by Ruben Bauer Naveira (Brazil) for The Saker Blog
This is a very short summary of an article from Adoración Gusmán (Equatorian), published on Friday, Oct 04th (in Spanish):
On the evening of Tuesday, Oct 01st, Ecuador’s president Lenin Moreno announced a whole bunch of new legislation, delivering to the people of Ecuador:
– Austerity;
– Deep cuts on social rights;
– Deep cuts on taxes for the wealthiest;
– Dismissal of public workers;
– Dismantling of labor relations;
– Dismantling of social security; and so on.
On Wednesday, Oct 02nd, people gathered on the cities, and began to march through the capital city, Quito. On the same day, the police and the armed forces started to violently repress the demonstrators.
On Thursday, Oct 03rd, the government decreed the State of Exception, for 60 days.
From then on, the situation has just worsened.
This video is from yesterday, on Monday, Oct. 7th:
And these videos are from today, on Tuesday, Oct. 8th:
Then, there is also this shocking declaration, from the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE):
From which there follows a translation into English (thanks to Peter Lenny):
*******
CONAIE declares a state of exception in indigenous lands
1) In view of the public authorities’ brutality and their lack of the awareness necessary to understand the popular nature of the demands of the National Stoppage against the Package, which adversely affects Ecuadorean society as a whole and worsens the conditions of life and existence of the country’s most vulnerable popular sectors;
2) In view of the government’s insistence on advancing on our territories to exploit mining, oil and goods of nature, destroying living environments and backing the corporations’ presence with military forces;
3) Exercising our right to self-determination and our authority to administer justice in the jurisdiction of the peoples and nationalities, as recognized in the United Nations Declaration on [the Rights of] Indigenous Peoples, ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, and the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador;
The CONAIE hereby declares a state of exception in all indigenous territories.
Military and police who approach indigenous territories will be detained and subject to indigenous justice.
*******
Ecuador has been brought to the brink of civil war.
Civil war? No . This is people of Ecuador against Washington’s puppet Moreno. It is a matter of time when army is going to turn against him as well. Hopefuly, this will spread across other countries in the region, where CIA puppets are in power.
Civil war? No . This is people of Ecuador against Washington’s puppet Moreno
Why would the two be mutually exclusive?
Melotte
Well, blow me down…not!
Talk about classic economic hitman tactics on full and unabashed display.
How utterly depressing and predictable…always the same tattered old playbook which the vicious Hegemon dusts off time and time again. Not quite so much dust perhaps this time around though… it really hasn’t had any time to gather since the last sordid shambles [Venezuela].
Needless to say, the hegemon needs much murder and mayhem and for it to be ongoing and concurrent on all four corners of the globe. You see this all directly results in, yes…good old US “jobs, jobs, jobs” as the Trumpster so eloquently phrased it.
Until the MSM begins to repeatedly proclaim the common denominator, the background and the agenda, not a lot will change. Trump’s hand in this is particularly obscene, since if he had any brains or human decency he would have seen to it that Assange was released years ago and none of this latest tragedy would have eventuated.
So much for draining the swamp…talk is cheap…actions speak volumes.
Same old same old… the west persists in locking up the real heroes and handsomely rewards and promotes treasonous, opportunist, murderous and thieving thugs. In Washington’s case, they can even make it all the way into his Cabinet and war council
Like it or not Trump is either part of the swamp or controlled by it.
Not a lot of difference between either scenario from where I’m standing…the end result is always the same…bloodshed almost guaranteed…lots of it.
Regards from the south seas
Col
Melotte 22
What you wrote is not impossible, but unlikely. The elite in Central and South America usually control the military. Ecuador is an example of a puppet country controlled and plundered by international banks and corporations. The people always come second in importance.
Ecuador is a bit special.
In the recent last decades there has been an almost inunterrupted string of presidents coming with promises to serve the people, then violently overthrown by popular uprisings when they betrayed those promises.
Acutally, the only exception is the one that actually implemented his promises; he could have been continuing leading and improving the country, if only the constitution allowed him to be candidate for a third mandate (that is a very nasty and disgusting trick, if all the usual tricks to overthrow a truly popular leader fail, then there is the “mandate limit” to put him or her apart).
So, as Rafael Correa couldn’t go for a third mandate, he trusted his vice-president, Lenin Moreno, to go and continue the work. That was the deal, and that was the reason why Moreno got elected with so many votes.
But once elected he revealed his true satanic face; he had been working in the dark for long time in order to betray and destroy from the inside the citizen revolution in Ecuador. He is epitome of betrayal.
But it seems he will get what he deserves; and I hope the people of Ecuador can once again take their country back.
They should have one-time mandate limits for all politicians – so that they are obliged to get proper jobs. Also, it prevents them from scamming money from lobbyists to prepare for the next election.
Best of all is Direct Democracy – like in Switzerland. That puts an end to Jews controlling all political parties.
One video shows what looks like a Canadian LAV2 on fire, the Ecuadorians must have been watching the vids from Yemen. The only thing missing is a close up of a Bic lighter in the foreground. There might even be a huge black market for the TOR system or similar anti armour type weapons.
sean the leprechaun
It would appear that those Canadian armored cars are easy to destroy. The Hothis destroyed them in Yemen, as did civilians in Ecuador. And they are part of NATO mechanized forces. Not very inspiring.
More on the situation in Ecuador.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ecuadoreans-Cant-Take-It-Anymore-Protesters-Indigenous-People-March-on-as-Govt-Flees-Capital-20191008-0004.html
Former presidents of Ecuador before Rafael Correa where dismissed mainly by the indigenous people, this wont be the exception. Lenin Moreno is a TRAITOR and has to leave the country or to go to the jail.
How interesting that I havn’t seen a single news story on the situation in Ecuador in the oh so highly ethical mainstream media (refer to Udo Ulfkotte). Sort of like I can’t remember the last time they mentioned the Gilets Jaunes in France.
But daily, literally wall to wall coverage on the ‘Democracy protests’ in Hong Kong.
What a piece of filthy work Lenin Moreno is. The slime who betrayed Julian Assange for $$$. And now doing his Masters bidding by implementing draconian Neoliberal policies to benefit those for whom Neoliberalism was foisted on the World in the first place. Trotskyism for the ruling elites and the Corporations.
I was wrong about the media coverage – all the main stenographers now covering the protests: BBC, NY Times, The Guardian, Washington Post, etc, and they’re reporting that protesters in Quito have just stormed the Ecuadorian Parliament this morning. Massive protests in Quito and elsewhere. An example for us in the belly of the Empire?
Moreno is typical of the vermin that Thanatopolis DC has imposed on the Latin American people for 200 years. Obviously a long-term sleeper for the CIA or some other thug gang, he really deserves anything he gets, but you can be moderately certain that the Yanks will rescue their son-of-a-bitch in the end-unless his end would prove more beneficial to their plans.
You are right. The Compradores think that Uncle Sam will come to their rescue. Moreno and Guaido might wake up to find out what the English word “expendable” means. Then they will find out how their own countries deal with traitors.
Oh,yes,indeed… And I wish I was there to participate.
This moron Lenin Moreno with his all at once legislation is just asking for the ground to open under his feet. I hope the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador is the first step toward pulling his plug and even better to spread revolution across South America.
Argentina rid themselves of the neocons. Now, if Ecuador succeeds in overthrowing Moreno, perhaps more might countries follow suit. Brazil and Colombia are both tinderboxes. The world might find the recent squashing of Latin independence to have been only a fleeting display of Washington’s fading power. In the end, who knows, maybe Maduro might no longer find himself surrounded.
Being surrounded might become someone else fate.
Karma’s a bitch, eh? Serves them right for selling out Assange.
Deeply sadenning news (not to mention not a word on it on MSM TV-Radio) :(
Ruben Bauer, Adoración Gusmán, Lenin Moreno.
Am I the only one to find a strange connection between the names, for fake politicians and may be fake journalists ?
Interview with Ecuadorian Economist related to Moreno’s Economic Austerity
Please note: The terms of the IMF loan were kept secret and Moreno refused to make them public. Dropping the gas subsidies was done without assembly approval. Interesting read affirming the IMF loan was not needed by the country; it is merely a vehicle to transfer the countries assets to the elite.
k
A couple of months ago, the government’s agreement with the IMF was leaked and a group of economists from the “Foro de Economía Alternativa y Heterodoxa” (a forum of intellectuals that study the economic and social aspects of our country) made a tour of Ecuador to let people know about the possible issues that might result from this agreement. The interview below was made by “Lo del momento Loja” with one of the economists that belong to the forum: Juan Carlos Torres. Here’s what Torres had to say:
An expert economist talks about the current policies in Ecuador;
Member of MEMBER OF “Foro de Economía Alternativa y Heterodoxa”
Juan Carlos Torres has a Masters of Economics, and has worked on UTPL for several years in the economics department. A few days ago he was interviewed about his opinion of the new policies adopted by President Moreno. Here’s an extract of what this professional thinks:
Interviewer: How do you look at the current situation in our country?
Economist: This government has a very poor level of popularity and it’s very likely that there will be instability after the policies are declared. The government is being very careful. Last week the Vice President asked the people to understand these new rules. I agree, however, I think what we need to understand is that we are facing a problem that was created on purpose. This is the Foro de Economía Alternativa y Heterodoxa’s position. To be honest, we think this is a fact. This “crisis” is for the purpose of creating an excuse to take over 50.000 million dollars from public infrastructure through privatization (for example, the CNT, all the hydroelectric facilities, the Pacifico Bank, the Esmeraldas refinery, and the concession of all the highways in the country). If the people behind this crisis achieve their goal they will harm the country for decades, and will make a windfall for their own families for generations to come.
I: What would happen to the Ecuadorians if all this information that is leaking is true?
E: Right now the economy is shrinking which means that the level of poverty is increasing. People have less money in their pockets to buy less food and clothing. In these circumstances, it is crazy for Moreno to institute a price increase that will, certainly, make everything more expensive. For a government it’s good to add new taxes when the economy is expanding because there is money in the hands of the citizens. But this is not now the case, so the effect will be negative. What does a negative economic effect mean? It means everything will become more expensive. As a result, the higher prices will go to the end user or consumer (almuerzos, medicine, cab and bus rates, etc). What would this increase cause? It will cause poverty and social reactions (they are happening right now). I see Ecuador as a sleeping elephant. It’s been quiet, hasn’t said anything and this could be the last touch that will wake it up. The final straw. This is a giant that for sure will shake the government.
There are more things to talk about here as well. Companies are supposed to pay an advance in income tax. However, many companies evade taxation, specifically the big ones, because they buy assets they don’t need. For instance, there are companies that buy many cars for the members of their families so when tax time comes they declare less profits. In this way they harm the government and also the workers because they will get less profits too. Moreno has decided to eliminate the advance income tax, and this conveys a message: “you are free to evade taxes.” Under this logic Moreno benefits the strong companies and punishes the small ones.
I: What about the increase of VAT from 12% TO 15%?
E:This agreement was already signed in the document with the IMF. They will do this sooner or later and this tax will be taken from the medium and low class, not the large enterprises.
I: What will be the effects on the population?
E:If these policies are applied the following things could happen:
There could be an increase of poverty and crime. One thing is considered a consequence of the other. The higher the poverty, the higher the crime rate. When a person is fired and doesn’t have opportunities to work, because he or she has kids to feed, then they decide to work as informal vendors. There is also a significant number of unemployed who choose to rob or assault people. All of this will be a result of the agreement with the IMF which, by the way, was not necessary. I have to say it again, it was NOT necessary to get a loan from the IMF. That was a political move to have an excuse to privatize every single profitable public company in Ecuador. I’ll give you another example, right now Moreno is trying to transfer the public oil companies to the private sector. This means the private sector will make more profits and only a small percentage will go to the government. In other words: they will eat the flesh and we’ll have the bones. In the last government, we had a contract for participation and it was changed to a contract of production. That means Ecuador got 80% of the cost of the barrels of oil and the companies got 20%. Moreno is working to change that and reverse it. 80% for the oil companies and 20% for Ecuador.
I: What else can we say about Moreno’s rules?
E: In just one year of his government we had 700,000 new poor people (June 2018 – June 2019). The previous government took 2 million people out of poverty in about eight years. This shows us what the approach of this government is to social well being. It is the zero sum approach of business, where some people are making profits while others will suffer the consequences.