Ecuador: Life brings surprises

A Note About the Failed Coup in Ecuador - español

Atilio A. Boron

Translation: David Brookbank

1. What happened Thursday in Ecuador?

There was an attempted coup d’etat.

It was not, as various Latin America media reported, an “institutional crisis”, as if what happened had been a jurisdictional conflict between the executive and the legislature rather than an open insurrection by one branch of the executive, the National Police, whose members make up a small army of 40,000 men, against the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Ecuador, who is none other than the legitimately elected president.  Neither was it as U.S. Under Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Arturo Valenzuela claimed, “an act of police insubordination”.  Would it have been characterized this way if the equivalent of the Ecuadoran National Police in the U.S. had beaten and physically assaulted Barack Obama, injuring him?  Or if they had kidnapped him and held him in custody for 12 hours in a police hospital until a special army commando unit liberated him following a fierce gun battle?  Certainly not.  But given that we are talking about a Latin American leader, what in the U.S. would sound like an intolerable aberration is made to appear like a schoolyard prank here.

Behind the Coup in Ecuador

Behind the Coup in Ecuador – The Rightwing Attack on ALBA - español

By Eva Golinger

Translation: Machetera

The latest coup attempt against one of the countries in the Bolivarian Alliance For The People of Our America (ALBA) is attempt to impede Latin American integration and the advance of revolutionary democratic processes.  The rightwing is on the attack in Latin America.  Its success in 2009 in Honduras against the government of Manuel Zelaya energized it and gave it the strength and confidence to strike again against the people and revolutionary governments in Latin America.

Oliver Stone plays journalist again – video included

Okay, first of all, Machetera’s not a fan.  Oliver Stone’s films have always struck her as unsubtle, and she hated Comandante, which oddly, puts her in the same camp as the gusanos who thought it was so dangerous that it ought not to be shown in the U.S. at all, and forced Stone to return to Havana to film an addendum, which they liked even less (but so did Machetera, although surely for different reasons).  It’s not just that she had to go through all kinds of terrible contortions just to view it (buying it on Amazon.uk for heaven’s sake and then sacrificing one of the four lifetime chances to change the country code on the computer in order to see the forbidden piece of junk), but that after all of that she couldn’t even sit through the whole thing.  Slow is an understatement.

Popular, not populist

In this interview with Argentina’s Mario Wainfeld, Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa says, “…the policies of George Bush have been so clumsy in the region that they’ve favored us. The progressive governments have a lot to thank him for, he’s helped us a lot.”

Also in this interview, this breaking news: An Ecuadoran who survived the Colombian/U.S. bombing of the FARC camp in Ecuador on March 1 was killed with a blow from a rifle butt to his neck, not by gunfire or the bombs themselves.

Winning Elections is Not the Same as Winning Power

Mario Wainfeld – Página 12

Translation: Machetera

In an interview with Página 12, Ecuador’s president spoke of his opposition’s coalition, the role of the media and banking. As well, he spoke of the relationship between democracy and power factions, and his socialist project and its limits. Of the influence of the dollar and remittances. Of the relationship between countries in the region, with Colombia, with the United States. And much more, even a goal made in overtime.

Correa on the “little emperor” Uribe (and other things)

Is this guy good or what? Fantastically good looking, intelligent, well-spoken, some people just have it all. (Eat your heart out Álvaro Uribe.) If you speak Spanish, the live interview is worth a look. Probably it’s worth a look even if you don’t. Go here for that, since WordPress is rejecting video uploads right now.

My Hands are Clean and Bloodless, Something Uribe Can’t Say – 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.