Ecuador: Will Luisa González, be Ecuador’s First Female President?

in the dynamic Ecuadorian political scenario, a figure has emerged that has captured the attention of many: Luisa González, the candidate of Revolución Ciudadana, the party of former president Rafael Correa.

Luisa González obtained 33.3% of the votes and will face businessman Daniel Noboa in the second round. Gonzalez held several positions during the presidency of Rafael Correa, whom she plans to appoint as advisor. She defines herself as “a revolutionary woman of peace”. Her closeness to the Catholic Church and her position on abortion.

Related:

Luisa González Is Ecuador’s Most Voted Presidential Candidate

After the failed presidency of Lenin Moreno –who governed between 2017 and 2021 mocking his past as a leader of Revolución Ciudadana, a force founded by Rafael Correa– and the chaotic government of banker Guillermo Lasso –who will end his term early–; a woman arrives as a favorite to the second electoral round for the first time in Ecuador’s history.

Luisa González, candidate of Revolución Ciudadana, obtained this Sunday 33.3% of the votes and will also seek to become the first female president of the country. “Ecuador requires peace, work, security, that we become free again”, she celebrated last night and called Ecuadorians to unite again.

Although until recently unknown to most, Gonzalez burst onto the political scene with the bold mission to “recover the homeland.”

“We call for the unity of all Ecuadorians: the private and public sector, all the forces of the country to build a vision of a country that will give us decent conditions for all”, said the presidential candidate.

Gonzalez, who a few weeks ago showed a voting intention of only 5%, emerged as the most voted candidate in a first electoral round crossed by violence with the murders of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio and the correista leader Pedro Briones. “A revolutionary woman of peace”, this is how the lawyer and candidate of Revolución Ciudadana, born in Quito on November 22, 1977, defined herself. The candidate has already announced that, if she reaches the Carondelet Palace -as the government house is known in Ecuador-, she will have former President Rafael Correa as advisor.

The political career of Luisa González

Born in Quito, she became interested in politics and public service at a very young age. During her career, Luisa has worked hard to improve the quality of life of Ecuadorians, especially those in vulnerable situations.

The favorite for the second round on October 15 is a lawyer with a master’s degree in International Economics and Development from the Complutense University of Madrid, and held several positions during Correa’s presidency, among them, the head of the Ministry of Labor. Until 2007, she was a member of the Social Christian Party (PSC), but when Correa became president, Luisa became one of the closest leaders to the then president.

In 2021 she won a seat as a legislator as a candidate of Union for Hope, the alliance that hegemonized the Citizen Revolution movement. That was her last public position to make the leap to the presidential candidacy, for which she was elected in the internal of correismo on June 10, after the former vice president Jorge Glas rejected the nomination. Glas was detained for five years for a cause that from the correismo denounce as part of lawfare that advanced on the representatives of Latin American progessivism of the beginning of the century, among them, the president of Brazil, Lula Da Silva, and the Argentine vice-president Cristina Kirchner.

“We are going to take the bull by the horns and we are going to face the causes that generate violence and delinquency, such as hunger, poverty, lack of education, lack of opportunities”, assured González that June 10 in her nomination ceremony in the town of Portoviejo, capital of Manabí, birthplace of the candidate and bastion of Correism. 

Luisa González’s perspective on religion and abortion

Mother of two daughters, cycling fanatic, Gonzalez refused to wear a bulletproof vest during the campaign, after Villavicencio’s crime. “I have faith in God; he is the one who protects us,” she confided.  Perhaps it is this Catholicism that also leads her to oppose abortion, an issue in which the candidate does not see contradictions even from a pro-gay space such as Revolución Ciudadana. “No one has said that being a feminist or progressive is to be in favor of abortion,” she considered.

“During her career, she has worked tirelessly to improve the living conditions of her community and encourage citizen participation in political decision-making,” the candidate is described in the official profile posted on the page of the dissolved National Assembly.

Luisa González has stood out for her focus on issues such as education, health and economic development. She has proposed innovative policies and programs to strengthen the education system, guarantee access to quality health care, and encourage entrepreneurship and job creation.

In addition, Luisa González is known for her integrity and her ability to work as a team player. She has demonstrated outstanding leadership skills and the ability to build consensus for the benefit of Ecuadorian society. Her honesty and transparency are admirable qualities that make her a reliable candidate and close to the people.

‘Leftist Winds Blow through Latin America’: The Puebla Group

Source: TeleSUR

Published 30 November 2021

Ecuador’s ex-President Rafael Correa (C), Mexico City, Mexico, Nov. 30, 2021. | Photo: Twitter/ @tcanarte

The 2022 presidential elections in Colombia will mark not only the future of democracy but “the difference between peace and war,” former President Samper said.

During the summit held in Mexico City on Tuesday, the Puebla Group congratulated the election of Xiomara Castro as President of Honduras and expressed its confidence in the triumph of popular forces in the presidential elections in Chile and Brazil.

RELATED: Puebla Group’s Seventh Summit Starts In Mexico City

“Xiomara Castro will be the first female president in the history of Honduras. This is very important for Central America, a region that always has many social problems,” Spain’s former President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said.

Paraguay’s former President Fernando Lugo asserted that Castro’s triumph in Honduras cheered the entire continent as it brought with it a “gentle wind that hopefully will become a unstoppable hurricane.”

Rodriguez Zapatero also demonstrated his support for Chile’s leftist presidential candidate Gabriel Boric, who is likely to defeat the far-right candidate Jose Kast in the Dec. 19 run-off elections.

Referring to the presidential elections to be held in Brazil in 2022, the Spanish politician pointed out that “the victory of Lula da Silva will change the continent and the international order.”

Colombia’s former President Ernesto Samper stated that the 2022 presidential elections in his country will mark not only the future of democracy but “the difference between peace and war” in this South American country.

Founded in 2019, the Puebla Group brings together 54 progressive Ibero-American leaders and intellectuals. Also present at the Mexico City summit were former presidents Dilma Rousseff (Brazil) and Rafael Correa (Ecuador). Bolivia’s President Luis Arce and former President Lula da Silva took part by virtual media.

Ecuador: Correa’s Candidacy ‘Definitively’ Nulled in Record Time

Source: TeleSur
September 7 2020

Judge (L to R) Milton Ávila, Javier de la Cadena y José Leyera on Monday after resuming the appeals hearing for the Bribery 2012-2016 case in Quito, Ecuador. September 7, 2020. | Photo: EFE/Corte Nacional Justicia

The Ecuadorian National Court of Justice ratified in record time the sentence against former president Rafael Correa in an appeals court on Quito Monday afternoon. 

Denouncing the bribery case as a setup, Correa, in an interview with Radio Majestad, said the judicial process was marred with several inconsistencies and irregularities, resulting in eight years in prison for aggravated bribery.

More importantly, the court officially annulled Correa’s vice-presidential candidacy on the Andres Arauz ticket, preventing the economist and former head of state from seeking elected political office for the same amount of time. 

RELATED: Ecuador: Rafael Correa Seeks to Run for Vice President

The verdict against Correa and his other 15 co-defendants, who requested the appeal, means that the Citizen Revolution and Union for Hope Coalition must decide on a substitute to occupy the vice-presidential candidacy. 

With two judges in favor of the charges and one voting against them, the court broke record time in addressing the decision’s appeal, usually taking more than three months for a process of this magnitude. 

While many constitutional scholars debate the possibility of Correa being barred from Ecuadorian public office for life due to this conviction, with a legal basis in the 2018 constitutional reforms, what is clear is the politicized and fraudulent nature of the ongoing judicial attack against Correa and his political movement. 

Insisting there is no concrete evidence against him, Correa assured that he does not expect anything from the Ecuadorian justice system these days, adding “there may be honest judges, but in Ecuador’s current circumstances, heroic judges are needed.”

Over the next week, the convicted co-defendants will be able to request clarification about the sentence, which will then be carried out and remitted to the National Electoral Council (CNE), which then shall prohibit all, including Correa, from registering their candidacy for public office. 

Electoral judge cancels Rafael Correa’s party suspension

Source:  La Santa Mambisa
August 4 2000

A judge of the Ecuador Contentious Electoral Tribunal (TCE) annulled the CNE resolution that had suspended the party of former President Rafael Correa.

After two weeks of harsh public convictions and just a week after the start of the primary elections, Fernando Muñoz, judge of the Ecuador Contentious Electoral Tribunal, reversed the decision of the National Electoral Council (CNE) to disable the force led by the exmandatario.

According to Muñoz, the CNE resolution was not “clear” or “legitimate” and “violates the rights” of Ecuadorians. The ruling, however, must be taken with caution since the National Electoral Council has 72 hours to appeal it.

Correa has reacted to the news through a message published on his account on the social network Twitter. ” There seems to be vestiges of decency in the ECT. So that they also annul the reform – with dedication – of the regulation that requires accepting the candidacies in a “very personal ” way, an absurdity that also harms tens of thousands of migrants and vulnerable people, “he said.

In his first three years in office, the Ecuadorian president, Lenín Moreno, has carried out a political and judicial persecution of the leaders of the movement led by Correa, his former ally. That persecution seems to escalate as the elections, scheduled for February 2021, approach.

Seven months after the elections, no formal candidacies for the presidency for the period 2021-2025 have yet been presented. Since the massive protests in October 2019 and especially after the mismanagement of the pandemic of the new coronavirus, causing COVID-19, which caused the sanitary collapse of the two main cities in Ecuador, the Moreno government has been greatly weakened in the next elections. On the other hand, Correísmo, despite legal obstacles, appears as its main rival.

A judge of the Ecuador Contentious Electoral Tribunal (TCE) annulled the CNE resolution that had suspended the party of former President Rafael Correa.

After two weeks of harsh public convictions and just a week after the start of the primary elections, Fernando Muñoz, judge of the Ecuador Contentious Electoral Tribunal, reversed the decision of the National Electoral Council (CNE) to disable the force led by the exmandatario.

According to Muñoz, the CNE resolution was not “clear” or “legitimate” and “violates the rights” of Ecuadorians. The ruling, however, must be taken with caution since the National Electoral Council has 72 hours to appeal it.

Correa has reacted to the news through a message published on his account on the social network Twitter. ” There seems to be vestiges of decency in the ECT. So that they also annul the reform – with dedication – of the regulation that requires accepting the candidacies in a “very personal ” way, an absurdity that also harms tens of thousands of migrants and vulnerable people, “he said.

In his first three years in office, the Ecuadorian president, Lenín Moreno, has carried out a political and judicial persecution of the leaders of the movement led by Correa, his former ally. That persecution seems to escalate as the elections, scheduled for February 2021, approach.

Seven months after the elections, no formal candidacies for the presidency for the period 2021-2025 have yet been presented. Since the massive protests in October 2019 and especially after the mismanagement of the pandemic of the new coronavirus, causing COVID-19, which caused the sanitary collapse of the two main cities in Ecuador, the Moreno government has been greatly weakened in the next elections. On the other hand, Correísmo, despite legal obstacles, appears as its main rival.

Ecuador: Judge Releases Leftist Activists Accused of Rebellion

Source:  TeleSUR
December 25 2019

The Prefect of Pichincha Paola Pabon at a local radio station in
Quito, Ecuador, 2019. | Photo: Twitter / @pichinchauniver

Prefect Paola Pabon was accused of being part of a plan to overthrow President Lenin Moreno.

In Ecuador, the Provincial Justice Court of Pichincha acting president Patlova Guerra Tuesday revoked preventive prison against the Prefect of Pichincha Paola Pabon, former lawmaker Virgilio Hernandez, and activist Christian Gonzalez, all of whom are accused of rebellion.

RELATED: Ecuadorean Gov’t Slams UN Report About Repressing Protesters

In exchange for the release of the three defendants, Judge Guerra requested them to appear each Monday before the authority.

Pabon served 71 days in jail after President Lenin Moreno accused her of instigating protests against the economic policies proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In October, Moreno said that Pabon was part of a plan to overthrow him, which was allegedly devised by former President Rafael Correa and supported by Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.

Given that the Ecuadorian prosecution failed to present strong evidence on such accusations, the arrest of Pabon, Hernandez, and Gonzalez, which occurred without following the rules of due process, brought the attention of international human rights organizations.

One of them was the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which issued precautionary measures in favor of the Pichincha prefect.​​​​​

“Paola Pabon, Virgilio Hernandez, and Christian Gonzalez are free. Joy for their families and the State of Rights. The preventive detention hearing ruled in favor. I find myself excited and cheerful. I hope nobody goes through something like that. All three are innocent.”

Once Judge Guerra’s decision was known on Tuesday late night, dozens of supporters of the leftist politicians celebrated outside the Provincial Court shouting slogans against political persecution.

While Correa celebrated the liberation of Pabon, Hernandez, and Gonzalez, he recalled that other members of his party are still imprisoned, one of whom is the former Vice President Jorge Glass.

“The joy is enormous but remember that there are Jorge, Yofre, and many other people persecuted, isolated, exiled or with preventive measures,” Correa said.

Based on what has been going on during Moreno’s administration, the former President also expressed concern about reprisals that could be taken against an honest judge.

“Judge Patlova Guerra is a sign that there are still honest judges. You have to be very attentive so that she does not be dismissed.”

Ecuador: My brother would return with judicial guarantees …Pierina Correa

Source:  TeleSUR
November 27 2019

Pierina Correa in an interview with the media. November 27 2019.
Photo EFE

“It seems their idea is to get convictions and sentences as fast as possible that would block us for life” (from being elected to any public office), she added.

Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, currently living with his wife in Belgium, is not afraid to return to his country and even be arrested if he is guaranteed it would be done under due process of law, his sister Pierina Correa told EFE in an interview.

RELATED:
Former Ecuadorean President Condemns Coup In Bolivia, OAS

“But there are no guarantees in our current judicial system that we can enter a defense in court the way it should be,” she said, giving as an example the recent case of ex-lawmaker Virgilio Hernandez, sentenced to preventive prison over the charge of “rebellion” after prosecutors – supporters of current President Lenin Moreno – accused him of taking part in organizing violent demonstrations during last October’s protests.

Hernandez denied the charges and denounced his sentence as “political persecution.”

According to the former president’s sister, who is campaigning in New York for the opposition movement Social Commitment to the Citizens’ Revolution in the perspective of the 2021 elections, Hernandez surrendered voluntarily after his home was broken into and searched so he would be allowed to stand trial without being incarcerated, but then “he was taken prisoner” on Nov. 5.

Rafael Correa, president between 2007-2017, has lived in Belgium since he left the presidency, after which some 20 charges have been brought against him including corruption. Correa always denied the charged and denounced the lack of evidence against him.

“The procedure is clear, above all in the case of Rafael Correa and Jorge Glas (former vice president of Ecuador): to cancel their political participation not only in the 2021 elections but for life,” Pierina Correa said.

She also felt there was something to be learned by “the election results in Argentina, where the pendulum has moved back toward the left, and after the marches in Ecuador, in Chile, the problem in Bolivia, and what is going on in Colombia. So what’s the message? That the winds of progressive politics are blowing again in the region and that doesn’t suit our current government.”

According to Pierina Correa, with this scenario in her country, the Social Commitment to the Citizens’ Revolution that her brother directs from Belgium has assumed the task of “taking back the government” and to do that, “we are carrying a message of unity and organization.”

“We are calling together a great coalition of hope that unites movements, parties, fronts, and progressive and leftist organizations, so we can go into the 2021 elections as a solid pact,” she said.

Correa, who began her tour in California and after New York will continue on to Florida, added that Lenin Moreno “took away from us, above all from the younger generations, the chance to build our future.”

Ecuador: The Imperialist Plot Against Rafael Correa

Source:  https://libya360.wordpress.com

Itzamna Ollantay

They are trying to legally nullify Rafael Correa, an Ecuadorean colossus, who stood up against the empire because the horsemen of death know their Junius Brutus (Lenin Moreno) has his days numbered.

A court in Ecuador issued an international arrest order on one of the main human rights defenders of the Latin American and Ecuadorean people, ex-President Rafael Correa.

The former leader is being accused of illegal association and kidnapping in relation to the Fernando Balda case, an Ecuadorean ex-lawmaker who was allegedly held against his will in Colombia, in 2012. The accusations are based on the testimony of a former police officer (an effective collaborator) currently under investigation, who said: “I sent letters to President Correa.”

While this is happening, the most corrupt former neoliberal rulers, who handed over the resources of the Latin American people to foreign companies, are enjoying their permanent vacations in the U.S. For example, Bolivia’s Gonzalo Sanchez, Peru’s Alejandro Toledo… fraudulent president and/or corrupt such as the current ones in Guatemala or Honduras. As long as they have the blessing of the U.S., they’re untouchable. Brazil’s Temer, Argentina’s Macri, even with lawsuits against them, they’re still ruling in favor of the interests of the empire.

The bad taste play called “anti-corruption war,” promoted by the North American government and celebrated by the Latin American naivete, is no more than the continuation of the fake “anti-communist war.”

In the 1970s, defenders were tortured and physically annihilated. Now, through public and legal lynching, they destroy the honor and moral integrity of defenders. The objective is always the same: to subdue the defenders and turn them into monsters.

They are trying to legally nullify Rafael Correa, who as an Ecuadorean colossus stood up against the empire from the Carondelet Palace for a decade, because the horsemen of death know their Junius Brutus (Lenin Moreno) has his days numbered, not because of his physical impairment but due to his actual moral condition of traitor. The Roman Brutus, the traitor/murderer of his father Julius Caesar, killed himself after being defeated by guilt.

What unforgivable thing did Rafael Correa do?

According to reports from the World Bank, in 2000 more than 64 percent of Ecuadoreans were living in poverty conditions. Correa, in his decade of government (2007-2017) reduced poverty in Ecuador by 21 percent. That’s to say, more than 6 million Ecuadoreans stopped being poor during that period.

Rafael Correa completely restructured the country’s taxation system. The collected money was distributed to impoverished families through social policies. It was a great example of economic democratization in times of world recession.

The former president turned Ecuador into a world referent, not only in taxation justice and social equity, but also in the construction of an enviable modern road network never before seen in the country. Correa expanded the access to public services as fundamental human rights as never before in the country. The dealers of public services will never forgive him these or other audacities.

Regarding the migration issue, in 2007 Ecuador was what Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are now: outward migrating stampedes. With Correa, the Ecuadorean migrants returned to their country with organized return policies. Not only this, with the new Political Constitution of 2008 the Latin American citizenship was established in this ecologically megadiverse country.

Rafael Correa, along with a Pleiades of Latin American liberators of the 21st century, imposed the dignity and regional sovereignty of Latin America with the creation of Celac, ALBA, Unasur and other organizations. All that, without Washington’s approval. He took Ecuador away from the economical fetters of the TBI [temporary business interruption] and the World Bank.

As a Latin American David, Correa expelled the North American usurper army from the Ecuadorean territory (Manta). He humiliated, without actually looking for it, the arrogant North American geopolitics in the cases of Assange, Usaid, etc.

Correa, in 2007, found an Ecuador in an accelerated process of sociopolitical decay. But in 2017 he managed to place the Andean, Amazonian country in the world’s display cabinet as a model to look at.

At the end, our rights defender Rafael Correa was and is a living, contagious wall that stopped and will keep stopping the North American commercial and political expansionism in Latin America.

The North American imperial oligarchy and its regional accomplices, used to see their tattered vassals in the Latin American people, will never accept nor allow that Latin American liberators to end up in history as heroes or seedbeds of liberty, dignity and sovereignty. That’s why they’re lynching Lugo, Cristina, Lula, Dilma, Rafael, Maduro… But, millions of Latin Americans have awakened and we’re going towards our pending emancipatory dreams.

 

Correa: Venezuela is not a corporation

Source:  TeleSUR

May 20 2018

The Strategic Challenge for the Latin American Left

Source:  TeleSUR
February 22 2018

Latin American Presidents
From left to right: Evo Morales (Bolivia), José Mujica (Uruguay), Dilma Rousseff (Brazil), Cristina Fernandez (Argentina), Rafael Correa (Ecuador) in 2014. | Photo: Reuters

Mass-Media has become the main opposition to the progressive governments of the region.

After the long and sad neoliberal night of the 1990s – which broke entire nations like Ecuador – and since Hugo Chávez won the Presidency of the Republic of Venezuela at the end of 1998, the rightist governments of the continent began to be overthrown like houses of cards, bringing Popular governments and aligned with ‘Socialism of Good Living’ across our America.

RELATED:   Why Bolivia Fights US Imperialism, But Chile Does Not

In its heyday in 2009, out of ten Latin American countries in South America, eight had leftist governments. In addition, in Central America and the Caribbean, there was the Farabundo Martí Front in El Salvador, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, Álvaro Colom in Guatemala, Manuel Zelaya in Honduras, and Leonel Fernández in the Dominican Republic. In countries like Guatemala, with Álvaro Colom, or Paraguay, with Fernando Lugo; it was the first time in history that the left had come to power, and in the last case, broken centuries of constant bipartisanship.

In May of 2008, the Union of South American Nations, or (UNASUR), was born and in February 2010, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) was created with 33 members. Of the 20 Latin countries of the CELAC, 14 had Left governments, that is, 70 percent.

The first part of the 21st century has undoubtedly meant years of advancement. The economic, social and political advances were historic and amazed the world with a climate of sovereignty, dignity, autonomy, with our own presence on the continent and in the whole world.

Latin America didn’t live through a time of change, but a real change of the times, which also substantially changed the geopolitical balance of the region. For this reason, for the de facto powers and hegemonic countries, it was essential to put an end to these processes of change that favored the vast majorities, and that sought a second and definitive regional independence.

The Conservative Restoration

Although the government of Hugo Chávez had to endure a failed coup d’état as early as 2002, it was really since 2008 that undemocratic attempts to end the progressive governments intensified, as was the case of Bolivia in 2008, Honduras 2009, Ecuador 2010, and Paraguay 2012. Four attempts at destabilization, two of them successful – Honduras and Paraguay – and all against governments of the left.

Starting in 2014 and taking advantage of the change in the economic downturn, these disjointed destabilization efforts are consolidated and constitute a real “conservative restoration,” with never-before-seen right-wing coalitions, international support, unlimited resources, external financing, and so on. The reaction has since deepened and lost any limits or scruples. Now we have the economic boycott and harassment of Venezuela, the parliamentary coup in Brazil, and the judicialization of politics – ‘lawfare’-, as shown by the cases of Dilma and Lula in Brazil, Cristina in Argentina, and Vice President Jorge Glas in Ecuador. The attempts to destroy UNASUR and neutralize CELAC, are also evident and, not infrequently, brazen. Not to mention what is happening in Mercosur. The failure of the FTAA at the beginning of this century looks to be overcome through the Pacific Alliance.

In South America, at present, only three progressive governments remain: Venezuela; Bolivia; and Uruguay. The eternal powers that have always dominated Latin America and that plunged it into backwardness, inequality, and underdevelopment, return with a thirst for revenge, after more than a decade of continuous defeats.

The Central Pillars of The Conservative Restoration’s Strategy

The reactionary strategy is carried out regionally and is primarily based on two axes: the supposed failure of the left economic model, and the alleged lack of moral strength in the progressive governments.

Regarding the first axis, since the second half of 2014, due to an adverse international environment, the entire region suffered an economic slowdown that turned into a recession during the last two years.

The results are different between countries and subregions, reflecting the different economic structure and applied economic policies, but the economic difficulties of countries like Venezuela or Brazil are taken as an example of the failure of socialism, even when Uruguay, with a left government, is the most developed country south of the Rio Grande, or when Bolivia has the best macroeconomic indicators on the planet.

The second axis of the new strategy against progressive governments is morality. The issue of corruption has become the effective tool to destroy the national-popular political processes in Our America. The emblematic case is that of Brazil, where a well-articulated political operation succeeded in removing Dilma Rousseff from the Presidency of Brazil, only to be shown to have nothing to do with the issues that they attributed to her.

There is great global hypocrisy surrounding the fight against corruption.

The Left: Victim Of Its Own Success?

The left is also probably a victim of its own success. According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), almost 94 million people were lifted out of poverty and joined the regional middle class during the last decade, with the vast majority being a result of the policies of leftist governments.

In Brazil, 37.5 million people stopped being poor between 2003 and 2013, and are now middle class, but those millions were not a mobilized force when a Parliament that itself is accused of corruption, dismissed Dilma Rousseff.

We have people who overcame poverty and now – for what is often called objective prosperity and subjective poverty – despite having significantly improved their income level, ask for much more. They feel poor, not in reference to what they have, worse still to what they had, but to what they aspire.

The left has always struggled against the current, at least in the Western world. The question is, is the left fighting against human nature?

The problem is much more complex if we consider the hegemonic culture constructed by the media, in the Gramscian sense, that is, to make the wishes of the great majorities in line with the interests of the elites.

Our democracies should be called mediated democracies. The media are a more important component in the political process than the parties and electoral systems; they have become the main opposition parties of the progressive governments, and they are the true representatives of business and conservative political power.

It does not matter what best suits the majorities, what has been proposed in the election campaign, and what the people – the main actor in every democracy – has decided at the polls. The important thing is what the media approve or disapprove of in their headlines. They have replaced the Rule of Law with the State of Opinion.

Is there a “Strategic Challenge?”

The regional left faces the problems of exercising – or having exercised – power, often successfully, but exhaustingly.

It is impossible to govern and make the whole world happy, even more, when so much social justice is required.

We always have to be self-critical, but it’s also about having faith in yourself.

The progressive governments are under constant attack, the elites and their media will not forgive any error, they seek to lower our morale, make us doubt our convictions, proposals and objectives. Therefore, perhaps the greatest “strategic challenge” of the Latin American left is to understand that every transcendental work will have errors and contradictions.

This article was originally published in Granma in Spanish.

Rafael Correa: Lenin Moreno is a ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ who was ‘With the Opposition

Source:  TeleSUR
October 5 2017

Former President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. | Photo: EFE

Ecuador’s former president defended Vice President Jorge Glas, who faces corruption accusations, and blasted President Moreno as a “traitor.”

Former President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, denounced his Alianza Pais successor Lenin Moreno as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” and expressed support for the current Vice President who is accused of alleged corruption.

RELATED:  Ecuador VP Jorge Glas Sentenced to Pretrial Detention

Accusations without evidence

In an interview with CNN Español following President Moreno’s decision to place Vice President Jorge Glas in pre-trial detention to face corruption accusations, Correa called the charges against Glas “a vulgar political persecution” that is the same thing “they used in Brazil against Dilma,” referring to the ousting of Brazil’s elected president, Dilma Rousseff on the basis of corruption charges in a move many called an “institutional coup.”

He defended the Vice President, saying that the accusations are without evidence. “Glas is a person that does not steal or allow theft, but for this one makes enemies,” he said.

As for President Moreno, Correa said that the current President had deceived him for ten years as a close political ally, who served in his government only to turn on him as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” once assuming power himself.

The founding leader of Ecuador’s Citizen’s Revolution argues that Moreno and his allies “were never with us, but were with the opposition.”

“Moreno cheated me for ten years. He is a person that was with the opposition,” Correa said.

Moreno had previously served as Correa’s Vice President from 2007 to 2013.

Underscoring the abrupt shift that Moreno took after assuming office, Correa said “I went from being the ‘eternal president’ to the ‘corrupt,’” referring to Lenin’s praising words at the inauguration dubbing Correa Ecuador’s “eternal president.”

RELATED:  Ecuador Names Maria Alejandra Vicuna Acting Vice President

Correa also criticized Moreno’s upcoming consultation, which he said had the ultimate aim of preventing Correa from returning to power by eliminating indefinite presidential reelections through constitutional changes.

With Glas relieved of his duties, it was announced on Wednesday that former Housing Minister Maria Alejandra Vicuna would be taking on the role as acting Vice President.

The prosecuted Vice President, Jorge Glas, is a close supporter of Correa, and has said that the charges against him are simply a “retaliation” for criticizing the direction Moreno was taking the country.

IMF to visit Ecuador

Moreno has promoted a policy of “dialogue” with the country’s right-wing opposition,” and announced on Wednesday that the International Monetary Fund would be visiting the country to asses the economic situation. The decision marks a departure from Correa’s policies, which largely rejected the influence of international organizations in Ecuador’s economy in favor of independence.

“A wide range of measures” need to be taken, Moreno said about the upcoming IMF visit.