Ecuador's Correa declares referendum victory

[Judi Lynn]

Ecuador's Correa declares referendum victory
(AP) – 11 hours ago

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — President Rafael Correa declared victory after an exit poll indicated voters approved all 10 ballot questions in a referendum Saturday, an outcome critics say will tighten his grip on power, inhibit press freedom and lessen the judiciary's independence.

The exit poll by SP Investigacion y Estudios, which regularly does work for the government, said voters approved all the questions by greater than 60 percent. First official results were expected Saturday night. Three hours after polls closed less than 1 percent of the vote had been counted.

The chief of an Organization of American States observer team, Enrique Correa of Chile, said the voting appeared to go smoothly and there was no evidence of fraud.

The plebiscite was an important gauge of a leftist U.S.-trained economist who has brought remarkable stability to a small, traditionally volatile and corrupt South American nation.

More:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gQEAo1llCgMaCZs3NR-INZ3klUEg?docId=a8f079f05fdf4da18c1e218d1b2bc988

[DutchLiberal]

1. I've never seen AP write in such blatantly partisan manner about European or American politicians..

It begins with giving the first paragraph to unnamed "critics" to fear-monger, thus setting a negative tone for the casual reader. (Even Wikipedia doesn't accept weasel words like "some people say", but apparently, for Associated Press, it's good enough.)

Specifically mentioning that "no evidence of fraud" was found, suggests to the reader that fraud has been used in the past (hence the oversight) and that fraud could have been used this time, but just wasn't caught. Whenever there's an election in the US or Europe, no journalist ever writes "there has been no evidence of fraud" --not even after the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections in the US!

Then after having given him credit for stabilizing the otherwise volatile country, in the next paragraph they said he did so by "obliterating" the opposition. When the Republicans had historic win in 2010, did AP write they "obliterated" the Democrats? It suggests to the casual reader that Correa has stabilized the country by dictatorial means.

AP then downplays the coup attempt by saying it was "seemingly spontaneous". How does AP know it was spontaneous? The article doesn't make that clear. "Seemingly" of course is also a 'weasel word'. Correa is furthermore described as "haughty and quick-tempered". What do these descriptions add? They're only there to make Correa look bad.

In other words, a worthless piece of crap reporting.

[Peace Patriot]

2. Thank you for your thoughtful analysis! I wish more people would do this--

closely examine what they read and understand the techniques being used to propagandize readers. I have found this kind of crap reporting in EVERY corporate so-called 'news' article that I've seen on Hugo Chavez and virtually every one I've seen on the other most democratic leaders in Latin American--Correa, in Ecuador, and Evo Morales in Bolivia All I can conclude is that the new Latin American leftist democracy movement represents a profound threat to our transglobal corporate/war profiteer rulers and they miss NO opportunity to smear it, slander it and imply that it is UN-democratic and dictatorial--the opposite of the truth.

[DutchLiberal]

5. Indeed, this is a tactic I see used almost all the time when it comes to Latin-American leaders...

Except for Uribe and Santos. Because they're the 'good guys' (they do our bidding).

I must say Lula da Silva didn't get the same treatment as most other leftist leaders did. I guess Brazil is too much of a serious player in the world economy now to alienate them? I was glad to see Lula sticking by his leftist colleagues instead of bowing his head to Washington. I've seen a few reports in the last months about how Roussef is trying to keep Chavez at a distance though. Is this also a false rumor being spread by the MSM? I don't trust them at all.

[Peace Patriot]

9. MSM rumor. Here's what's really going on...

Brazilian, Venezuelan presidents discuss trade, regional development

May 10, 2011

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Monday met with her Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez for discussion on bilateral trade and regional development.

The two presidents were eager to consolidate the good bilateral relations that were built under the administration of Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who formed a close ally with Chavez, said the Brazilian foreign ministry in a statement.

Posted by Judi Lynn here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x51754

[rabs]

10. Interesting. Considering Chavez canceled his trip ...

... on Monday when he suffered a knee injury and docs ordered him to stay off his feet for a few days.

Chavez made the announcement himself hours before leaving for Brasilia. His Foreign Minister, Maduro, is taking care of business in Brasilia.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Thanks so much for your comments. It's impossible to find ANY honest corporate media reporting

concerning the leftist Latin American leaders and the leftist voters.

I guess the world should be happy, however, that at least in most of Latin American people are at least not being tortured and murdered any more for being progressive.

Hideous, isn't it?

[DutchLiberal]

6. Except for Columbia, Honduras and Cuba, you're right.

Not that there's not a lot left to be desired in Latin-America. There still is a whole lot of corruption, a lot of poverty, income inequality, a rotten judicial system and inhumane prison system, violence, drug problems etc.

But the progression we've seen in the last decade is amazing. Step by step, they will get further and further on the right path --if we don't intervene. They are building better societies for their citizens and they're doing so by largely rejecting our Western neoliberal market-driven economic consensus --and it's working! But we, we still cling to that same disproven economic consensus that has driven us into recession. And then we call *them* crazy!

[Judi Lynn]

3. Ecuador votes to end 500 years of bullfighting

The Irish Times - Monday, May 9, 2011
Ecuador votes to end 500 years of bullfighting

TOM HENNIGAN in São Paulo

~snip~
As well as ending the killing of bulls in the ring, voters in a referendum held on Saturday outlawed cockfighting and casino gambling. More controversially, President Rafael Correa won approval for new controls on the country’s media and financial sectors.

Voters backed all 10 constitutional reforms backed by the popular Mr Correa, who campaigned hard in favour of the new measures. Provisional results though from electoral authorities show the margin of victory was tighter than expected.

The president’s opponents had claimed the referendum was the latest moves in his campaign since taking power in 2007 to strengthen the power of Ecuador’s executive. However, at a victory rally on Saturday night, Mr Correa called the result a victory for his “citizens’ revolution”, saying voters had not been scared off by a “ferocious opposition” and a corrupt press. “We have beaten them all,” he told supporters.

Bullfighting has long been a traditional pastime of Ecuador’s European-descended elite. Its supporters sought to portray the proposed ban as an attack on their freedom of expression and cultural heritage and claimed an end to the spectacle would leave 100,000 people out of work.

More:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0509/1224296491068.html

[rabs]

7. Once again, sloppy, and wrong, headline

500 years of bullfighting in Ecuador??

The Spaniard conquistadores had NOT even arrived in Ecuador 500 years ago.

Bullfighting came much later in the colonial era. The Spaniards orginally imported the fierce bulls to prevent indigenous people from stealing cattle from the haciendas.

Too bad the Irish Times reporter writing from Sao Paulo, Brazil, thousands of miles from Ecuador, did not do his homework and merely plagiarized from the internetS.

[Judi Lynn]

8. 500 years did sound strange. The invaders would have had to have been very established

before they got around to things like bringing in bullfighting.

Very interesting learning they brought in fierce bulls to scare off the indigenous citizens. Never could have guessed. Putting one of those fierce fellas in to serve as a sentry would probably be similar to bringing in a 1,000 pound guard dog.

http://www.bobcesca.com.nyud.net:8090/blog-archives/python_run_away.jpg