change.

In 1999, the Ecuadorian government designated 1.8 million acres of Yasuní National Park as a “No Go Zone,” prohibiting any type of resource extraction in perpetuity. The reserve is home to the Tagaeri and Taromenani, two nomadic clans of uncontacted Huaorani indigenous people living in voluntary isolation.

It is virtually inconceivable that the rights of the park’s indigenous inhabitants could be upheld, or Yasuní’s irreplaceable biodiversity preserved, if the government authorized oil drilling and exploitation.

Keeping the oil in the ground also addresses two causes of global climate change simultaneously: tropical deforestation and oil consumption. Given that between one fifth and one quarter of all carbon emissions come from deforestation, an issue not adequately addressed in the Kyoto Protocol global warming agreement, the Yasuní-ITT proposal is very significant in climate change terms. It would prevent an estimated 436 million tons of carbon emissions — equivalent to taking more than 46 million cars off the road — establish a vital global precedent recognizing the role of tropical rainforests in naturally sequestering vast quantities of carbon, and regulate regional and global weather patterns.

“The road to avoiding climate chaos requires valuing ecosystem services and requires leaving fossil fuels underground,” says David Batker, director of the Tacoma, Washington-based Earth Economics, an organization dedicated to using science to promote healthy ecosystems. “Ecuador’s proposal represents bold global leadership for citizens of Ecuador and the planet.”

Toward a Green Ecuador

Leaving Yasuní’s oil in the ground is among the most significant measures yet proposed, by a developing nation or otherwise, to tackle climate change. But in the eyes of the Ecuadorian government, providing a concrete solution toward reversing climate change is just one of the many benefits.

The other major goal of the Yasuní proposal is to create a new vision for development, establishing a path toward a post-petroleum economy in Ecuador. With matching compensation funds from the international community, the government of Ecuador aims to establish the Yasuní-ITT Environmental Trust Fund, which will help the country finance environmental initiatives within its National Development Program. These include: the development of alternatives to oil extraction; energy efficiency; promotion of green technologies such as solar, wind and geothermal power; a broad social program to include construction of green homes and schools; energy efficient public transportation; investment in, and development of, ecotourism; and a comprehensive environmental remediation program to address existing contamination that will include environmental health and educational training programs.

“Ecuador doesn’t want to replicate a model of development based on fossil fuels,” explains Lucia Gallardo, deputy environmental advisor in Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Relations. “We want to demonstrate that a small country, with a marginal contribution to the climate change problem, can avoid the releasing of greenhouse gases and at the same time lay the foundation for a more just and equal economy.”

“We seek to move beyond a reliance on oil and toward an equitable strategy for true energy independence that prioritizes poverty eradication, renewable energy, clean transportation systems, and sustainable agriculture and tourism,” says Gallardo. “The old model of attempting to drill our way to prosperity has failed.”

Debt and Destruction

Like many other oil-dependent countries, Ecuador has not reaped the much-promised benefits of oil “development.” Although oil revenues were significant in facilitating national development between 1972 and 1982, the panorama has changed in the last 25 years. Today, Ecuador produces more than double the amount of crude it did during the 1970s boom years. However, the average annual per capita income increase between 1981 and 2006 was a mere 0.6 percent, and poverty levels remained constant between 1995 and 2006. Over the last quarter century, national indicators of poverty rose while health indicators declined.

To the dismay of foreign companies, President Correa recently changed the terms of oil contracts, allocating to the state 99 percent of the extra revenues above a benchmark price from windfall oil profits. However, the country has suffered for decades under a debilitating cycle of debt and dependency. At the beginning of the country’s oil boom, foreign debt hovered around $213 million. Today, it is roughly $10.6 billion.

Meanwhile, 40-plus years of oil extraction in Ecuador’s Amazon region has wrought environmental havoc and left indigenous cultures and campesino (farming) communities reeling. The most infamous example is Texaco’s toxic legacy. Texaco (now merged into Chevron) drilled in the Ecuadorian Amazon from the 1960s through the 1990s, using sub-standard technology and allegedly dumping 18 billion gallons of toxic byproducts directly into the rainforest, contaminating rivers and streams on which local people still depend [See “Texaco’s Toxic Legacy,” Multinational Monitor, November 1993]. As a consequence, one indigenous people, the Tetetes, have ceased to exist. Cancers and other serious illnesses now plague communities in the area, leaving several other indigenous groups fighting for their survival. A class-action lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador is due to conclude in 2008, with thousands of plaintiffs demanding an environmental remediation estimated at upward of $6 billion.

Most oil majors have now left Ecuador — a combined result of indigenous resistance, targeted corporate campaigning, a deteriorating foreign investment climate, and less than ideal reserve quantity and quality — only to be replaced by an influx of independent and state-run companies, most notably Petrobras (Brazil) and Andes Petroleum (a consortium of China’s National Petroleum Company, China Petrochemical Corporation and their subsidiary PetroOriental). These newcomers are less concerned about their reputations and are less susceptible to indigenous and environmentalist campaign pressure. Petrobras and Andes Petroleum have both expressed interest in acquiring ITT drilling rights should they be offered.

Petrobras currently holds oil-drilling rights to Block 31, adjacent to ITT, and also located inside Yasuní, but with significantly smaller reserves. The project has been stalled due to national outcry and alleged contractual discrepancies. Although the environmental license has been issued, the block is not without controversy and faces several legal and financial obstacles before moving forward. According to oil experts, oil extraction in Block 31 is not economically feasible without also accessing the lucrative and sizable reserves of the ITT, as infrastructure and operational investment would make it cost prohibitive.

The Concept of Ecological Debt

Climate change has no borders and represents perhaps the greatest common threat ever posed to humanity. But it reflects a grave asymmetry in responsibility and burden. The Yasuní proposal is based on the concept of ecological debt and the principle of shared responsibility for climate change between developed and developing nations, as laid out in the 1994 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The responsibility for reduction of greenhouse gases is shared but disproportionate. Industrialized countries, such as the United States, those in Western Europe and Japan, are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gases emitted, and the vast majority that have been emitted over time. Unfortunately, those who already and in the future will suffer the largest share of the impact of climate change are developing countries — even though these impoverished societies have barely contributed to the build-up of global warming gases. This discrepancy in carbon emissions of the North is considered by many developing countries as an ecological debt, owed to a majority of the global population by a minority of industrialized nations for their continued level of exorbitant resource consumption.

If the worst climate change disasters are to be averted, all countries will have to reorganize their energy sectors; and, even if the worst is averted, all countries — and especially developing countries that by dint of geography will be worst affected — will be forced to adapt to changing climate.

The concept of ecological debt suggests an obligation by industrialized countries to compensate developing countries both for efforts to stem climate change and to adapt to its effects. Thus, Ecuador should be compensated for its lost annual expected revenue from production of the ITT oil fields — on the order of $350 million. This is the income the country proposes to forego to help address a problem of the rich countries’ making.

“The idea that countries in the Global South would have to go further into debt to adapt to climate change — while bearing the overwhelming burden of its impacts — yet we contribute so significantly less to the problem than the Global North, is unacceptable,” says Esperanza Martinez of the Oilwatch Network, an international network of human rights, environmental and indigenous organizations that monitor the oil industry. Martinez and others are particularly opposed to World Bank lending schemes to support “adaptation.”

Speaking at the UN Dialogue on Climate Change in September 2007, President Correa said, “The measures of adaptation to climate change represent a heavy burden on the budgets of developing countries that could ascend to $40 billion, according to the studies of the World Bank. We do not need loans to adapt. That would increase the burden of our external debt. What we need is compensation for the damages caused by the out-of-proportion amount of historical and current emissions of greenhouse gases by industrialized countries. In other words, the inequality in the origin and the distribution of the effects of the global warming are not unimportant in the climate change debate.”

“Nevertheless,” he added, “Ecuador is prepared to make enormous sacrifices, with justice and creativity, to fight global warming.”

Energy to Keep Oil In the Ground

To date, the Yasuní-ITT proposal has generated significant interest from governments, international organizations and individuals. Concrete financial commitments from the Spanish, Norwegian and Belgian governments, as well as the United Nations Development Program, have helped jumpstart the proposal. An expanding group of nongovernmental organizations has committed funding and technical assistance to the Ecuadorian government in its exploration of the viable economic options to acquire compensation for keeping the oil in the ground, and in seeking private and public sector financial support through the launching of a U.S. awareness and fundraising campaign. The proposal was selected for recognition in September 2007 by the Clinton Global Initiative, started by President Bill Clinton to implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.

In Ecuador, the environmental advocacy group Acción Ecológica has led a national campaign that has created a true civil society mandate to keeping Yasuní off limits to oil drilling. Through road shows, concerts, conferences — and the creation of a “human billboard” inside Yasuní National Park that featured Ecuador’s Vice President, Huaorani indigenous leaders and local supporters physically spelling out “Vive Yasuní” and “Live Yasuní” — Acción has generated widespread public media attention, and collected tens of thousands of signatures and offers of five dollars for each barrel of ITT to remain permanently in the ground.

Although President Correa is poised to be Ecuador’s first president in a decade to serve his full term, political turnover is the norm here, potentially leaving Yasuní’s provisions vulnerable under a regime change. However, Alberto Acosta, former Minister of Energy and Mines and the initial architect of the proposal, is set to lead the newly elected Constituent Assembly charged with drafting a new constitution, where protections for the proposal will be included. Acosta received the most votes out of more than 600 candidates in the country’s September constituent assembly election.

From Kyoto to Quito

With carbon emissions, global temperatures and oil prices all at record highs, proponents say there has never been a more important time for a proposal like Yasuní-ITT. To date, existing global initiatives have failed to spur significant measures and commitments to mitigate climate change.

Ecuador is looking beyond the Kyoto Protocol, which requires ratifying countries to monitor or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ecuador is seeking international agreements that include commitments from industrialized nations to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions while financing sustainable national development policies and measures in the developing world, that value avoided deforestation and avoided carbon emissions, and recognize ecological debt.

“You can’t try to fit this proposal into the limited parameters of Kyoto,” says the Ministry of Foreign Relations’ Gallardo. “The Yasuní initiative breaks the mold and Ecuador is ready to lead a movement beyond Kyoto based on justice and innovation, that truly addresses the responsibility and needs of the Global South in addressing climate change while creating post-fossil fuel economies.”

“We hope the world joins us in this landmark proposal,” Gallardo says, “and that industrialized countries who share a greater burden of responsibility step up and take on greater commitments. This proposal is truly is an opportunity for everyone.”

For Ecuador’s plan to succeed, the international community will need to respond to the call in a significant way. With June 2008 in the not so distant future, a substantial down payment is needed to keep the ITT oil under Yasuní in the ground.

Will the world respond?

Anyone watching the shrinking glacier atop the Cotopaxi volcano cannot help but conclude: It better. And fast.


Kevin Koenig is the Ecuador program coordinator for Amazon Watch.