Re: [Marxism] Hints as to Correa's direction? Ecuador's New mininglaw

["S. Artesian" <sartesian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It might help a bit if we examined the actual history of Ecuador and its 
treatment of indigenous peoples, and its awarding of resource concessions, 
and the results of such foreign investment in those resources.    And the 
balance sheet isn't very heartening, if we let Ecuador's previous and 
current history, with chocolate, bananas, oil, exports act as the guide.

Correa is one more in a line of "populist-nationalist" figures who will 
continue the repetition compulsion of  equating "investment,"  actually 
extraction,  "accumulation,"  actually enclave dis-integration, with 
development.  The rhetoric can be left; it can be right, but it's not the 
thought that counts.  It's the money.

CONAIE did in fact participate in a previous government in Ecuador, only to 
leave when the rhetoric of that government did not exactly match its 
actions.

In 2001, Richard Armitage [you remember him from the Bush 
administration--undersecretary of state] lumped the indigenous peoples of 
Ecuador into the category of terrorists.

>From there, things took a really nasty turn, so much so that in 2004 the OAS 
ordered the Ecuadorean government to protect Leonide Iza, leader of CONAIE 
from the threats of assault and assasination being made due to his 
opposition to extending, or maintaining, the concessions to the 
mine/petroleum companies.  Responded Ecuador's then Minister of Energy and 
Mines, "The OAS doesn't give orders here."

Correa is continuing a grand tradition, one that dates back to the conquest, 
the peninsulares, the criollas, the mita, the encomienda, the huasipungo.

Anyway, I wrote a 10 piece study of Ecuador back in 05-06-- it's on the 
blog-- just put Ecuador in the search box.

http://thewolfatthedoor.blogspot.com



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <sartesian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2009 10:38 AM
Subject: Re: [Marxism] Hints as to Correa's direction? Ecuador's New 
mininglaw



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