Ecuador aligns itself with Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba

El Mundo ( Bolivia ) ^ | January 15, 2007 | AP wire service in Spanish ( translated by self )

[StJacques]

Ecuador aligns itself with Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba

In speeches against imperialism and neoliberalism, the presidents of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, and Bolivia, Evo Morales, and the Ecuadoran President-Elect Rafael Correa, who should assume the government of his country Monday, expressed common ideological and political agreement Sunday.

Chavez, Morales, and Correa, who also exalt the figure of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, met together in Zumbahua, an indigenous [Ecuadoran] locality 90 kilometers south of Quito, for a symbolic inauguration of Correa before the indigenous peoples [of Ecuador].

In a speech before a multitude congregated in the central plaza, Correa emphasized that "[Latin] America has awakened," and saluted the governments of Chavez, Castro, and Morales, as well as those of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in Brazil; Nestor Kirchner, in Argentina, Tabare Vazquez, in Uruguay; Michelle Bachelet, in Chile, and Daniel Ortega, in Nicaragua.

"How Latin America has changed and will continue changing because it is not living in an epoch of changes but a change of epochs!," asserted Correa, an economist of the left for 43 years. He stressed that these governments are showing that "the neoliberal night is coming to its end." Correa aligned himself with his "brothers Hugo and Evo" on the necessity of calling a constituent assembly as in their countries, in Venezuela in 1999, and currently in Bolivia, to carry out "profound changes." There was also common agreement in emphasizing the figure of Venezuelan founder Simon Bolivar, in his search for the integration of the region. For his part, Chavez called Correa "brother, comrade, President, leader," and stressed the stuggle of Castro and the Cuban people. He referred to the dominion of the "socialist governments of the 21st century" in South America as "the resurrection, because here the resurrection is occurring. It has resuscitated the Latin American people," he said. "Venezuela has put itself at the service of the Ecuadoran people. Hugo Chavez puts himself at the service of Rafael Correa," he observed.

On his side, the President of Bolivia assured that "before we had only one leader, brother, Commandante, President Fidel Castro. That struggle of [our] companion Fidel, that struggle of the Cuban people, I want to say to them from here, has not been in vain."

[StJacques]

Well, the Latin American Left is currently feeling pretty good after their very recent electoral victories in Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Ecuador. And what is particularly striking about these successes is their attempt to construct a unified regional foreign policy ideologically-oriented to the left. History does not favor ideology in the development of foreign policy with success, but this phenomenon, which is still quite recent, continues apace nonetheless.

Those of you who have been following the Latin American Left postings over the past five or six months might remember that, in spite of like-minded international political sympathies openly expressed, tensions have developed between several of the countries Chavez, Morales, and Correa have identified as ideological brothers in arms. Chile was noticeably angry with Venezuela for the interference of the Venezuelan Ambassador in Chilean internal politics, which may have been a key factor preventing Venezuela from winning a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council last year. Chilean editorialists have been sounding the alarm over Bolivian intentions to reassert a claim to an outlet to the sea at Chile's expense, a claim which Chavez apparently supports. Brazil is upset with Evo Morales' attempt to nationalize Bolivia's oil and natural gas production, much of which would come at the expense of the Brazilian national oil company Petrobras, which would probably be the big loser if Morales' program succeeds. There is more, and particularly with Venezuelan military aid to Bolivia, which is frowned on by just about everyone else in the neighborhood.

Long-term international alignments take time to develop and I would discourage anyone from believing that the public posturing of these Latin American leftist leaders will result in a common alliance in pursuit of ideological goals. But the fact of the recent electoral successes of the left in Latin America is something we must confront, and we will get nowhere simply throwing stones and calling them names. The U.S. and other nations who desire the promotion of true democracy must take it upon themselves to seek out friendly nations who want our support to keep the left in check, and this includes Colombia and Mexico -- yes, Mexico has done a lot to stand up to the left recently -- among other smaller players.

And as a final comment, it is worth noting that Evo Morales' attempt to rewrite Bolivia's Constitution without two-thirds support in the constituent assembly he has called is creating tremendous internal problems within that country; so much so that secession and regional autonomy within Bolivia have been both threatened (secession) and declared openly (regional autonomy) over the past few months. If there is a current "front" in the struggle to turn back the left in Latin America, it is in the Bolivian constituent assembly, where things have now stalled and remain at an impasse while the two sides seek to strengthen their positions. None of us are likely to keep Bolivia front and center in the larger scheme of international politics, but I can assure you that what is going on there now is being watched very closely elsewhere in Latin America and it is something I will be keeping an eye on as things progress.

Left to Right: Hugo Chavez, Rafael Correa, Evo Morales

[StJacques]

A Latin American Left Watch ping for you all.

Anyone wishing to be included on the ping list may either ping me from this thread or contact me via Freepmail.

[livius]

How cute. Matching blankies.

[NonValueAdded]

Yet another reason to build the wall.

[Patrick1]

The populations of their countries will be living under those blankets soon enough.

[StJacques]

They are called ruanas, and I have two here at home.

[listenhillary]

Another good reason to do everything we can to insure there is a glut of oil on the world markets.

[My2Cents]

This picture is begging for a caption. Morales should be pegged "The Fifth Beatle." Or, all of them should be pegged as "Curly, Larry, and Moe."

Actually, they all amount to "Hillary-Lite."

[Brad from Tennessee]

From CIA World Factbook:

ECUADOR

Export partners:

US 51.1%, Peru 8%, Germany 4.4%, Colombia 4.3% (2005)

Import partners:

US 22.3%, Colombia 14.9%, Venezuela 7.8%, Brazil 6%, China 5.3% (2005)

[sgtbono2002]

AWWWWWW YEAH: These boys are up to no good.

We definitely have to keep our eyes open on them.

We also should be careful how many of their minions we allow into our country. But we wont.

[StJacques]

How about "Los Tres Bobos" for a caption?

Translation: The Three Stooges

[avacado]

"Ecuador aligns itself with Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba"

A TRIFECTA of losers!

[StJacques]

Good post Brad. What's going to happen when Correa takes Ecuador off the dollar standard as the determining factor in affixing the value of their currency?

It's an obvious answer, but your CIA factbook entry puts the stakes in perspective.

[FreedomNeocon]

Ecuador,Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The breadbasket of our hemisphere!

What are we going to do without the economic and militaristic powerhouses of Blowlivia and Cuba?

The cultural contributions of Ecuador are lost to us!

THE HORROR!

Oh wait... who cares. Turds hang out in the toilet. No biggie.

[o_zarkman44]

A commie cocaine and oil cartel south of the border. How nice.

[Brad from Tennessee]

Likely you have read this already. If not this is an interesting view--"A Tale of Two Lefts"--about the "good left" and the "bad left" in Latin America:

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20060501faessay85302/jorge-g-castaneda/latin-america-s-left-turn.html?mode=print

[panaxanax]

Yep, we better get that super-highway built soon. We don't want any of our enemies tripping on that single-strand barbed wire border fence and then suing us.

I can't speak for everyone, but I'm getting very suspicious and angry about how Bush is handling this open border situation and his continued appeasement.

North American Union, NWO, Globalism, NAFTA, CAFTA, FTAA.....we must fight them at every opportunity now or we WILL be fighting them in our streets.

American idiots just keep buying CITGO gas and Chinese crap. What has happened to my country? Are there any real PATRIOTS left?

Sorry for the rant........had to let off some steam before my head exploded.

[verity]

I like Morales' hat. Oh, wait..............

[BunnySlippers]

Helmut Hair.

[StJacques]

Yes; I have read that one Brad, but thanks for putting it up.

To everyone else, I heartily recommend the link Brad provided in his post #16 above for a perspective on the left in Latin America.

[StJacques]

Hey BunnySlippers, nice to see you. :-)

I've been away for a while, so it's my fault.

[marron]

"the neoliberal night is coming to its end."

"Neo-liberal" is Chavist-speak for "private enterprise". Correa's immediate predecessor was also a Chavist, who was thrown out of office. He seems to have made everyone mad, too much of a Chavist for some, but not enough to satisfy his backers. In the end everyone wanted him gone, though perhaps not all for the same reasons.

The closest thing to a "neo-liberal" they have had ever was Jamil Mahuad, and efforts to overthow him began the first week of his presidency. They culminated in a Chavist revolt led by Gutierrez. The important thing to know is that none of Mahuad's policies were reversed after his exit from power, neither by his immediate successor nor by Gutierrez himself when he assumed office.

This is, in part, why Chavist Gutierrez himself was later thrown out of office.

The key Mahuad policies that provoked revolt were the implementation of the US dollar as the legal currency of Ecuador; the building of a key pipeline by private investment, and limited private investment in the power grid. Those policies continue in place to the present. However, Occidental Oil was recently kicked out of the country, for reasons that make little sense but seem to have more to do with politicians trying to out-Chavez Chavez. Occidental was their number one foreign investor, so it remains to be seen how that affects future investment in the country. Since Correa is even more-Chavist-than-thou, he may be thinking he can make up for investment shortfalls with Venezuelan and Chinese money. And he may be right, who knows.

[Brilliant]

Dang. I thought it was the 3 Stooges at first.

[RetiredArmy]

South and Latin America is becoming the old Eastern European Communist block's replacement. Before long, an iron curtain will be built down there somewhere so they can say they have their own Berlin Wall.

[Ben Ficklin]

Hello SJ, hadn't seen you for a while.

Anywho, you might be interested in this article and source.

South American Integration-or Disintegration?

[Sword_Svalbardt]

Three communists.

[buccaneer81]

Ecuador aligns itself with Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba

They have chosen... poorly.

[A. Pole]

In a speech before a multitude congregated in the central plaza, Correa emphasized that "[Latin] America has awakened," and saluted the governments of Chavez, Castro, and Morales, as well as those of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in Brazil; Nestor Kirchner, in Argentina, Tabare Vazquez, in Uruguay; Michelle Bachelet, in Chile, and Daniel Ortega, in Nicaragua.

Bump

[StJacques]

"Hello SJ, hadn't seen you for a while."

Yes; I've been on hiatus since early December. Part of that was work, part of it was an extended vacation I thought I needed, and part of it was that I began to enjoy being lazy for a change. LOL!

I'm going to look over the article link you have provided a little later on tonight. I saw a very short excerpt from Correa's inaugural speech on Univision this evening and he was talking about the unification of Latin America into a single entity -- this is Chavez's Bolivarianismo in practice -- so I regard the topic as imminently current. I know I'm going to be looking into this more closely in the near future.

So thank you for the link.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

They're building a newer, improved ash heap of history.

[M. Espinola]

Terrorists enemies at our backdoor.

[Kenny Bunk]

El sueño de Bolívar como pesadilla.

[Alia]

Good to see you, StJacques. :) And read your insightful commentary, once again.

[supremedoctrine]

"----yes, Mexico has done a lot to stand up to the Left recently".

---

well, that's one way to look at it. Another way would be that the (provisionally at least) winning party is the same party that has exported millions of its own citizens illegally into the US, as if it is their RIGHT to do so, thereby getting rid of a festering source of its own social and economic problems. With less and less of a population to worry about, with less political, social and ethical problems to consider, WHOEVER is in power in Mexico, Left or Farther-Left, will only tend to get more corrupt, and less accountable. Mexico is basically doing the same thing Saudi Arabia does in its exporting of Wahhabism, but it is not Mexico that is picking up the check for its "foreign agents", it is US. As I'm sure you know, money sent back to Mexico in the form of remittances, makes up a nearly equal part of the Mexican economy as does the revenues from Pemex. Our economy is keeping Mexico alive, (if you call that living).

[sgtbono2002]

Its isnt only Bush. It seeems that both parties are more interested inthe His[anic vote than in the welfare of our country. Some of it has to do with labor for their big Lobbyists but I dont know what this open border crap is?

We are losing our country to these people and our politicians of both parties are helping them to take it.

Its insane.

[StJacques]

". . . Another way would be that the (provisionally at least) winning party is the same party that has exported millions of its own citizens illegally into the US . . ."

First of all; Mexico has a serious problem in the way it addresses the problem of illegal immigration. We hear all sorts of invective from Mexicans of all political stripes about how the U.S. treats illegal Mexican immigrants while Mexico's record of handling illegal immigrants into their own country from Central America makes us look like saints by comparison.

Treatment of Illegal Central American Immigrants in Ixtepec, Oaxaca

But beyond that it would be wrong to say that "the winning party" (the PAN party) has exported them here. The overwhelming majority of illegal Mexican immigrants now residing in the U.S. are PAN Party supporters, as every voting analysis and poll has shown, and their presence in the U.S. cost the PAN Party over 2 million net votes in last year's presidential election by most estimates. The mere size of that number points out just how serious the immigration problem is ... 2 million! And that's just the net loss. When you consider that the PAN Party won the election by less than 240,000 votes, it becomes easy to see that the arithmetic works against the PAN Party in Mexican politics. The PAN Party needs those votes (they actually have been trying to get their voters to come home) and the leftist PRD nearly won the presidency because of the out-migration of PAN Party supporters.

One of the biggest problems the U.S. and Mexico face with regard to illegal immigration is that the issue has become a unifying force within Mexican national politics, with the right, center, and left all uniting to bash the evil gringos to the north for not permitting a wholesale contravention of American immigration law. Mexico needs to grow up in a big way -- I favor building the wall to help them mature -- and take a closer look at their own house, which is in no way clean on illegal immigration. They are the far greater sinners on this issue and yet they are the ones casting stones.

[Thunder90]

The other common thread is that these leftists immediately go to Putin and the "Former" USSR for weapons and assistance.