UNASURrender to global capitalism
Rafael Correa is the poster boy of neo-socialism – he wears Quechua shirts and bathes himself in the limelight of indigeous peoples’ struggle in the global media, makes promises to the poor and the illiterate (and also delivers on some of his promises) – but more than anything he is increasingly despised by the indigenous peoples and the campesinos “who mean nothing to him” and who he represses violently if they organise against the foreign companies that Correa contracts their land away to. Also known in international socialist and even environmental circles as the saviour of the Yasuni national park. But nothing could be further from the truth – as has been reported by the colonos blog since before Correa entered office.
I have just returned from a meeting where yachaks (shamans) from various regions of “el Oriente” (basically the Ecuadorian Amazon) have gathered all weekend to discuss, among other things, Correa’s rejection in the constituent assembly processes of collective rights and a range of specific demands made by the indigenous movements as part of the rewriting of the Ecuadorian constitution. Talks are of strikes and some suggest that another uprising is brewing – at any rate Rafael Correa is very unpopular with indigenous people and campesinos, because he arrogantly have stated that he cares not about their demands since “they only constitute a few percent of his voters“.
So what does Mr. Correa care about – well, like the Clintons he seems mostly fascinated by inscribing himself into the white man’s history of conquest of the world through an industrial economy that is essentially based on exploitation of labour and pachamama (mother earth).
“Unasur to boost financial self-sufficiency in S America:
BRASILIA, May 23 (Xinhua) — Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said here Friday that the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) will boost programs to help realize financial self-sufficiency in the region.
After signing the bloc’s constitutive agreement in the Brazilian capital, Correa said it was “a historical day for South America, which brings great expectation and hope.”
“We can do like the European Union (EU). As the EU has to explain why they united, we will have to explain to our children and grandchildren why we took so long to do it,” he told a press conference.””
Correa’s vision and that of UNASUR is about entrance into an economy that many ever since its inception – with the conquest of new worlds and the industrial production apparatus that makes wars for more profit possible – have been fighting. And for quite some years it has been quite clear that it is a very unsustainable economy that the planet cannot sustain.
Of course it is the rich and the powerful who mostly have to change their wasteful ways, but to happily join that horrible economy that Correa is so blinded by and which accelerates climate change and destroys civilization is plain stupid. However, the middle classes who get better roads (this, the year where it seems like we have to take drastic measure and actions to counter climate change, is the year of asphalt in Ecuador), nicer cars to drive them on and bigger supermarkets to park them by and shop in, and of course the capitalists that exploit the natural resources that he so happily gives to foreign and private interests are laughing all the way to the bank while the earth cries.
The rest of the chinese article follows.
“The Ecuadorian president said the integration will bring about fast and concrete results.
“We can no longer be rhetorical, and Unasur must develop itself with concrete improvements in living standard of our peoples,” he said.
In addition, Correa mentioned the project of financial integration through the Bank of the South as “fundamental.”
“We can be self-sufficient in financial terms,” said Correa, adding that, if member states keep their money “together,” they will avoid having to “kneel down to get a small loan here and there.”
Correa also spoke of the importance of cooperation in energy and transportation in the region, saying that it “would safeguard our sovereignty and enhance our capacity to make our own decisions.”
He also agreed with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on the harmonization of social and educational policies in the region.
For example, Correa said certificates are to be recognized in all Unasur countries.
Referring to Brazil’s proposal to create a South American defense council, Correa said he approved of it, although it was not his country’s priority and that it would be necessary to reach true regional consensus before turning words into action in that matter.
He called on all countries to “permanently commit to following international law,” in reference to Colombia’s military incursion into Ecuadorian territory on March 1.”
How about Correa committing to environmental justice and the human rights of indigenous peoples!??!
colonos 
Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 18:11 (799)
RESOLUCIONES DE LA ASAMBLEA EXTRAORDINARIA DE LAS NACIONALIDADES Y
PUEBLOS INDIGENAS DEL ECUADOR
En la ciudad de Quito 13 de mayo del 2008, en la Sala de Reuniones de la
CONAIE, con la presencia de las Organizaciones Regionales: CONFENIAE,
CONAICE, ECUARUNARI, PRESIDENTES DE LAS NACIONALIDADES Y PUEBLOS DEL
ECUADOR, Instituciones Indígenas y Asambleístas del Movimiento
Pachakutik, con una masiva participación, la Asamblea extraordinaria de
la CONAIE, ante la negativa de incluir en la nueva Constitución Política
del Estado el contenido de la plurinacionalidad y particularmente el
consentimiento previo, libre e informado por parte de la mayoría de
Alianza País conjuntamente con los sectores de la derecha y ante los
pronunciamientos ofensivos y prepotentes del Presidente de la República,
Econ. Rafael Correa, y sus acciones que desdicen del proyecto por el
cual el pueblo ecuatoriano votó en las últimas elecciones que fue
apoyado por el movimiento indígena, y que demuestran que Alianza País da
continuidad hacer el juego a la derecha y al
plan económico neoliberal,
Resuelve:
1.- Rechazar los pronunciamientos racistas, autoritarios y
antidemocráticos del Presidente de la República, Rafael Correa, que
atropellan los derechos de las nacionalidades y pueblos consagrados en
los Convenios y Tratados Internacionales, y que constituyen un atentado
a la construcción de una democracia plurinacional e intercultural en el
Ecuador, sumándose a las tradicionales posturas de la derecha
oligárquica y neoliberal. De igual manera expresamos nuestra indignación
por sus declaraciones en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
2.- Declarar la oposición a la política económica del gobierno de
Alianza País, que pretende entregar a las empresas transnacionales
petroleras, mineras, farmacéuticas, madereras, hidroeléctricas los
territorios nacionales y de los pueblos y nacionalidades indígenas; y
socializar a las organizaciones regionales a fin de establecer las
estrategias de movilización nacional para defender las tierras,
territorios, recursos naturales y biodiversidad y por el respeto y
cumplimiento de los derechos humanos, la Declaración de Naciones Unidas,
la OIT, y los derechos colectivos de los Pueblos y Nacionalidades.
3.- Respaldar al bloque de asambleístas de Pachakutik y a los
asambleístas que han apoyado las tesis progresistas de luchar por la
democracia, en contra del modelo neoliberal y la refundación de nuestro
país, y sobre todo en la construcción de un Estado Plurinacional que se
construya desde el consenso, la transparencia, la equidad y la
participación de todos y todas.
4.- Expresar al gobierno y a la Asamblea Constituyente, que la demanda
de CONSENTIMIENTO PREVIO, LIBRE E INFORMADO, con derecho a veto y de
carácter vinculante, propuesta por el movimiento indígena y otros
sectores sociales y que forma parte de las conquistas de los pueblos
indígenas a nivel internacional, ES IRREVERSIBLE porque forma parte de
la lucha por descolonizar a la democracia y al Estado que hemos llevado
adelante la mayoría de los ecuatorianos. El movimiento indígena
defenderá este derecho a toda costa.
4.- Exigimos a la Asamblea Constituyente que fiscalice al gobierno del
Econ. Rafael Correa para que de cumplimiento al Mandato Minero y de
Amnistías, a las renegociaciones de los contratos petroleros, mineros,
telefónicos y las hidroeléctricas privadas. Así como a las negociaciones
comerciales UE-Comunidad Andina.
5.- Exigimos a la Asamblea Constituyente la promulgación del MANDATO POR
LA SOBERANIA ALIMENTARIA y la declaratoria del Ecuador como territorio
LIBRE DE TRANSGENICOS Y DE AGRO-BIOCOMBUSTIBLES.
6.- Ante la falta de respuestas efectivas por parte del gobierno del
Econ. Rafael Correa en el control de precios en los mercados del país,
demandamos a la Asamblea Constituyente que exhorte al Gobierno nacional
adopte un PLAN ECONOMICO DE EMERGENCIA
7.- Demandamos la suspensión inmediata de todas las negociaciones
realizadas a propósito del eje multimodal Manta-Manaos, y la suspensión
de todos los proyectos IIRSA, por ser atentatorios a los derechos
humanos y colectivos.
8.- Demandamos a la Asamblea Constituyente la destitución inmediata del
Ministro Galo Chiriboga, por estar vinculado a empresas petroleras
transnacionales y de la Ministra Marcela Aguiñaga, por haber lesionado
los derechos ancestrales de las nacionalidades y pueblos indígenas.
Demandamos también el juicio político al Fiscal General de la Nación,
por su política represiva, en contubernio con los intereses del gobierno
colombiano, que ha perseguido y encarcelado a los compañeros de Indymedia,
9.- Demandamos del Presidente de la Republica que dé los nombres y
apellidos de las personas del movimiento indígena CONAIE que según él
han pedido puestos, cargos y favores al régimen.
10.- Reafirmamos nuestra lucha ininterrumpida e inquebrantable contra el
modelo neoliberal, el imperialismo y las oligarquías criollas que
pretenden perpetuar la discriminación y la explotación de los pueblos.
11.- Declaramos nuestra solidaridad con el heroico pueblo boliviano y
con su Presidente Evo Morales, que han sido agredidos por el imperio
norteamericano y por la derecha oligárquica terrateniente boliviana, que
quiere fragmentar el país con un proyecto neoliberal autonómico, y
rechazamos las declaraciones de Nebot, Rohn y miembros de la oligarquía
guayaquileña que pretenden un proceso similar en el Ecuador.
12.- Confluir con otras organizaciones sociales afines para establecer
una amplia alianza para defender los derechos de los sectores más
necesitados y construir un nuevo Estado que incluya los aportes de los
modelos económicos y socioculturales de los pueblos.
Marlon Santi
PRESIDENTE
CONAIE
Humberto Cholango Flavio Calasacon
Domingo Ankuash
PRESIDENTE PRESIDENTE
PRESIDENTE
ECUARUNARI CONAICE CONFENIAE
Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 18:30 (812)
See also:
https://colonos.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/unasur-the-new-ided-south-america-divided-already/
Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 18:33 (815)
See also Nathan Gill’s newest piece from:
http://www.southernaffairs.org/2008/05/south-american-regional-integration.html
May 24, 2008
South American Regional Integration Institutions: Unasur, ALADI, CAN and Mercosur
There are four regional integration institutions in South America; CAN, MERCOSUR, ALADI, and UNASUR. The first two are subregional blocks representing nine of the 12 South American member countries of Unasur; neither is fully functional.[1]
All the nations of South America, except for Guyana and Surinam, are members of ALADI. Its goals are similar to the Unasur. The only two non-South American members are Mexico and Cuba.[2] Since its inception in 1981, ALADI has achieved very few of its goals and has been eclipsed most recently by the formation of Unasur. This final institution is a specifically South American initiative designed to unite these various processes into one single institution.
Unasur Institutional Structure
Previously known as the Comunidad Sudamericana de Naciones (CSN), it was founded in 2004 by the Declaración del Cusco. It is a 12 nation cooperation treaty designed to propel regional integration efforts forward into the twenty-first century by coordinating dispersed efforts under one central integration authority with its headquarters in Quito, Ecuador.
UNASUR is composed of the nations of MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay), the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru), Chile, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela. The union has a combined population of approximately 377 million, an internal market (PIB) of US$1.5 trillion, and a total area of 17 million sq/km, including 27 percent of the Earth’s fresh water, 70 percent of its known copper reserves, enough oil and natural gas to last the continent a century, the Amazon rain forest, the fertile pampas, the Andes mountains, and maritime access to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Caribbean Sea.[3]
For a region like South America, plagued with internal conflict, weak national political institutions, and the world’s worst income disparity, these goals seemed ambitious.
The institutional structure was agreed upon during the 2005 Summit of Brasilia where the Presidents of South America decided that the meeting of heads of state would be the highest level of political contact within UNASUR. These are supposed to occur annually and the location rotates around the region.[4] This structure was formally ratified in the 2008 Summit of Brasilia.
Meetings of heads of state are the highest level of political contact. The president of country hosting the annual summit is the acting president of the union for one year and the presidents of the previous and following years advise the current president to permit better transitions.
Foreign Ministers make the executive decisions; they are scheduled to meet twice a year to discuss issues of mutual interest and are in charge of preparing the regional agenda for the annual meeting of heads of States. Vicecancillers are in charge of coordinating the respective positions of member countries before the meetings of foreign ministers. Below this level are ad hoc ministerial meetings of specific social sectors such as salud, educación, cultura, ciencia y tecnología, seguridad ciudadana, infraestructura de energia, transportes, comunicaciones, y desarrollo sostenible.[5]
UNASUR was first created without a formal institutional bureaucracy in order to avoid adding additional layers of administration on top of those already existing in CAN, Mercosur, and ALADI. However, it became apparent by 2007 that an organization dispersed over a continent without any sort of central administration was not practical. To correct this, an office of Executive Secretary was created with headquarters in Quito, Ecuador and a regional parliament will be located in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
The position of Secretaria General was offered to Rodrigo Borja, a former president of Ecuador, in 2007. Borja accepted and began drafting a constitutive charter for the union that would have combined the subregional blocks of CAN and Mercosur into Unasur.
His proposal also called for a strong executive branch which would be in charge of setting the regional agenda and ensuring compliance. In Feb 2008, Borja made clear in a private interview with the author that he would not be part of just another layer of ineffective state bureaucracy. Although his draft was submitted to the presidents of each country in 2007 he had not received a response at the time we spoke with him.[6]
One day before the May 2008 Summit of Brasilia, he publically rejected the offer to serve as Executive Secretary because the presidents rejected his proposal to create an agile institution capable of achieving the ambitious goals of integration. Instead, it was decided to create a forum of 12 representatives from each member nation as well as the Executive Secretary while reserving maximum authority for the presidents of each country.[7]
Also involved in the direction of Unasur are the Presidente del Comité de Representantes Permanentes del MERCOSUR, the Director de la Secretaría del MERCOSUR, del Secretario General de la Comunidad Andina, the Secretario General of de la ALADI, and the Secretaría Permanente de la Organización del Tratado de Cooperación Amazónica to provide the necessary staff to carry out the mandates approved by presidents and foreign ministers.[8]
By Nathan Gill – Southern Affairs
http://www.southernaffairs.org
Sunday, June 22, 2008 at 16:27 (727)
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation 🙂 Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Gaugeable!!!