[Marxism] Hints as to Correa's direction? Ecuador's New mining law

[Rod Holt <rholt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ecuador's new president appears to be heading in the wrong direction.
Under the headline "Canadian miners hail new Ecuador mining law: natives 
and environmentalists glum," the Canadian business daily The Canadian 
Press reports (in part):

    A new mining law in Ecuador has been welcomed as "a solid foundation
    and framework for the growth of a responsible mining industry" by
    Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K), which plans to spend tens of millions of
    dollars in the South American country this year.
    However, native and environmental groups are reported to be outraged
    by the law pushed through by President Rafael Correa.
    The law ratified Monday by the National Assembly - a temporary
    legislature in place until a new congress is elected under a new
    constitution in April - places no limits on the number of mining
    concessions held by a single company, with concessions limited to 25
    years but renewable. It also imposes a government royalty of not
    less than five per cent on sales.
    ...
    However, Comunicaciones Aliadas, a left-leaning non-profit Latin
    American information group based in Lima, Peru, reports that
    indigenous, peasant and environmental organizations, many formerly
    supportive of Correa, have marched against the law.
    It quotes the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador
    as saying the law favours transnational mining companies, and says
    the umbrella native group plans a civil-disobedience campaign to
    prevent projects in areas where indigenous communities live.
    An environmental organization, Accion Ecologica, said mining poses a
    major threat to the environment while failing to benefit the
    Ecuadorian people.
    Correa has called opponents of the law "fundamentalists" who would
    leave Ecuador as a country of "beggars sitting on a sack of gold."
    ...


the Canadian Business article in full at
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/headline_news/article.jsp?content=b013050A

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