South America

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South America

Post by blindpig » Thu Oct 10, 2019 1:34 pm

I've been remiss, as usual, this time for not posting on recent momentous events in Bolivia & Ecuador. I'll try to do better.

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Evo Morales proposes to create a Southern Anti-Imperialist Command
The president launched the proposal in an act for the anniversary of the Bolivian Armed Forces.

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Last Wednesday during an event in the city of El Alto for the 194th anniversary of the Bolivian Armed Forces, the country's president, Evo Morales, launched a bold proposal. Convert the Anti-Imperialist Military School ( founded in 2016 ) into a “Southern Command” that defends the interests of Latin America.

Morales was responsible for highlighting the internationalist nature of the initiative since this new military body would be "of the people and for the people, not only for the Bolivian, but for the Latin American and the world."

Addressing the soldiers, the head of state said that "the future is loaded with new threats" for the region. "Interventions, extraterritorial weapons, financial blockades, economic sanctions and unilateral embargoes of criminal and genocidal scope," he said, clearly referring to US foreign policy.

Today more than ever, the Armed Forces defend our territory and protect our natural resources. We have nationalized the Armed Forces, while nationalizing our natural resources. We cannot conceive the preservation of our RRNN without the protection of our FFAA. pic.twitter.com/UF9wb2hinc

- Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) August 7, 2019
"The empire is more greedy than ever and wants to recover its apparent geopolitical privileges" through the "arrogant and abusive use of hegemonic military forces," he completed.

The countercommand

Within the US military structure there are ten Commands. The so-called Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM, for its acronym in English) has within its “area of ​​responsibility” the 31 countries of America that are south of its territory, from Mexico to Argentina.

Created in 1963, it has historically been one of Washington's interference tools on the region. Either giving advice to the Armed Forces, supporting coups or direct invasions.

This has been complemented by the School of the Americas established in Panama in 1946 and which trained several generations of Latin American generals in the US military doctrine.

In response, in 2016 the Government of Bolivia created the Anti-Imperialist Military School for the Peoples of Abya Yala with the mission of changing the strategic orientation of Bolivian military political thinking.

In announcing its creation, Morales explained that “before there was a great school, the School of the Americas, where the best students of the Armed Forces, the Police went there to ideologize” and clarified that “it is a right, we respect it”.

"But we also have another school, not of the empire, but of the people," he said and added the importance of "liberating economically, politically, socially and culturally but also ideologically." That is why, since then, the anti-imperialist course is a requirement to ascend to the rank of captain in the Bolivian army.

For his part, Vice President Álvaro García Linera said that “the essence of the armed forces, a central state institution, is anti-imperialism. They were born facing the empire and colonization. This root cannot be lost, it must be consolidated, it must be enhanced ”.

On this basis, it is now proposed a command that is the counterpart of the American and can, at least, deter his interventionist actions.

Although the political winds of Latin America do not accompany regional integration measures such as the one proposed by Morales, the next elections in Uruguay, Argentina and Bolivia itself could begin to set another trend.

https://notasperiodismopopular.com.ar/2 ... erialista/

Google Translator

I've not seen print articles on Ecuador but the video available is stunning.
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Thu Oct 10, 2019 1:48 pm

The revolution in Ecuador
war, politics, geopolitics, color revolutions
centercigr
October 9, 2:35 a.m.
Protesters in Ecuador seized the country's parliament building and prosecutor's office.

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In parliament, protesters adopted a declaration against neoliberal reforms, after which the military ousted some protesters from the building. Former President Correa called for revolution. Ecuadorian indigenous leaders put forward the slogan "Moreno, get out!" The work of parliament is suspended.
Next, it is planned to occupy the government complex and the empty presidential palace. After that they threaten to go to Guayaquil, where Lenin Moreno is hiding with the top of the army. The military uses dump trucks to block the roads to Guayaquil, where groups of indigenous people from Ecuador with sticks and knives are sent. The mayor of Guayaquil urged the police to remain on guard of the law and prevent pogroms in the city, as is now happening in Quito. However, police and army forces loyal to Lenin Moreno still remain in Quito, so it is too early to say that the capital was taken by the revolutionaries. Protesters call what is happening a revolution against the neoliberal course. Guayaquil says that all this is a coup and seizure of power, which prepared Correa and Maduro. A state of emergency has been declared in the country.



The progressive public has scooped up water - it’s not about Venezuela to broadcast the “crimes of socialism” either. Here, on the verge of collapse, an ultra-neoliberal regime, very friendly with the United States and the IMF.
Ecuadorian revolutionaries success.

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https://centercigr.livejournal.com/243188.html

Google Translator

Many more photos at link. Recommended.
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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Thu Oct 10, 2019 3:00 pm

Ecuador: Lenin vs. LeninSave
By Carlos Aznárez , Latin American Summary, October 8, 2019

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The insurrection has always been a weapon of the humble peoples, of those damned of the land of which Frantz Fannon spoke. It is a necessary alternative and a mirror in which one must necessarily look, when the time comes when the possibilities of dialogue with those above are exhausted, and the bottom moves from the left. One day, the humiliated and dispossessed are planted and shout a blunt "enough is enough!" And from that moment everything becomes possible, even until the seizure of power.
In terms of political practice, it also means that the class struggle happens to occupy a preponderant place and no matter how much you want to hide it, it explodes with full force and touches the foundations of the "winter palaces". That is precisely what is happening in Ecuador today. The cold cloths, the excuses and the lies with which the Lenin Moreno government tried to "make time", while preparing the package of measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund, were over. That means that when the time comes, those to whom the soul is sold, demand that tolls be paid, and not hesitate to start what was agreed upon. Kneeling, subdued and shamefully removed from his principles (if he ever had them), Moreno executes what Washington orders him and if he has to kill, he kills with total impunity.
However, the Ecuadorian people are a hard nut to crack. For things like these that happen today, he has already overthrown several rulers, just as corrupt and criminal as the aforementioned Moreno. The last of them, was Lucio Gutiérrez who lost, by submitting to the empire and its dictates, the possibility of leading a workers-indigenous and peasant revolution, and ended his administration abruptly, as a footman of the bourgeoisie, in the middle of a great uprising popular that caused his escape through the roofs of the Government Palace, where he left forever, climbing a helicopter. Something that Moreno must surely have in his memory, when he decided abruptly to move the Government House from Quito to Guayaquil, in the heat of the outpost of protesters who began fencing the Corondelet Palace.

Now, the letters are drawn for this evil ruler, since tens of thousands of indigenous people, workers, students, are going to occupy Quito and also Guayaquil, demanding not only that the fondomonetarist package be repealed, but that who ordered to shoot the town, who assured the impunity of the police who threw three young protesters from the San Roque bridge, in the historic center of Quito. That man who came to the government thanks to Rafael Correa's naivety and then betrayed him as a vulgar Judas.

On the other hand, the popular uprising and the consequent indigenous-peasant march has generated a current of sympathy in all the villages through which it is passing. Such is the case, that even the most timid or decompromised, take to the streets to show that they are willing to be protagonists of this historical moment. They do it with the joy that comes from joining their peers, chanting the slogans of the moment and showing each other that "the united people will never be defeated." But also, with enough anger to allow them to be convinced that it is time to end those politicians who support a bourgeois democracy with which they deceive them every four or five years.
That is why it is not strange that, at least the indigenous people of the Conaie and the FUT workers add in their chants the well-known “let them all go”. For this to really happen, we must have alternatives that do not lead to an eventual victory to a dead end, where others that do not represent their interests, remain - as has happened so many times - with the gain of many struggles and sacrifices, or of put on the table the loss of freedom and even deaths from repression. That and other similar issues, is what now, will probably be in discussion among the proceedings of this gigantic town in which among others, the legacy of the real Lenin, the illuminator of so many battles of the universal proletariat, and also that of Commander Guevara,

http://www.resumenlatinoamericano.org/2 ... tra-lenin/

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"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Fri Oct 11, 2019 4:49 pm

Ecuador: a general strike against the IMF shakes the country
This Wednesday, thousands of people took to the streets for a seventh day of mobilization against the austerity policies of President Lenin Moreno and the IMF. This strike, organized by indigenous peoples with the support of larger unions and the student movement, was severely repressed by the army and police.

Madeleine Freeman

Friday, October 11

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Photo credit: DAVID DIAZ ARCOS / BLOOMBERG NEWS

Strikers and activists have said they will not stop the national strike that started on Wednesday until Moreno restores state fuel subsidies and cuts the price of petrol and oil. Last week, Lenin Moreno abolished state subsidies on fuels. Last March, he had negotiated with the IMF a $ 4.2 billion loan to solve the Ecuadorian crisis. However, anger is not only due to the increase in gasoline. Since his inauguration, Moreno has implemented austerity measures, lowering the budgets of social programs as well as public sector wages, thereby increasing the cost of living. This has had a negative impact on the living conditions of thousands of Ecuadorian workers.

Moreno says the measures are key to solving Ecuador's $ 3.6 billion debt, stressing that everyone must make sacrifices for the country - everyone except the richest, to whom Moreno abolished the wealth tax and made many gifts by spearheading policies against the workers. The current uprising is the result of years of frustration due to Moreno's neoliberalism and foreign interference. The mobilizations are frontally challenging the authority of the IMF, responsible for austerity, authoritarian phenomena and violence in the global "South" and beyond. In his appeal for the national strike, Mesias Tatamuez, the leader of the United Front Union of Workers, said: " What the government has done is reward the big banks, the capitalists, at the expense of the poor Ecuadorians ... We call all those against the IMF, responsible for the current crisis, to join this strike. "

In preparation for the national mobilization, more than 6,000 indigenous protesters (members of CONAIE, ie the Confederation of Indigenous Nations of Ecuador) walked from their communities to the capital, Quito, to join the thousands of protesters in protest marches. They managed to overtake the cordon of soldiers blocking the entrance to the city, and headed to the presidential palace to set up a camp to hold rallies and give lectures. They demand an end to the rise in gasoline, which has had a very strong impact on indigenous communities, driving up the price of consumer goods to be trucked out of the big cities.
Magnitud de movilización del movimiento indígena junto a trabajadores, estudiantes, y más sectores lograron tomarse el interior of the @AsambleaEcuador , registró fuerte represión, al momento existen heridos por bombas lacrimógenas y disparos a población. #SosEcuador pic.twitter.com/QqWzBjb6Zs

- CONAIE (@CONAIE_Ecuador) October 8, 2019
In Quito, workers, natives and students held several rallies and demonstrations in the day of Wednesday. The mobilizations that began with anger at rising gas prices have moved up a gear, calling for Moreno's resignation and the introduction of economic policies for workers and indigenous communities.

At the same time that the demands of the population are spreading, the government's responses are becoming increasingly violent. While several workers' union demonstrations went quietly through Quito, other more spontaneous demonstrations have come in violent clashes against the police and the army. Protesters have taken over official buildings and requisitioned military vehicles, challenging the military arsenal in the city.

Although Moreno declared a state of emergency, putting in place a curfew, censoring the press, banning rallies in front of the official buildings and allowing the army and the police to "take charge" of the situation as they 'hear, the demonstrations continue to take place. Last week, soldiers entered several indigenous communities and threw tear gas canisters into the homes. During Wednesday's strike, protesters armed with hand-made weapons were repressed with tear gas, water cannons and batons. Last week, a hundred people were held for several hours in the basement of Parliament after trying to enter the building.

In Quito, as in other parts of the country, businesses, schools and public transport were closed on Wednesday and will continue to be closed for the duration of the strike. The country is paralyzed by the mobilization of the Ecuadorian population. Faced with this situation, Moreno, who was forced to leave the capital a few days earlier, returned to organize meetings with the representatives of the groups participating in the demonstrations.

Although the strike is taking place mainly in Quito and other major cities, the actions continue throughout the country. Long stretches of highway have been blocked by protesters, short-circuiting the companies carrying oil across the country. In some provinces, indigenous rights groups have occupied government buildings and seized police and soldiers who have illegally entered indigenous lands. The protesters even disrupted the production of one of Ecuador's main oil extractors, slowing the profits of the region's capitalists.

In the town of Guayaquil, where Moreno took refuge for a few days to flee the anger, the mayor called for repressing the mobilized population, also encouraging residents of the city to fight against the protesters to restore order.

[Vivo] Reprima columna de docentes y estudiantes in Guayaquil: Lenín Moreno defeated the packazo del FMI contra el pueblo de Ecuador. #EcuadorEnResistencia #ParoNacionalEcuador https://t.co/qajNYafAe1 pic.twitter.com/tT4KshFH4q

- The Izquierda Diario (@izquierdadiario) October 9, 2019

In Cuenca, thousands of students took to the streets to demand the end of the reduction in education funding and other austerity measures. They were attacked by the police and the army while demonstrating in the streets of the city.

Larga marched student in #Cuenca contra the economic package of the IMF that Lenín Moreno quiere aplicar in Ecuador: jornada of paro junto has trabajadores and pueblos indígenas. #ParoNacionalEcuador #EcuadorSeLevanta https://t.co/Qhex5IvgFd pic.twitter.com/ZkLdxTyIkg

- The Izquierda Diario (@izquierdadiario) October 9, 2019

https://www.revolutionpermanente.fr/Equ ... ode=calcul

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It should be noted that Guayaquil is an petty bourgeois enclave.
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Fri Oct 11, 2019 8:51 pm

Indigenous Leader Killed in Ecuador Unrest, Agency Says
By: The Associated Press
OCT 10, 2019
3:19 PM

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Col. Cristian Rueda Ramos, one of several police officers who has been detained by anti-governments protesters, is made to hold an indigenous banner, don a national flag as a cape and a fedora-styled hat, while presented on a stage at the Casa de Cultura in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. An indigenous leader and four other people have died in unrest in Ecuador since last week, the public defender’s office said Thursday. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

By GONZALO SOLANO, Associated Press
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — An indigenous leader and four other people have died in unrest in Ecuador since last week, the public defender’s office said Thursday.

The state agency, which monitors human rights, identified the indigenous leader as Inocencio Tucumbi of Ecuador’s Cotopaxi region.

The office of President Lenín Moreno, however, said the number of deaths was lower. It said two people had died in accidents linked to the violence across the country.

One person was hit and killed by a car, and another person suffered fatal injuries after a fall during protests in Quito, said José Briones, secretary general of the president’s office.

There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy in the reports on the death toll.

Also Thursday, indigenous demonstrators were holding captive at least eight police officers following anti-government protests.

The uniformed officers were brought onto a stage by protesters who are based at a cultural center in the capital, Quito.

One of the officers was forced to drape a national flag around his shoulders and don a hat of a style worn by some indigenous people.

Indigenous leader Jaime Vargas invited the captive police to join the anti-government campaign of the protesters.

Elsewhere in Quito, security forces patrolled after a day of protests that included clashes with police.

Ecuador’s indigenous groups as well as labor organizations and other demonstrators mobilized after the removal of fuel subsidies, a step announced by Moreno last week.

The announcement led to a sharp increase in fuel prices and unrest in many parts of the country. The discontent widened to include calls for the resignation of Moreno, who has refused to quit.

Indigenous protesters played a major role in the 2005 resignation of Ecuador’s president at the time, Lucio Gutiérrez, though the military’s tacit approval was key to his removal.

Ecuador’s cuts in fuel subsidies were among measures announced as part of a $4.2 billion funding plan with the International Monetary Fund, which said the package will strengthen the economy and generate jobs.

Indigenous groups condemn the deal with the IMF, saying austerity measures will deepen economic inequality.

https://www.latinorebels.com/2019/10/10/ecuadorunrest/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Sat Oct 12, 2019 2:53 pm

ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA AND URUGUAY: THE DECISIVE ELECTIONS FOR THE REGION
October 11, 2019 , 6:37 a.m. .

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Mauricio Macri aims to be the most likely out of state power in Argentina in this regional electoral context (Photo: Archive)

During the next weeks there will be an electoral coincidence, of presidential elections and other parliamentary and provincial offices in Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay.

It will be of the utmost importance since the vote will decide the continuity of state, nationalist or neoliberal projects in their respective countries.

This key convergence will be extremely significant for the recomposition of the Latin American geopolitical spectrum, which gave way from the so-called "Latin American progressive cycle" to the "new rise of the regional right."

Electoral trends suggest that there will be a turnaround and change of constitutional regime in at least two of these countries.

ARGENTINA CASE
In addition to electing president and vice president, Argentines will elect 130 national deputies and 24 national senators. In several provinces and in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, executive and legislative authorities are also elected that same day.

As in previous elections, for a formula to be declared the winner, it will be sufficient to collect 45% of the affirmative votes , or 40%, and a difference of at least 10% with which it occupies second place. In the absence of these results, there will be a second round between the two formulas with the most votes.

In the mandatory primaries (STEP) of August 11, 2019, the definitive scrutiny established that most of the citizens participated in the presidential interns of the opposition Frente de Todos (FT), supporting the candidacy of Alberto Fernández with Cristina Fernández with 49.49% of the total affirmative votes.

Second, the official alliance Together for Change (JpC), with the candidacy of Mauricio Macri, was supported by 32.93% of the vote.

More at link(the charts do not copy well)

http://misionverdad.com/TRAMA-GLOBAL/co ... -la-region

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"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Sun Oct 13, 2019 4:41 pm

Believe it or Not: Guaido Blames Maduro for Protests in Ecuador

October 13, 2019 orinocotribune

The parliamentarian in contempt and self-proclaimed “president in charge” of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, supported on Friday the accusations of the Ecuadorian president, Lenín Moreno, who has pointed to (without presenting evidence) the Venezuelan head of state, Nicolás Maduro, as being behind the protests in Ecuador.

“Venezuela and the world observe and are clear that, behind the attacks on Ecuadorian democracy, selfish interests of miscreant groups are hidden that under the false argument of protecting the rights of the most dispossessed and vulnerable, appeal to the disturbing of peace and the tranquility of the majority of the Ecuadorian people, under the protection of foreign criminal interests that clearly involve the criminal regime of Nicolás Maduro,” Guaidó said in a statement
Al pueblo de Ecuador y al Presidente @Lenin pic.twitter.com/eyUz6eH6vw

— Centro de Comunicación Nacional (@Presidencia_VE) October 11, 2019
In the letter, the militant of the extreme right-wing party Voluntad Popular (VP) said: “I reiterate my solidarity and support for the people of Ecuador and the legitimately elected government of President Moreno, in this epic struggle of which we have no doubt that HE will emerge gracefully and strengthened Ecuadorian democracy for the benefit of peace, freedom and progress that everyone deserves.”

Ecuadorians have been on the streets more than a week carrying out mass strikes and protests that are brutally repressed by the police and the army, this after Moreno decided to decree a State of exception and curfew. The demonstrations are in response to the economic measures implemented by the South American president.

In this regard, the Office of the Ombudsman of Ecuador has denounced the State security forces for having committed flagrant violations of human rights, by killing, injuring and beating protesters, including babies, children, women and senior citizens.

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Source URL: La IguanaTV

Translated by JRE/EF

https://orinocotribune.com/believe-it-o ... in-ecuador

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Guaidó Says he Will Find “the Whereabouts” of Correa in Venezuela
October 11, 2019 orinocotribune 0 Comments Barquisimeto, Brussels, Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, Rafael Correa, Venezuela
The Venezuelan anti-Chavista deputy made this statement despite the fact that the ex-president offered several interviews on Tuesday from his residence in Brussels.

Opposition Deputy Juan Guaidó said Tuesday that his team is “trying to find the whereabouts” of Ecuadorian ex-president Rafael Correa, after assuring that he is supposedly in Venezuela.

“We have no doubt that Rafael Correa could be in Venezuela, we have no precision in this case , but we are finding out,” he said confusedly in statements to the media, after his arrival at a session of the National Assembly, in Caracas.

However, Correa offered an interview with RT on Tuesday from his residence in Brussels (Belgium).

Guaidó’s statements came one day after Ecuador’s president, Lenín Moreno, claimed in a national broadcast that both “Maduro and Correa are behind an attempted coup d’etat” against him.

“President Lenin Moreno himself has said that Maduro is complicit in this process of destabilization, it is not the first time that they finance this type of campaign (…) We have communicated even with the opposition to Lenin, and asked for respect for their institutions” Guaido said Tuesday.

Maduro, meanwhile, categorically dismissed the accusations of his Ecuadorian counterpart: “Lenín Moreno says that I move my mustache and I get rid of governments,” he ironized.
#EnVivo 📹 | “Si usted señor Lenin Moreno quiere ver la realidad, eche para atrás ese paquete económico y dialogue con el pueblo de Ecuador, con la clase obrera, con los indígenas”, abogó el dignatario @NicolasMaduro pic.twitter.com/ecQ0gSZZiB

— Prensa Presidencial (@PresidencialVen) October 8, 2019
However, the Venezuelan president called on Moreno to reverse the package of tough economic measures, which respond to the agreement reached between Ecuador and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan of more than 4,000 million dollars to Ecuador.

“If you want to see reality, take that economic package back and dialogue with the people,” Maduro told his Ecuadorian counterpart, in an ceremony with students in Caracas.

“How they lie!”
On Monday, Ecuadorian Assemblyman Juan Fernando Flores said Correa was “hidden” in Lara state, in western Venezuela, and had used planes from that country’s oil state company (PDVSA) to mobilize.

“He arrived from Aruba” and “he plans to mobilize for the city of Barinas and then to Falcón, from where the attacks are also articulated,” Flores added.
#ÚltimaHora | Alertamos al #Ecuador 🇪🇨, al pueblo venezolano y la comunidad internacional que Rafael Correa y sus esbirros, se encuentran operando los ataques en contra de nuestra democracia desde #Venezuela🇻🇪, en la ciudad de Barquisimeto (Edo. Lara).

Abró hilo ⤵

— Juan Fernando Flores (@juanflores18) October 8, 2019
On Tuesday, the president of the National Constituent Assembly (ANC), Diosdado Cabello, dismissed Ecuador’s allegations about Maduro’s alleged responsibility in the protests and categorically denied Correa’s presence in his country.

“In Barquisimeto Correa supposedly is? I wish he was here in Venezuela!” Said Cabello in statements to the journalist Madelein García of Telesur.
¡Estoy en Barquisimeto-Venezuela dirigiendo la “desestabilización”!
¡Cómo mienten!
P.D. Me encantaría conocer Barquisimeto. Un abrazo a todos los hermanos barquisimetanos.😊 pic.twitter.com/e51sB3dUyI

— Rafael Correa (@MashiRafael) October 9, 2019
The Ecuadorian ex-president, meanwhile, has denied the assumptions that he is on Venezuelan soil, labeling them as lies. “How they lie!” he reacted through his Twitter account.

In addition, he added that he would “love to visit Barquisimeto”. “A hug to all the barquisimetanos brothers”, he concluded.

Featured image: Guaido during a press conference in Caracas on September 30, 2019.
Matias Delacroix / AFP

Source URL: Actualidad RT

Translated by JRE/EF

https://orinocotribune.com/guaido-says- ... -venezuela
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Tue Oct 15, 2019 5:23 pm

Ecuador: down with Moreno and the IMF – all power to the People’s Assembly!

Jorge Martin 12 October 2019

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What began as a protest against the IMF package imposed by President Lenin Moreno has become a national insurrection that poses the question of who rules the country. The enormous mass mobilisation has forced the government to flee the capital Quito and close the national assembly. It has also begun to open cracks within the armed forces. To move forward, the movement must raise the issue of power.

This week, the second of the worker-peasant insurrection, has resulted in five dead (at least); hundreds wounded and detained and brutal repression of a level not seen in Ecuador for decades – all of which has failed to stop the movement. Neither the state of emergency, nor the curfew, nor the lies of the media, nor the false offers of negotiation, nor the army in the streets has halted the masses. The government of Lenin Moreno – with the support of the entire capitalist oligarchy, of US imperialism, of all the reactionary governments of the region – has not been able to crush the determined movement of peasants, indigenous people, workers and students.

General strike
On Wednesday 9 October, a powerful general strike paralysed the country. In Quito (the capital abandoned by the government), a huge march of between 50,000 and 100,000 protesters was heading again to Carondelet presidential Palace, hurriedly vacated by Moreno the day before. For a few moments, the movement took control of the also-vacated National Assembly, with the intention of installing a People's Assembly.

Movilización en Quito #ParoNacionalEcuador. @OrlandoPerezEC @denisseteleSUR @camilateleSUR 9 de Octubre de 2019 pic.twitter.com/UsQt0k1kkd

— Patricia Villegas Marin (@pvillegas_tlSUR) 9 October 2019
In Guayaquil, the oligarchy led by Mayor Viteri and her mentor Nebot, whipped up a racist, petty-bourgeois mob against the "Indians." "Let them stay in the moors,” shouted the businessman and banker Nebot, a social-Christian leader, invoking the spectre of the “seizure of the capital” by the indigenous movement: “they do not deserve to step on the ground of Guayaquil, they come to destroy”. But just a few thousand turned up for this reactionary "show of strength". A huge force of police and military personnel was necessary, in addition to public works trucks, to block the National Unity Bridge that connects the populous, working-class city of Durán with Guayaquil, to prevent the passage of thousands of anti-government protesters.

Within the city of Guayaquil itself, there were also demonstrations against the IMF package, about which the complicit media was silent. And it was precisely there that a very significant incident occurred. A group of motorised police arrived at the avenue 9 de Octubre with the intention of attacking a small group of anti-government protesters. A line of soldiers was blocking the demonstrators, but in the face of the onslaught of the motorised police, the military protected the protesters, clashing with the policemen.

Guayaquil: fuerte enfrentamiento entre militares y policía en las calles Luque y García Avilés #EcuadorSeLevanta pic.twitter.com/a9SqM4QSNR

— Jorge Martin (@marxistJorge) 9 October 2019
This was a small incident, but should be added to other, similar incidents that indicate that the popular insurrection on the one hand and the brutal repression of the state on the other are beginning to make a dent among the private soldiers – who also come from poor, working-class and peasant families.

On the same day, in Quito, the army and the police were aggressively deployed against the enormous, peaceful demonstration that marched through the capital. They used tear gas and truncheons, and drove armoured vehicles into the crowd. The repression was directed equally against everyone: women and children included. At the end of the day, the police threw tear gas into the campus of two universities in Quito, the sleeping quarters of the indigenous people who have moved to the capital in their tens of thousands. There were attempts by the police to attack the Agora in the House of Culture: the logistics and management centre of the movement.

The balance sheet was five dead. One of them, Inocencio Tucumbí, the indigenous leader of Cotopaxi, was killed by a direct impact of a gas canister to the head. Three young men were killed after falling from a bridge in San Roque during clashes with the police. Eyewitnesses say the police pushed them over.

The government – in fact, the entire ruling class, that has come together behind the package and against the insurrection – combined the most brutal repression with false information about an alleged negotiation, mediated by the United Nations and the Catholic Church. In fact, "talks" are taking place with unions and indigenous “leaders” from organisations that do not represent anyone and are not the ones that lead the movement. The government intends to buy off the movement with a few crumbs in the form of "development", paid for with part of the money saved by the abolition of the fuel subsidy (1.3 billion dollars). Again and again, the national indigenous peoples' organisation CONAIE has denied the existence of such negotiations.

Class war
10 October, the eighth day of the insurrection, was one of rage and mourning. The media and the government continually spread lies and disinformation, presenting the protesters as violent. More and more images shared on social networks gave an account of the police brutality of the previous day. Motorised policemen were shown striking two indigenous women who were standing quietly in a corner; there were images of a young man, already on the ground, being brutally beaten up, and so on.

Thousands gathered in an extraordinary assembly in the Agora of the House of Culture in Quito, to deliberate and make decisions about the steps to be taken. Eight policemen, who had been patrolling the outside of the building, were disarmed by the movement and brought onto the podium. The local leaders of the movement, one after the other, addressed the assembled crowd of thousands. It was announced that they could confirm two dead on the day of the national strike, and that the authorities had been required to hand over their bodies.

QUITO AHORA: Indigenas guardan un minuto de silencio por los dos muertos en la represión de la jornada de ayer: Inocencio y José Daniel - la @CONAIE_Ecuador los va a presentar en rueda de prensa y los declara héroes #EcuadorSeLevanta pic.twitter.com/Q1g4iMchGh

— Jorge Martin (@marxistJorge) 10 October 2019
The movement no longer only issues demands, it is beginning to make decisions. The media present were instructed to broadcast the assembly live throughout the country, which they did (partially). Two minutes of silence were held for the dead, and the police were forced to take off their helmets and bulletproof vests as a sign of respect:

Minuto de silencio por Inocencio Tucumbi y José Daniel Chaliza. Asesinado el día de ayer por la represion policial.
VIDEO @teleSURtv
##ParoNacionaleEC #ParoNacionalpic.twitter.com/dKhUfLcNoj

— Jorge Martin (@marxistJorge) 10 October 2019
At one point, there was a rumour that the police were preparing an assault on the Agora with tear gas. The leaders who presided over the assembly forced the police to call their superiors outside and get a guarantee that they would not enter, which they obtained.

Some proposed to march to the National Assembly in order to take over the building, with the police in front, unarmed, "so that they know what repression is." The atmosphere was one of rage and deep indignation. The slogan of "Moreno out" was on everyone’s lips, and repeated by the assembly in unison. The national leadership of CONAIE, which is one step behind the general mood of the bases, has not yet officially endorsed it, and it does not appear in any of its communiqués.

Agora de la Casa de Cultura en Quito, la CONAIE grita "fuera Moreno, fuera", la represión y los muertos llevan a una escalada del movimiento, rechazan negociaciones #ParoNacionalEcuador pic.twitter.com/YItwGlno2X

— Jorge Martin (@marxistJorge) 10 October 2019
Another common theme in almost all the interventions was the demand for the armed forces to stop obeying the government. There was a clear call to overthrow the regime. It was also announced that three other provincial governorates had passed into the hands of the people in the Amazon region. From there, more columns of thousands of indigenous people arrived in Quito to strengthen the movement.

Rabia y decisión del movimiento indígena en la Casa de Cultura de Quito donde velan los dos muertos por la represión y retienen a 8 policías #ParoNacionaleEC pic.twitter.com/LeVUmYH7fx

— Jorge Martin (@marxistJorge) 10 October 2019
Finally, after bringing the coffin (on the shoulders of the police and indigenous leaders) of Inocencio Tucumbi on a walk of honour, and following an official ceremony in his memory, the movement marched through the capital to deliver the now-10 detained police officers to the United Nations.

The People’s Assembly
On the next day, 11 October, again the worker-peasant insurrection marched towards the National Assembly with the aim of taking it. The march, tens of thousands strong, was peaceful and reached the front of the building, which was heavily guarded by police and military. After a period of tense waiting, some military men backed down from their positions. The movement paused. Food was organised, which was also offered to law enforcement officers. There is a clear and correct policy of using all opportunities to fraternise with the ranks of the army.

In a treacherous way and without prior warning, the police used that pause to regroup their forces and launched a new wave of repression, shooting masses of tear gas and pellets against the peaceful and unarmed crowd that was eating in the Arbolito Park. The crowd resisted, evacuating the wounded, making a corridor to take out the most vulnerable, and building barricades. This was a scene of civil war – of class war.

🔴#ATENCIÓN Noveno día de #ParoNacionalEC, en Quito, de nuevo, brutal represión contra el levantamiento campesino obrero estudiantil #MorenoRenuncia pic.twitter.com/rIJzU0kCyA

— Jorge Martin (@marxistJorge) 11 October 2019
Meanwhile, the cynical Moreno appeared on television offering "dialogue", which was again flatly rejected by CONAIE in a strongly-worded statement. The conditions for any dialogue, as set by the movement, are repealing the fuel decree and dismissing the ministers of the interior and defence, who are responsible for the repression.

But even that falls short of what is already happening. What the movement aspires to now is overthrowing of Moreno. "Whoever leaves Quito, loses his bench" they shout in the streets. Even the idea of pressuring the National Assembly to declare new elections contradicts the practical actions of the movement, which is trying to take the Assembly building to install a People's Assembly – that is, an alternative government. The question of who rules the country is being clearly posed. Is it the rich or the poor? The oligarchy and the IMF, or the working people? The capitalists and bankers, or the workers and peasants?

In practice, the Ecuadorian insurrection already controls a large part of the capital (with the exception of abandoned official buildings), and several provinces in the interior. It is beginning to organise itself, has its own Indigenous Guard, and makes decisions in its assemblies, which are then put into practice.

Now is the time: overthrow the government!
This situation is unsustainable from the point of view of the bourgeoisie and imperialism. Their power hangs by a thread. Hence the effort to prevent the entry of protesters into the National Assembly. It is not simply an empty building (there is already talk of moving the National Assembly to Guayaquil), but a symbol of power.

The uprising has in its favour the courage, decisiveness and will to struggle of tens of thousands of young people, workers, peasants and women, who have fought in the streets against Moreno and the IMF. But it still lacks a clear understanding of the tasks it faces and how to carry them out.

Image
With clear objectives and decisive steps, the movement can succeed in overthrowing the government / Image: CONAIE

It is urgent to proclaim the People's Assembly as a legitimate power and spread it throughout the country. It is necessary to develop it as a true, democratic organism of leadership for the movement, with delegates chosen on the barricades, in the neighbourhoods, in the factories and universities, and in the indigenous communities. Faced with the brutal repression of the police and the army, the elements of self-defence that already exist must be coordinated and developed. The Indigenous Guard must be extended and bring thousands into its ranks. This must be combined with the deepening of the fraternisation with the soldiers, which is already starting to yield results.

We are at a crucial juncture. The struggle for power has been posed, but it hasn't yet been resolved. If the movement does not move forward with decisive steps, there is a risk that fatigue and a lack of perspectives will begin to take their toll. Under these conditions, the government can use selective repression, with cosmetic concessions, to weaken the movement further.

If progress is made with conviction and clear objectives, the overthrow of the government is entirely possible. The movement can storm heaven. Now is the time.

https://www.marxist.com/ecuador-down-wi ... sembly.htm

videos at link
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:05 pm

Defying repression, tens of thousands of Ecuadorians take part in national strike
Posted Oct 11, 2019 by Eds.
Imperialism , Marxism , Media , Movements Ecuador Newswire
Originally published: Peoples Dispatch (October 10, 2019) |
On October 9, the people of Ecuador took part in a massive national strike called by a number of organizations against the neoliberal reforms of president Lenin Moreno. Tens of thousands of workers, students, Indigenous people, peasants, Afro-descendant people, women and citizens took over the streets of Quito. The mobilization was directed towards the Historic Center where the Candolet Palace is located, but the area continues to be heavily militarized and barricaded and protesters were met with heavy repression.

In the midst of the strike, Moreno returned to the capital from Guayaquil, where he had temporarily shifted the seat of government to on Monday, as permitted by the state of emergency. He claimed that the primary focus of his return was to engage in dialogue with the mobilized organizations. Yet he has yet to meet their conditions which include the repeal of the economic measures and the resignation of interior minister Maria Paula Romo and minister of defense Oswaldo Jarrín. These ministers have been identified by movements as directly responsible for the brutal repression of protesters.

Last night, following the day’s massive march, police launched tear gas bombs and attacked the humanitarian refuge and aid distribution centers at the Catholic and Salesiana Universities where old senior citizens, women and children were staying. Many members of the Indigenous movements are staying in the centers as they came from outside the capital.

Organizations have condemned the use of tear gas, unconventional weapons, firearms and batons by the police and military. Eight protesters have been killed and hundreds are suffering from grave injuries. According to official figures, in the past seven days of protests, over 766 people have been arrested and 128 have gone through legal proceedings.

The mobilizations that have been occurring daily since October 2 are in response to a set of neoliberal economic measures or the paquetazo (package) announced by Moreno on October 1, including the elimination of a decades-old fuel subsidy. Despite the plurality of voices, organizations, and movements that have been on the streets for the past week rejecting the measures, the government and its regional allies claim that the protests have been instigated by former president Rafael Correa and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Furthermore, Lenín Moreno has reiterated, several times, that he will not change his position on the economic measures.

On October 8, Moreno ordered a partial curfew from 8 pm to 5 am in areas near government buildings through an executive decree 888. The curfew restricting the circulation of vehicles and people will remain in force throughout the state of emergency declared by the president last week, which could continue for a period of 30 days.

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationals of Ecuador (CONAIE), one of the biggest social organizations in the country, condemned the measure of curfew and called on people to continue mobilizing.

On October 8, 2,000 protesters from different Indigenous, peasant and social organizations and trade unions occupied the Ecuadorian Assembly and held a People’s Assembly. They too were brutally repressed by the national security forces, who threw tear gas and shot rubber bullets at the demonstrators. Several dozens who participated in this action were arrested and processed.

CONAIE also denounced police repression on the Indigenous community demonstrating at the museum, La Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, in Quito, where the police used tear gas and rubber pellets to disperse peacefully the protesting crowd consisting of children and elderly people.

Several alternative media projects that have been closely following the protests have also been subjected to raids and censorship. The radio station ‘Pichincha Universal’ denounced a raid carried out by the national police and the Attorney General’s Office on its headquarters. Through its Twitter account, the media outlet informed that the measure was executed “for the alleged crime of inciting discord among citizens.” Pichincha Universal has been extensively reporting on incidents of police repression across the country.

Social Movements of ALBA expressed its support for the people of Ecuador in their fight against the “lackey and subordinate government”. ALBA denounced the deaths caused by police repression and held Moreno and his government responsible for them.

“In less than three years, Moreno’s administration has indebted Ecuador to the tune of more than 20 billion dollars and effected tax cuts worth 4.295 billion for the rich. This income is now what the State pretends to recover from the rest of the people. Meanwhile, the winners of this neoliberalist party, the bankers, have reported earnings for more than 500 billion dollars. In summary, a massive theft endorsed by mass media and international institutions. Nothing we haven’t seen before. But the straw that broke the camel’s back was the paquetazo to make the people of Ecuador pay its debt, by removing subsidies to fuel, whose consequence will be rising prices of food and basic products consumed by the working class,” said ALBA in an official statement.

https://mronline.org/2019/10/11/defying ... al-strike/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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blindpig
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Re: South America

Post by blindpig » Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:05 pm

Defying repression, tens of thousands of Ecuadorians take part in national strike
Posted Oct 11, 2019 by Eds.
Imperialism , Marxism , Media , Movements Ecuador Newswire
Originally published: Peoples Dispatch (October 10, 2019) |
On October 9, the people of Ecuador took part in a massive national strike called by a number of organizations against the neoliberal reforms of president Lenin Moreno. Tens of thousands of workers, students, Indigenous people, peasants, Afro-descendant people, women and citizens took over the streets of Quito. The mobilization was directed towards the Historic Center where the Candolet Palace is located, but the area continues to be heavily militarized and barricaded and protesters were met with heavy repression.

In the midst of the strike, Moreno returned to the capital from Guayaquil, where he had temporarily shifted the seat of government to on Monday, as permitted by the state of emergency. He claimed that the primary focus of his return was to engage in dialogue with the mobilized organizations. Yet he has yet to meet their conditions which include the repeal of the economic measures and the resignation of interior minister Maria Paula Romo and minister of defense Oswaldo Jarrín. These ministers have been identified by movements as directly responsible for the brutal repression of protesters.

Last night, following the day’s massive march, police launched tear gas bombs and attacked the humanitarian refuge and aid distribution centers at the Catholic and Salesiana Universities where old senior citizens, women and children were staying. Many members of the Indigenous movements are staying in the centers as they came from outside the capital.

Organizations have condemned the use of tear gas, unconventional weapons, firearms and batons by the police and military. Eight protesters have been killed and hundreds are suffering from grave injuries. According to official figures, in the past seven days of protests, over 766 people have been arrested and 128 have gone through legal proceedings.

The mobilizations that have been occurring daily since October 2 are in response to a set of neoliberal economic measures or the paquetazo (package) announced by Moreno on October 1, including the elimination of a decades-old fuel subsidy. Despite the plurality of voices, organizations, and movements that have been on the streets for the past week rejecting the measures, the government and its regional allies claim that the protests have been instigated by former president Rafael Correa and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Furthermore, Lenín Moreno has reiterated, several times, that he will not change his position on the economic measures.

On October 8, Moreno ordered a partial curfew from 8 pm to 5 am in areas near government buildings through an executive decree 888. The curfew restricting the circulation of vehicles and people will remain in force throughout the state of emergency declared by the president last week, which could continue for a period of 30 days.

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationals of Ecuador (CONAIE), one of the biggest social organizations in the country, condemned the measure of curfew and called on people to continue mobilizing.

On October 8, 2,000 protesters from different Indigenous, peasant and social organizations and trade unions occupied the Ecuadorian Assembly and held a People’s Assembly. They too were brutally repressed by the national security forces, who threw tear gas and shot rubber bullets at the demonstrators. Several dozens who participated in this action were arrested and processed.

CONAIE also denounced police repression on the Indigenous community demonstrating at the museum, La Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, in Quito, where the police used tear gas and rubber pellets to disperse peacefully the protesting crowd consisting of children and elderly people.

Several alternative media projects that have been closely following the protests have also been subjected to raids and censorship. The radio station ‘Pichincha Universal’ denounced a raid carried out by the national police and the Attorney General’s Office on its headquarters. Through its Twitter account, the media outlet informed that the measure was executed “for the alleged crime of inciting discord among citizens.” Pichincha Universal has been extensively reporting on incidents of police repression across the country.

Social Movements of ALBA expressed its support for the people of Ecuador in their fight against the “lackey and subordinate government”. ALBA denounced the deaths caused by police repression and held Moreno and his government responsible for them.

“In less than three years, Moreno’s administration has indebted Ecuador to the tune of more than 20 billion dollars and effected tax cuts worth 4.295 billion for the rich. This income is now what the State pretends to recover from the rest of the people. Meanwhile, the winners of this neoliberalist party, the bankers, have reported earnings for more than 500 billion dollars. In summary, a massive theft endorsed by mass media and international institutions. Nothing we haven’t seen before. But the straw that broke the camel’s back was the paquetazo to make the people of Ecuador pay its debt, by removing subsidies to fuel, whose consequence will be rising prices of food and basic products consumed by the working class,” said ALBA in an official statement.

https://mronline.org/2019/10/11/defying ... al-strike/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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