President Correa's campaign promise of a constituent assembly is inching toward becoming a reality. The first step is a "consulta popular" or national referendum in order for the people to decide  whether or not to invoke a constituent assembly. The language of the referendum, set for April 15th, gives the assembly full power to write a new constitution and replace the current political system.

As I passed by the Congress building in Quito Thursday, I was surprised to see at least a hundred police, many wearing riot gear, others carrying rifles. Then I noticed the "problem". There were roughly a dozen people across the street holding signs in support of President-elect Correa and the constituent assembly that he supports. When I finally arrived home and turned on the evening news they were playing a repeat of the recent news in North America. In both the US and in Ecuador the voters expressed their desire for change through the ballot box. In both cases the political class immediately began to back away from any real change once they were safely back in office.

In the US the Democrats announced even before taking office that they would not impeach an outlaw president, and in Ecuador a majority of the new congress has expressed opposition to the constituent assembly, which is a constitutional mechanism by which the people can theoretically affect direct change in the political system. It remains to be seen if either electorate will get the change for which they voted. I will try to learn more about the Constituent Assembly and the Popular Consultation that are proposed by President-elect Correa, and pass along whatever I find to the Narcosphere.

During a 2 hour flight delay Friday I was roaming around the George
Bush Intercontinental Airport looking for something to read since I had
finished the novel I had brought with me from Ecuador and was traveling
on a Narco News type budget and could not afford a newspaper. I found an
abandoned copy of the Friday, October 6th Wall Street Journal and sat
down to pass some time. I found a column in the opinion pages titled
"Will Ecuador Join the Axis of Outcasts?" by Mary Anastasia O'Grady.

The column turned out to be a hysterical bashing of the popular
presidential candidate Rafael Correa. My thought upon finishing the
column was; Has this woman ever been to Ecuador or spoken to an
Ecuadorian? I don't have the time or resources to fact check all of her
wild claims, but will comment on a few statements that clashed badly
with common sense or with my experience as a resident of Ecuador.