Ecuador, South America
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Correa and the golden ponchos
From The Economist print edition
A popular leader faces mounting opposition on both left and right.
When he is addressing rural audiences in the Andean highlands, Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president, likes to sprinkle his speeches with phrases in Quichua, the main indigenous language, which he picked up during a year of volunteer work. But these are not always appreciated. In 2005 when he was seeking allies for his presidential bid and spoke thus to the congress of Pachakutik, an indigenous party, one of its leaders, Auki Tituaña, responded in English.
After almost three years in office, Mr Correa's relations with Ecuador's indigenous leaders are worse still. A socialist who likes to wear Andean Indian waistcoats and who recently announced the setting up of Cuban-style "Committees for the Defence of the Revolution", Mr Correa has long been distrusted by business groups and conservatives. But now he faces a new challenge from the left. A strike by teachers and students, whose leaders claim to be Maoists, is now in its third week. And indigenous groups, some linked to Pachakutik, this week launched what they called a "national uprising", complete with roadblocks. At least one protester was killed in clashes with police.
The immediate trigger for this protest is a bill governing the use of water, a crucial issue for many subsistence farmers, especially in the Andes. The government wants a new, centrally managed authority to allocate water. This would doubtless be able to impose technically efficient policies. But protesters fear the authority would siphon off water for mining, rather than farming. They say today's system, under which some 10,000 local committees manage water supplies, has worked well. They fear the new one will open the door to privatisation, which the government denies. >>> Go to Full Story >>>
Chevron Offers Evidence of Bribery Scheme in Ecuador Lawsuit
By SIMON ROMERO and CLIFFORD KRAUSS | The New York Times
The oil giant Chevron said Monday that it had obtained video recordings of meetings in Ecuador this year that appear to reveal a bribery scheme connected to a $27 billion lawsuit the company faces over environmental damage at oil fields it operated in remote areas of the Amazon forest in Ecuador.
The videos, together with audio recordings obtained by businessmen using watches and pens implanted with bugging devices, appear to implicate Ecuadoran officials and political operatives, including possibly Juan Núñez, the judge overseeing the lawsuit, and Pierina Correa, the sister of Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa. The recordings indicate that an Ecuadoran political operative was working to obtain $3 million in bribes related to environmental cleanup contracts to be awarded in the event of a ruling against Chevron.
It was not clear from the recordings and transcripts provided by Chevron, however, whether any bribes discussed in the recordings were actually paid or whether Judge Núñez was even aware of plans to try to bribe him. The tapes also did not demonstrate whether the president's sister was aware of the scheme or had participated in it. But in a statement that Chevron says illustrates that the judge's handling of the case is flawed, Judge Núñez said on one of the video recordings that he planned to rule against Chevron by January and that damages could exceed $27 billion. Judge Núñez, who presides over the case from a cramped office in the town of Lago Agrio in Ecuador, could not be reached for comment on Monday.
The recordings, which Chevron placed on its Web site, are the latest twist in a 16-year legal battle over oil contamination of jungle areas in northern Ecuador. Mr. Correa, a left-wing economist who rose from obscurity to become Ecuador's strongest president in recent memory, has repeatedly sided with the plaintiffs in the case, prompting a fierce lobbying effort by Chevron in Washington to strip Ecuador of American trade preferences. >>> Go to Full Story >>>
