Sunday, September 30, 2007
Reliable sources note that Correa and allies have assumed control of the constituent assembly in Ecuador that will discuss a draft for a new constitution, written by a group of select lawyers.
“That is the information we are getting. We could have more than 70 assembly members,” said Minister of Coastal Affairs Ricardo Patino, a close aid to Correa. Three other ministers also confirmed the details.“
Correa had promised/threatened to resign (and leave the country in a right state of affairs) if his movement (of middle-class, remittance consumers) did not gain an effective majority of the assembly – but it seems that they did.
“He has not detailed his reforms, but Correa is expected to call for the closing [of] Congress and replacing it with a parliamentary commission until a legislature is elected under a new charter.” – which is, all things even, a choice action. The chambers of old and evil – the edifices of patriarchy – must be torn down, to be sure.
…..but scroll down the page to see what kind of other and problematic things Correa et al. have on the agenda. I guess you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
1 Comment | 
Amazonia, asamblea constituyente, constitutent assembly, corridors, Ecuador, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, ITT, manta-manaus, Neo-socialism, News, people power, Philosophy, Politics, Rafael Correa, revolution, South America | 
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Posted by colono
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
See the entry below for further information about the Manta-Manaus corridor – which is not exactly the kind of project that one would consider commensurable with the “values” of the environment expressed in Correa’s favourite pet environmental project:
“A key part of this initiative is to avoid oil extraction activities in Yasuni National Park, home to at least two indigenous tribes that live in voluntary isolation and one of the most biodiverse places on earth. Ecuador proposes to leave the nearly one billion barrel ITT oilfield unexploited in order to preserve Yasuni’s astounding biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the cultural integrity of its indigenous inhabitants.“
Correa’s and Lula’s future corridor – or commodity highway – planned to criss-cross the Andes and the Amazon to bring plastics one way and natural resources the other includes the River Napo, which flows right past Yasuni, as an hidrovia or waterway (that is, more or less: river + concrete = stable route). Hardly what you’d call preserving “the cultural integrity of its indigenous inhabitants” if you destroy their river upon which they in great part depend.
2 Comments | Amazonia, Anti-capitalism, Coca to Iquitos, corridors, culture boat, deception, Ecuador, enclosure, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, Ishpingo, ITT, manta-manaus, Neo-socialism, News, people power, Politics, Rio Napo, South America, yasuni | Permalink
Posted by colono
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The recurrent theme of the colonos blog has been the destruction of the River Napo in connection with the erection of the Manta-Manaus corridor – or the Manta-Manaos axis (of destruction).
Here is yet another confirmation – another step towards the end of the Amazon rain forest – Latin American World Bank style neo-(liberal)socialist progress:
“BRASILIA. (Periodico 26) — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa agreed upon advancing the construction of the inter-ocean corridor that will allow Brazil to have an access towards the Asian markets.
Lula and Correa agreed on accelerating the implementation of the Inter-modal Manta Manaos Axis, according to report by ANSA, the Italian news agency. The topic took up a large part of the meeting between the two leaders, which was adjourned early Friday morning in Manaos, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
The Manta-Manaos axis consists of a group of communications systems that include land, river and air links with which the two nations seek to increase trade between them.
The first segment of the South Natural Gas Pipeline proposed by Venezuela would be reaching up to Manaos. Both Heads of State showed interest in the Bank of the South Project during the course of their talks.“
SAVE THE RIVER
1 Comment | Amazonia, Capitalism, corridors, Ecuador, enclosure, Environmentalism, Globalisation, Green Politics, indigenous movements, manta-manaus, Neo-socialism, Politics, Rafael Correa, rain forest, Rio Napo, South America | Permalink
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Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Ecuador – Leaders kidnapped, left for dead
* Posted by Ahni
* September 10, 2007
At the end of August, two Indigenous Leaders in Puyo, Ecuador were attacked after months of receiving death threats for their efforts to protect the territory of the Zapara people in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Gloria Ushigua and Rosa Gualinga were beaten until unconscious, thrown in the trunk of a car, and later left for dead.
Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Amazonia, Ecuador, indigenous movements, News, rain forest, South America, women, zapara | Permalink
Posted by colono
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Leave a Comment » | Amazonia, Anti-capitalism, bio-fuel, Capitalism, eco-socialism, Environmentalism, Globalisation, greenwash, media distortions, News, Politics, South America | Permalink
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Thursday, September 20, 2007
Although the funders of the International Institute for Environment and Development clearly are of the higher echelons of the established society they promote community rights over, essentially, intellectual property rights (a distracting debate around traditional knowledge being protected by private property rights based systems – obviously utter nonsense) in order to “protect” indigenous ways of being and living; which is a good thing – since there are other ways to live than the liberal-conservative order of things.
This page gives a good introduction that concludes:
“We are therefore focusing our research and policy work on the concept of ‘Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage’. This concept, initially developed by ANDES, Peru, recognises the interlinked nature of traditional knowledge, biodiversity, landscapes, culture and customary laws.”
Private property rights cannot save communities – community rights (with added self-determination and autonomy) can (hopefully) save communities, it can’t be that difficult to see, init?!?
The foto shows a gathering above 4000m for a ritual (Febr. 07) to solidify the bonds between the communities in the Parque de la Papa, Pisaq, Cusco, Peru – an amazing place and project where theory and practive of public policy making, autonomy and self-legislation come together. They have 1016 species of potatoes growing there!
7 Comments | asociacion andes, bio-privateering, Capitalism, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, Environmentalism, flow, Globalisation, grass-roots, Jurisprudence, parque de la papa, people power, Peru, private property, South America | Permalink
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Monday, September 17, 2007
On October 11-14, 2007, indigenous peoples and organizations of the Americas will meet in Sonora, Mexico. The gathering is being convened by the Yaqui Tribe of Vicam Community, Sonora (Mexico), the National Indigenous Congress (Mexico), the Nde Cultural Historical Organization of the Nde Apache Nation (USA), “Tierra y Libertad” / Chicana Indigenous Organization, Tucson, Arizona (USA), the Dene Nation/Navajo, the Native and Immigrant Indigenous Development Organization (Mexico-USA), the Tohono O’Odham Nation, (Mexico-USA) and the Zapatista National Liberation Army (Mexico).
For more information about the Indigenous Gathering of the Americas:
http://www.encuentroindigena.org/ – or Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-militarism, bio-privateering, Capitalism, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, Direct Action, Environmentalism, indigenous movements, News, people power | Permalink
Posted by colono
Saturday, September 15, 2007
The indigenous movement and the current process of transition
Floresmilo Simbaña
From Agencia Latinoamericana de Información, August 24, 2007.
This is a translation of one of the articles that appeared in the journal linked to in the previous blog entry, one that particularly concerns the indigenous struggle and movements, organisations and their elites in Ecuador – written from within the indigenous perspective. We let it speak for itself….
Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Amazonia, asamblea constituyente, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, constitutent assembly, eco-socialism, Ecuador, enclosure, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, indigenous movements, Neo-socialism, people power, rain forest, Rio Napo, shaman, South America | Permalink
Posted by colono
Saturday, September 15, 2007
For those who can read Spanish, this is a collection of articles about contemporary Ecuador (..well, it is a collection whether you can read it or not..) :
Descargar en formato PDF
Leave a Comment » | asamblea constituyente, constitutent assembly, eco-socialism, Ecuador, Neo-socialism, people power, Rafael Correa, revolution, South America | Permalink
Posted by colono
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Ecuador Rising – Hatarinchej features a collection of the right-wing candidates for the constituent assembly in Ecuador, which, by the way, is not going to rewrite the constitution, but engage in a political debacle that costs hundreds of millions of dollars and which is a struggle for particular definitions or limitations or interpretations (and so on) of the new constitution written by a group of carefully selected lawyers.
The colonos blog has said a bit about the trouble of the Ecuadorian, parliamentary (and the upper echelons of civil society) Left, the neo-socialist or neo-liberal left – which ever way you want to define the current political climate in quite a few Latin American nation states (you can here read a contribution by Rafael Correa to establish what that phenomenon is). This is a comment on the Ecuadorian right, which is even worse – as viciously rich and powerful as your next war criminal:
“As you will understand the list of candidates is enormous, but that is the strategy of the right, of avoiding the discovery of the past commonalities that unite them with the traditional and oligarchical parties, of which they were part. It is useful to identify the true candidates of the people, the workers, the farmers, the students, the small retailers, the migrants, etc. They have the space, the candidates who offer to fight for the nationalisation of petroleum and the mines; those that want to eliminate the labor ‘casualisation’; who yearn to recover monetary, legal and territorial sovereignty, that the Right stripped from us with bad governments; those that dream of a worthy and sovereign motherland await your support. It is necessary to bury the parties of the Right, those named ID, PRE, PRIAN, UDC, PSC and, of course, the PSP, of ex-president Lucio Gutiérrez.”
and the list follows:
Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Amazonia, Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-militarism, asamblea constituyente, constitutent assembly, eco-socialism, Ecuador, extremist christians, fundamentalist christians, Jurisprudence, Neo-socialism, News, people power, Politics, Rafael Correa, revolution, Sloths, South America | Permalink
Posted by colono
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Leave a Comment » | Amazonia, Coca to Iquitos, corridors, culture boat, Life, Peru, photo, Photography, Rio Napo, South America, Travel Info | Permalink
Posted by colono
Saturday, September 1, 2007
This entry comes from a post to a thread on Tribe.net that became much too long winding – perhaps even for the blog, haha, well, not really – this should give some political ideas that might be useful for anyone performing shamanic practices (the links, abbreviated by Tribe, look funny but work 
These statements are interesting (and the comments they afforded long):
Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Amazonia, Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, corridors, deception, Ecuador, enclosure, Environmentalism, flow, Life, people power, Photos, Politics, private property, religion, Rio Napo, shaman, South America, strategy of tension, Tree Hugging, we are winning, yachak | Permalink
Posted by colono
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