Ecuador: Citizens Attempt to Remove President Rafael Correa from Office
Through the web, as an exclusive for Ecuador en Vivo [es] and among reactions from the blogosphere, the process to remove Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa from office has begun.
Photo of Ecuadorian Presidente Rafael Correa by Flickr user Presidencia de la República del Ecuador used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license
In the country, 3 presidents were removed from office in less than 8 years [es] under a context of political instability and social movements led by indigenous and left-leaning groups.
The call to remove the president this time comes from a different sector, led by controversial journalist Carlos Vera who announced the gathering of signatures to remove Rafael Correa in front of the National Electoral Council, now that the first constitutional requirement has been satisfied, which is the completion of the first year in office.
Video [es] of Carlos Vera explaining the plan to remove the president from office
In his blog Vencer el Miedo (Overcome Fear), Carlos Vera announces that the response to his initiative:
Rebasa lo esperado el entusiasmo y valentía de los ecuatorianos ante esta propuesta pacífica y democrática de revocar la cabeza de un modelo nefasto; eso nos compromete más a pulir toda la organización prevista hasta hoy así como a minimizar los riesgos advertidos por algunos sectores y analistas sobre la distorsión que harán el gobierno y sus partidarios de la propuesta
According to article 105 of the Ecuadorian Constitution [es], any citizen can remove authorities elected through popular elections, once the first year has passed and before the last year of the term. Luna de Papel [es] also informs that:
la solicitud de revocatoria deberá respaldarse además por un número no inferior al 10% de personas inscritas en el registro electoral correspondiente.
The announcement has generated a series of advertisements and condemnations followed with moderate enthusiasm. Pablo d'Ibarra in the blog Reflexiones desde la mitad del universo [es] (Reflections From the Center of the Universe) is ironic about the subject in a post where he calls Vera and President Correa, “twins in lies, authoritarianism, deceit, and lust.”
However, the initiative is not new. The blog Buscando Libertad (Searching for Freedom) published a post on October 23, 2009 about the plan:
Cuando se pregunta en la calle a las personas su opinión sobre la gestión del Presidente Correa la mitad dice pésima y el resto aún son fanáticos.
Dimitri Cevallos shares the same opinion in El eco de los pasos [es] (The Echo of Steps) :
Actualmente la opinión de los ecuatorianos está dividida en torno al tema de la revocatoria del mandato. Algunos sectores están totalmente de acuerdo con ella, otros aunque están de acuerdo con la salida de Correa no confían en las “buenas intenciones” de los impulsores de esta revocatoria y por supuesto también existen sectores fieles al gobierno y su gestión.
Michel from Ecuador para el Mundo [es] writes:
Está de moda lo de la revocatoria del mandato, otra de las grandes novelerías que nuestro gobierno quiso experimentar y el cual le ha reventado en la cara. En teoría suena bonito, el derecho de los ciudadanos a dar por terminado un período por el cual han sido elegidos sus dignidades ya que no cumplieron con las expectativas del pueblo, pero de ahí a la vida práctica hay un mundo.
Voices on Twitter also concur. Sofia (@Kathacm) declares:
Si llega a salir correa por la muerte cruzada ( revocatoria de mandato ) y se convoca a elecciones…… Quien podra defendernos???
Patrizia Parodi (@PatriziaParodiR) points instead to political stability:
Odio a correa, pero no creo en los golpes de estado ni revocatorias de mandato, soy democrática y creo en la seguridad jurídica del estado
Removal attempts will also be presented for Mayors. Guayaquil is added to the list.
The initiative to remove the president from office is now accompanied by an initiative to remove local authorities in the country. Héctor Ygonet Céspedes from Neoliberalismo [es] informs about the local proposals:
Otros escenarios revocatorios contra autoridades locales también están en marcha, como los de los alcaldes de Duran, Yaguachi, Santa Elena y Babahoyo. Estos procedimientos estarían siendo impulsados por sus últimos adversarios políticos, de candidatos de Alianza País, el conglomerado político que apoya al Gobierno.
Ecuador en Vivo [es] reports that an informal salesman has presented a removal for Jaime Nebot, mayor of Guayaquil, the second most important city of Ecuador.
5 comments
I don’t understand why any citizen of Ecuador would want to remove President Correa from office. He has been the ONLY president in a very long time to defy the corruption that has plagued the country of Ecuador. Unfortunately, yes, he’s had to make some very harsh decisions and changes in order to accomplish this, but because of the level of corruption within the government, it was the only way to clean house. I don’t agree that he shut down radio and tv stations, but I understand why he did it. You can’t fight greed and corruption, when they pay journalists off, and provide false and misleading information to journalist & news programs who DO NOT FACT CHECK, misleading information on Correa and his cabinet. That in itself would constitute support for the president on his decision to change things. Take the U.S. for example. Our media is controlled by 5 major companies. And for some reason or another, all seem to report the same thing. Yet there are countless stories and information that is NEVER reported. There is a law in the U.S. that does not allow the caskets of dead soldiers coming back from Iraq or Afgan to be shown on TV or in Print. And we are the home of the free? Ecuadorians, don’t let these propaganda machines take control. Otherwise, you will wind up like the U.S.A…. under the control of the corporations, who do not care about the citizens of the country.
Regretfully, your impression is clouded by what you read in the mainstream media. As an Ecuadorian and naturalized American, Correa represents the heights of demagoguery that puts the Obama administration to shame. Here are some incontestable facts (that pale in comparison the great American oligarchy), Correa is known to have affiliations and have received funding from the narco-mafias; Correa is known to have affiliations with the FARC; Correa is known to buy votes with food and money (I mean you get sandwiches, soda, a free bus trip to the city, and cash); Correa is known to break-up demonstrations by initiating military action (like Iran); Correa has allowed the Ecuadorian banks (that use the USD as their currency) to launder money for not just drug cartels, but also other illegal activities like human trafficking; Correa is known to control the media flow; Correa is known to imprison journalists (not just sue them for slander). I think I could just keep going.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/09/30/ecuador.violence/?hpt=T1
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/ecuador/8035745/Ecuador-President-injured-in-coup.html
Waiting for the news from GV participators!
MICK, WHERE ARE YOU GETTING THAT INFO FROM. IF YOU ARE ECUADORIAN YOU KNOW BETTER, NOTHING THAT YOU SAY HERE IS TRUE. SIX ELECTIONS WON BY A BIG MAYORITY OF VOTES, NOT A SINGLE JOURNALIST IN JAIL, DESPITE ALL THE RETORIC THAT MOST OF THEM, WORKING FOR THE BIG TELEVISION STATIONS O NEWSPAPERS, KEEP LYING OVER AND OVER. THE PEOPLE SUPPORT CORREA, YOU NEED TO GO BACK TO ECUADOR AND SEE HOW THE POOR PEOPLE ARE HAVING A VOICE KNOW. THE ONES THAT ARE HURT FOR THIS GOVERMENT AND ITS ACTIONS ARE THE ONES THAT WERE USED TO HAVE CONTROL OF EVERYTHING. SINCE THE MEDIA AND THE BANKS TO THE CONTROL OF POLICE AND THE ARMY. AFTER SEPTEMBER 30, IF THER WAS ANY DOUBT, THE CORREA’S GOVERMENT IS TEN TIMES STRONGER AND HAS MORE SUPPORT FROM EVERY CORNER OF THE COUNTRY.