Thursday, September 30, 2010

Coup in Ecuador?

[UPDATED] At work I have to, well, work, but also we have no radio or TV and unless I am plugged on the web, events pass by and reach me at home at night during Alo Ciudadano.


Well, apparently there are disgruntled military and cops in Ecuador that are threatening to overthrow (already did?) Correa.  I do not like Correa but I am able to observe that he is very significantly better than Chavez, if anything because he preserved the dollarization of the country which stopped him from the vulgar populism of Chavez, while not stopping him from sucking as much from Chavez as he could, for the political dollars he could not find at home.  I also observe that he has a real opposition though wakened which has chances to bounce back sooner than later, to pick up a country that will not be ruined the way Chavez ruined Venezuela.  Simply because it was not in the plans of Correa to ruin his country.  That he knows better or that he actually believes in the reforms he proposes the fact of the matter is that today Ecuador is doing much better than Venezuela.

Thus there is NO REASON whatsoever that we know of to forcibly remove Correa.  What is going on is that like in all Latin America countries where we are subject to the military plague when you touch their privileges they overthrow you.  Yes I use the world privileges because that is what takes place, and in Venezuela worst of all. If anyone understand that the best way not to be overthrown by the army is to make it fat, it is Chavez.

I cannot thus support the going on coup in Ecuador because simply it will not solve the country's problems whatsoever.  And more than that, not only it will increase Ecuador's problems but it will increase ours as Chavez will use that excuse to speed up his own reactionary regime.  Trust me on that one, for all his flaws we would be better off today with Correa than Chavez.  If Chavez is removed by a coup, we could get worse than what we are.  And I do not want Chavez removed by a coup because I want a democratic regime to put him in jail after a fair trial.

PS: by the way, that today in Ecuador a coup or pseudo coup is taking place is an eloquent witness at the failures of the OAS and UNASUR to deal with such situations in the past in the past.

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UPDATE: as Miguel eloquently twitted, it takes centuries to tune up the third world mindset. 

Apparently the whole affair which threatened to engulf the country in total chaos (well, that can still happen) was a group of people who have access to weapons that were willing to use them to get what they consider their due.  No law, no strike, no suing, just start shooting and see what happens.

To this you have an egocentric president who thinks he can do it all Superman like and thus takes risks that he should have never taken, and voila! pandemonium.

I do not know what was more mesmerizing, watching live the rescue of Correa or his bean counter speech later where he explained to an adoring crowd how much the Ecuadorian cops made.  Certainly not the most uplifting moment of the day.... 

If you ask me both Correa and the Quito cops should be sent to the Galapagos in the hope that this type of attitude becomes an endangered species.

I am going to give at least one thing to Correa: he sure has more guts than Chavez in such situations.  Chavez tends to spill them.

25 comments:

  1. I. P. Daily10:00 PM

    ahhh yes....where would we be without latin america for entertainment

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  2. Milonga10:59 PM

    I was agreeing with you but then I saw Evo Morales on TV saying that this was a coup planned by the USA against Alba and Unasur, i.e. the integration of Latin America. If there is a coupster in this story it is Correa himself. Was diminishing the police "priviledges" a good move? Or was it intentional? Now he has a good excuse to close down Congress, something that is legal after the new Ecuadorian Constitution! Give me a break! Those that defend democracy do not practice it.

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  3. As usual, the English language press is behind the curve in trying to make sense of what is happening. From the Spanish language reports, it does not appear to be any sort of organized coup, but a semi-spontaneous eruption of frustration with the government's policies regarding the police forces.

    In any case, there does not seem to exist the elements of any intent or plan to remove Correa from office. All they seem to be doing is trying to force the government to negotiate with them.

    Correa's performance from the balcony of the hospital in which he obviously had lost his composure will, no doubt, be on U-Tube soon and replayed over and over again. He did not appear one bit presidential.

    Calls from all sides are coming in calling for calm and respect for constitutional order. In particular, the General in command of the armed forces has reiterated his support of the government and the constitution.

    My opinion: Correa will survive this, but he will be weakened. He may even be forced into early elections.

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  4. Milonga11:47 PM

    In Portuguese: Ecuadorian crisis is not coup, says journalist.. I think we've seen this story before...

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  5. Mike. E.12:04 AM

    I am so glad Cuba talks about democracy and constitutional guarantees AND condemns the "golpe". And the golpista Chavez does as well. And so do other fascist dictators. The hypocrisy is stunning and of course the voices about the imperio being behind it all are already getting loud. Ridiculous.

    Correa knew about the FARC camp in his country and allowed it to operate - that alone disqualifies him in my book to be president of any nation...to get rid of him and how, or not, is the Ecuadorian peoples' decision...

    Isn't it interesting that Ecuadorian immigrants in the USA talk about many exact same issues that plague their country like the Venezuelans?

    The left should be happy that nowadays people will elect an ex guerillera for president in Brazil.

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  6. I'm not sure that Correa is ANY better than Chavez.

    Have a look at: http://ecrisis.net for a history of Correa's crimes against the people.

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  7. Anonymous1:45 AM

    "What is going on is that like in all Latin America countries where we are subject to the military plague when you touch their privileges they overthrow you. Yes I use the world privileges because that is what takes place, and in Venezuela worst of all."

    The whole Ecuatorian mess was caused by the police (the ones who actually do useful work for the country), not the military (the useless fat bastards who do nothing all day long but watch porno, drink beer, and repress people). I agree that (except for Colombia) there isn't a single military man in latinamerica who has ever done anything to truly earn his salary since the times of Bolivar.

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  8. torres1:49 AM

    Having experienced chavez's Venezuela, I would advise being slower to draw conclusions regarding so called coups, especially in the country of one of chavez's gang.

    --

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  9. Milonga1:49 AM

    I just noticed I forgot to put the link of journalist saying this is not a coup (in Portuguese) http://noticias.uol.com.br/ultimas-noticias/internacional/2010/09/30/crise-no-equador-nao-e-golpe-afirma-jornalista-equatoriano.jhtm

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  10. Charly2:18 AM

    To paraphrase some idiot who said last Monday: No fue un golpe, solo una rebeliĆ³n.

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  11. To Anonymous -- The military may be fat and worthless, but they sure do have georgeous uniforms; and the medals -- like, wow. I understand that they get medals for heroic refusals to bow their heads in submission to the weight of their hats.

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  12. I was agreeing with you but then I saw Evo Morales on TV saying that this was a coup planned by the USA against Alba and Unasur...

    If Evo's crapper won't flush, he claims its a CIA plot.

    What is fascinating about this is I gather Correa was cutting back some police benefits as a budgetary move. Normally populist/leftist governments tolerate inflation or currency devaluation (which would mean going off the dollar in Ecuador) rather than deny additional spending to placate some political interest group. To do otherwise is usually condemned as "neoliberalism."

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  13. jj06LotS5:31 AM

    Can you say "autogolpe"? Oh, yes I can!

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  14. Milonga6:45 AM

    These guys have no imagination. The script was identical to Chavez´s and Zelaya´s and "rescue" being made at prime time television.. Oh, wow! And now he is a national hero. Yesterday, signatures were being collected for his ousting. They have no shame! And people had to die for their stupidity! All to The Hague!

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  15. Anonymous12:10 PM

    I do not think this was a coup...but Correa is going to repeat it was many many times...then Hugo, Evo, Fidel and company will repeated another million times adding a little bit more of fantasy and there you have it "The Imperio is against the good guys in S. America.

    Also I agree with Daniel I do not want any coups in Venezuela or any other country!

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  16. Nur_Ich2:07 PM

    Same thinking here, that looks much more like a small Autogolpe, to get more sympathies from the "pueblo", looks exactly like 2002, if you ask me...

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  17. snook722:49 PM

    I have to agree with Milonga and jj06. This was too fishy. If they wanted him they could have gotten him in the hospital or when he came out the first time. The timing is just to convenient with all that is going on in Latin America. The "gang" desperately needed something to go their way. Something they could rally behind. I want to see how many cops go to jail. There are plenty of pictures showing hundreds of faces of these so called "coup" participators.

    Lets see what happens.

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  18. jippo2:53 PM

    This is the same "self coup " that Chavez staged .... but this time Chavez will come to the rescue of his little lap dog Correa

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  19. Steve3:51 PM

    Good thing all of those cameras were there at the hospital "under siege" so that Correa could speak to the people of Ecuador. And, wow, he sure made good time from the hospital to the palace - traffic must have been very light. And he had enough time to go through hair, makeup, AND wardrobe before addressing TV cameras again!

    Definitivamente autogolpe.

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  20. This spontaneous rebellion comes at a very convenient time for Corea.The resistance to his programs will be swept away as the opposition is blamed for staging a coup and endangering his life.

    It also confirms Chavez's thesis that the opposition has to be kept totally disempowered or it will otherwise carry out plots against the democratically elected

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  21. Mike E.5:33 PM

    We will be hearing "ULTRADERECHA" a lot by Chavez and his minions as the new talking point label for anybody not in conformance with "the process".
    Somehow, I have a feeling that it is not coincidence that this happened a few days after Chavez' (popular vote) election defeat.

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  22. Steve8:50 PM

    "Somehow, I have a feeling that it is not coincidence that this happened a few days after Chavez' (popular vote) election defeat."

    And a few days before the crucial Brazilian elections...

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  23. Charly2:58 AM

    The nature of a latino gorilla (military) is to make a coup, revolt, mutiny, whatever, like the nature of the shark is to bite. It is not a learned behavior, just an instinct.

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  24. I think too many posters are simply defaulting into conspiracy theories. While this certainly wasn't a US-inspired coup as the dopey duo, Hugito and Evito, claim, It's a real stretch to claim Correa staged it. Presumably there will be some trials were the perpetrators will be prosecuted. They'll claim it wasn't a coup or they were provoked or whatever, but I doubt they'll claim it was all staged.

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  25. Anonymous4:17 PM

    Que pena Mr Correa tuvo miedo del KiKiRiQuick se hospitalizĆ³, total para nada. Los demĆ”s seguro que dijeron como nuestro Comandante, Por Ahora. La Maga Lee

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