Equador: Army Pushes Protesters from Oil Facilities
Posted by Benjamin Melançon - August 20, 2005 at 5:22 am
Ecuador's army, using tear gas and inflicting numerous injuries, forced protesters from a number of the oil production facilities they had occupied, crippling output in the oil-rich Amazonian region of the country, the BBC reported this morning. "Protesters want some of Ecuador's oil money to be invested in the region," the BBC wrote. They want oil income, which counts for 25% of Ecuador's GDP, "spent on infrastructure and new jobs."
The BBC even takes a stab at context:
Not all sections of Ecuadorian society have benefited equally from oil revenues.The traditionally dominant Spanish-descended elite gained far more than the indigenous peoples, who make up a large proportion of those who live in poverty.
The BBC doesn't choose to connect this injustice with a lack of true democracy and the fact that troops can be sent in to make it a reality when "The authorities say they will not negotiate until the protests cease."
The people are pressuring President Alfredo Palacio to drop the neoliberal policies of his ousted predecessor, Lucio Gutierrez, BBC correspondents report. And the demands on Ecuador's government to represent Ecuador's people are not going to end with the removal of activists from the oil facilities.
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