Ecuador: Groups demand progressive changes (Opinion)

Ecuador: Widespread Protests from Left and Indigenous Sectors Demand Progressive Changes

Carlos Zorilla reported the largest protests – and by far the longest-lasting – against Rafael Correa’s government have been raging all over Ecuador since August 13th, when hundreds of thousands of people in a national strike called by the Indigenous People’s organizations and Labor Unions, took to the streets in Quito and other parts of the country. The goal was to vociferously show their discontent with a number of government policies and demand reforms. But it didn’t start on August 13th. Months before, on March and May of this year, there were major protest marches, plus several other important ones in Quito prior to these dates.

The most visible gripes against the Correa regime are the regime’s intent on introducing 16 amendments to the Constitution, which would, among other things, remove term limits and allow indefinite elections of elected officials, including Correa. The problem is that the government would like to do it without carrying out a nation-wide referendum, as the Magna Carta calls for. The idea is to have the amendments be approved by a legislative branch totally controlled by the executive, which is highly questionable, since the amendments will introduce fundamental changes to a document approved by the Ecuadorian people. Read Article

Carlos Zorilla has been a full time resident of Intag, Ecuador since 1978. Founder of several organizations, including DECOIN, a grass-roots organization working in Intag area against large-scale mining since 1995. His activism has made him a target of both transnactional mining interestes and the Correa government. He has has been singled out by Correa publicly on three different occasions and falsely accused of writing a community manual to destabilized his government