Acabo de recibir este comunicado:

Como saben desde la semana pasada la CONAIE y otros sectores de la población ecuatoriana nos encontramos movilizadas contra el TLC y por la caducidad del contrato de la OXY. Exigimos que le gobierno del Ecuador se retire de las negociaciones del TLC con EEUU, que se convoque a consulta popular para decidir si los ecuatorian@s queremos TLC.

Eso ha significado que ayer noche el presidente Alfredo Palacio decrete estado de emergencia para 4 provincias (Cotopaxi, Cañar, Imbabura, Chimborazo) y dos cantones al norte del país (Tabacundo y Cayambe), sin embargo el movimiento indígena sigue movilizado. Esta vez les escribo para hacer eco de la denuncia hecha por la radio Inti Pacha de Cayambe. Hoy en la mañana el gobierno de Palacio procedió a militarizar la radio y decretar orden de captura para los periodistas Wiliam Ramos y Julio Charro. Además denunciamos que este mismo gobierno infame está cortando la luz eléctrica y las líneas telefónicas en las comunidades indígenas de Cayambe y Chimborazo.

Reproduzcan esta noticia a todos los contactos que tengan, solidarizemonos con los compañeros indígenas y sumemonos a la movilizacion

No TLC,  Consultua Popular, por la Caducidad de la OXY

(Copy of a story I just published on the Web site of the Resource Center of the Americas thanks to, and based on, the valiant reporting of my compañer@s: Luis Gómez, Jean Friedsky and Alex Contreras. It's a rundown of what's happened so far... the swarm continues.)

Bolivia’s Senate president Hormando Vaca Díez sealed an uncertain, perhaps violent fate for the country by promulgating a widely unpopular hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas) law on May 18. In passing the measure, with the support of Bolivia’s discredited traditional political parties, he pleaded, “Now, all I ask is for unity in the country.”

Read the rest of the story

"El temblor viene desde abajo, carajo."

—Raquel Gutiérrez (authentic journalist) writing about Bolivia last year.

I don't mean to jump the gun, but it's likely that Evo Morales could be the next President within months. And yet, he has never said he supports nationalization, so naturally he would delegate this decision to the Asamblea Constituyente, which he would presumably call for to prevent alienating the bases. Right? "Who knows," I guess, is the only honest answer.

In reference to the upcoming recall referendum vote on President Hugo Chávez, a July 30th editorial by the Washington Post titled “Monitoring Venezuela” alleges the Venezuelan opposition group Súmate is leading the charge for democracy in Venezuela.

"The vote itself will have a greater chance of being staged and judged fairly thanks to Sumate..." says the Post. In fact, Súmate is a partisan group in oppostion to the government whose sole mission since being founded in 2002 has been to collect signatures and promote a referendum to unseat the president. The more than one million dollars the NED in 2003 funneled to Venezuela went overwhelmingy to opposition groups.