Ecuador's New Legislature Takes Office

[Judi Lynn]

Ecuador's New Legislature Takes Office

QUITO, May 15 (BERNAMA-NNN-XINHUA) -- Ecuador's new National Assembly, elected in Feb 17 elections that saw the ruling party win an overwhelming majority of seats, took office Tuesday for a period of four years. In a ceremony held at the Legislative Palace in Quito, 137 deputies, including 100 from the ruling PAIS Alliance, were officially installed.

The ruling party's absolute majority in the unicameral parliament will allow the government of socialist President Rafael Correa to pass laws it was not able to do before due to a lack of votes, as well as define the legislative and fiscal agenda.

At the opening session, guarded by some 700 troops, three women legislators from the ruling party were appointed to lead the parliament, marking a first in the history of Ecuador. Gabriela Rivadeneira was named Assembly President, while Rossana Alvarado and Marcela Aguinaga were named first and second Vice Presidents respectively.

"To deepen the people's revolution requires radicalising democracy, spreading the culture of participation (and) empowerment of historically excluded sectors to every corner of the country," said Rivadeneira.

More:
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/wn/newsworld.php?id=949711

[Peace Patriot]

1. Amazing, positive, historic political events occurring in Latin America...

...and nary a whisper about them in the U.S. media!

Thank you for posting this news! It's notable that you had to go all the way to Malaysia to find a report on this important event--an historic first for women in Ecuador!

--

"...three women legislators from the ruling party were appointed to lead the parliament..."

--

The seating of the legislature, with a huge leftist majority--in a country that the U.S. tried to destabilize, and whose president, Rafael Correa, is second only to Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro in the U.S. media slander-fest against leftist presidents in Latin America--is also remarkable, historic, a big plus for the people of Ecuador and completely ignored by our benighted press.

In order to find real democracy these days, we have to look for it in the countries that the U.S. government and the corpo-fascist media slander as "dictatorships."

And we have to re-write the dictionary to understand how these entities use such words with regard to Latin America.

"Dictatorship" = a government of, by and for the people.

"Dictator" = honestly elected, FDR-type leader committed to "New Deal"-like policies of inclusion and wealth-sharing.

Also,

"human rights" = corporate rights;

"free speech" = speech for corporate media moguls and no one else;

"elections of leftists" = flawed, fraudulent;

rightwing coup d'etats = "legitimate" governments;

"democracy" = places where rightwing death squads can kill labor leaders and other leftists with impunity;

"free trade" = free trade for the rich while the poor get kicked "off the island"; and so forth.

Such words in the mouths of U.S. government officials and corpo-fascist media pontificators have come to mean the opposite of what they used to mean. We are heading full bore into a Stalinist "Big Lie" information environment--lies repeated so often they begin to seem like reality--certainly where Latin America is concerned, and it seems to be across the board on many issues.

The non-existent WMDs in Iraq was not a fluke. It was just the most egregious of MANY similar lies that are being told in the interest of transglobal corporations, banksters and war profiteers.

"Big Lie" methods include endless repetition of falsehoods and reversals and distortions of language (of the very meanings of words), AND "black holes" where information should be--burying real news in a place from which no light can emerge.

We have seen both of these methods--"Big Lie" falsehoods and "black-holing" of real information--escalate over the last decade, with regard to Latin America's huge democratic rebellion against U.S. rule. This is the most important political movement in half a century, and one of the most important ever. It is the true hope of the world as to democracy. It has transformed the political landscape in half of the western hemisphere for the better.

Nothing--NOTHING!--about it in the corporate media! --except for "Big Lie" reversals, distortions, jabberwocky and "black holes" where information should be.

It is APPALLING. The Fourth Estate is DEAD, except on the Internet (where the truth can be found, here and there).

Dead and rotting in its grave. I've been following this death agony over the last decade on Latin American issues and it is comprehensive. It includes virtually ALL news and opinion sources described by the phrase "mainstream media" (in truth, 1%-er media--not "mainstream" at all). And it is so bad that I have renamed them: The New York Slimes, the Associated Pukes, the Washington Psst, the Wall Street Urinal, the Miami Hairball, Rotters, the BBcons, the Economyst, Blobbovision and other Spanish language versions of same, and the alphabet soup of deception on TV/radio.

And lately--to my profound shock--it has even included the Guardian and the New Yorker! Egregious, unrepentant LYING in both of these once great publications.

Evidently, the desperate need of our corporate rulers to regain control of Latin America crosses "the Pond" and all intellectual barriers to outright frigging lies. Virtually every source of information we once relied upon is now tainted with greed, and perhaps also classicism and racism, with regard to Latin America.

It does all come down to money--theft of resources, banksterism, looting, war profiteering, privatization of "the commons," kicking the poor "off the island." Real democracy is THE most powerful force against greed and for decency and equality. Thus, if real democracy arises somewhere--as it has in Latin America--it must be demolished for the rich to get richer.

And, above all, it must be kept from spreading north!

That is a major goal of this comprehensive "Big Lie" campaign--to keep the people of the U.S., the people of England, and as many people as possible around the world, in complete ignorance of the rebirth of democracy in Latin America.

Because, if WE reclaim our democracy and sovereignty, like the Latin Americans are doing, it will mean sharing the wealth.

[Judi Lynn]

2. It is a painful awakening discovering the actual power of the right-wing control of the media.

It's a slow dawning, as we were raised to trust, and believe our own newspapers, etc., and we DID. Who would expect them to lie to us?

The final recognition that the BIG LIE is cultivated, maintained within the British news media, as well, has been so sad, when we used to have such respect for them. Must have been the advent of Thatcher, good buddy of Pinochet, and genocidist Reagan which encouraged the British conservatives to become the largest assholes they could be, just as they do here.

Who can forget the seemingly immortal words of Henry Kissinger, "“I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist because of the irresponsibility of its own people.”
—Henry Kissinger, June 27, 1970

That odd squawk comes back again and again to horrify and disgust people. How dare he. Mr. Nobel Peace Prize Winner, too. These geniuses go nuts when they get a little power, don't they? Can't control, WON'T control themselves. After all, what's the use of having power if you don't harm others? Ya gotta let'em know you're there!

[center]

Getting high from the suffering of others.[/center]

[Peace Patriot]

7. The final blows to BBC independence were inflicted by Tony Blair...

...and the alleged Labour Party. Downsizing, big cuts in staff, political control of content. The first lines of battle in this recent set of blows were the Iraq War and David Kelly (murdered by somebody's special ops agency for his whistleblowing to the BBC, probably because of what ELSE he knew, besides the "sexing up" of the "Dodgy Dossier" on Iraq WMDs).

And the thinking was apparently long term, as to British 1%er profiteering. The BBC has been horrible on Latin America--just horrible! As bad as the Wall Street Urinal and Faux News! I have been so shocked by it. No pretense of objectivity. Outright corporate lies and propaganda.

This comes from downsizing, cuts in staff and political control.

If their Latin America coverage is any evidence, this once very great news organization has been gutted. Thatcher and Reagan may have begun the erosion--they certainly did so in the private corporate media (that was really the first fascist coup d'etat here--corporate media worship of Reagan, whose pals in Guatemala were committing genocide!)--but the final battle was conducted by Blair & Co. The BBC has not been the same since.

[ocpagu]

4. Great comment, as usual from you.

"It does all come down to money--theft of resources, banksterism, looting, war profiteering, privatization of "the commons," kicking the poor "off the island." Real democracy is THE most powerful force against greed and for decency and equality. Thus, if real democracy arises somewhere--as it has in Latin America--it must be demolished for the rich to get richer."

So true, unfortunately. Thanks!

[ocpagu]

3. Wonderful!

I would love to get more information about the laws the government intends to approve, but I liked a lot what I've read in the article you shared with us, specially this: "The government also seeks to approve laws governing land and water, to standardise the use of these resources in communities, as well as an Integral Penal Code."

It's great to see that Correa is pushing for real reforms. And they look huge! He certainly knows the usual suspects must be planning a way to boycott. Hope he's getting prepared to confront the obstacles.

[Judi Lynn]

5. He'd better watch his back. There are some nasty oligarchs in Ecuador.

I hope he IS prepared, hope he has adequate security, too.

[Dawson Leery]

6. He better watch for the next Capriles.

No question now that Correa will face an aggressive campaign to undermine this legally and ethically elected government.