[Source: same as above]

RAFAEL CORREA'S ELECTORAL VICTORY IN ECUADOR WAS GREETED BY PRESIDENT KIRCHNER "WITH GREAT JOY." He noted, in addition, how happy he was that Lula da Silva had been reelected in Brazil, and expressed the hope "that our friend Hugo Chavez will have the best of luck in Venezuela," in the Dec. 3 elections, "because this is the confirmation that Latin America is moving forward."

Noting the presence of Venezuelan mayors at the gathering in Buenos Aires, Kirchner said he hoped that at the next Mercosur mayors' meeting, "all of the mayors of our beloved Republic of Ecuador will also be present, as [that country] will surely be incorporated into the concepts, vision, and building of a new state of affairs in the whole region and in all of America ... this is so important."

Kirchner concluded "I want to tell all of you visiting us, that you are at home, in your country and in the {Patria Grande} that all of us together want to build. Know that we can be different, we can have different visions and can debate and discuss our relative truths so as to find a higher-level truth that will embrace all of us. And we should be clear that the debate and discussion must be for building the new era, and not to tie ourselves to the old era.... Anything that serves to castrate and halt what we're trying to change ... shouldn't be allowed to occur in our region under any circumstances."

[Source:El PAIS 29.11.2006]

NEW ECUADORAN PRESIDENT-ELECT TELLS SPANISH DAILY: `LIFE BEFORE DEBT.'

Ecuadoran President-elect Rafael Correa told the Spanish daily {El Pais} that he wants to renegotiate Ecuador's debts and does not exclude a moratorium.

"Well, sure the financial speculators are becoming nervous, but for me the country comes first. I have not announced a moratorium, but a restructuring, because the country can't grow with interest rates on debt coming due. We do not foresee a unilateral moratorium, but we have also not excluded it, because for us the priorities are clear: the country comes first before the creditors. Life before the debt."

Correa noted his very close and friendly relations with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and his high esteem for Spanish Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero, with whom he will speak in the next days.

On other matters: Correa said he wants to first call for a "constitutional assembly" and then go for reforms through a referendum:

"As long as we have still certain mafias dominating us, we can't bring the country one step forward.... The mafias are everywhere, and if we don't fight against them, there will be no economic growth."

According to {El Pais}, the Correa team also wants Ecuador to become a full member of OPEC again. (Ecuador has been absent for 12 years.)

Southern Americas south of the USA, feel its gravity, but gravity works in two directions.

well, i am not too involved in world politics...i hardly keep up with the news anymore....but this kirshner fellow sounds like he wants to achieve something. i hope he keeps up with his philosophy and actually makes some changes.

south americans need to be able to trust thier govt some...it has been so corrupt in the past, i hope this signifies a difference.

i can hardly argue with the equadorian pres-elect either. life before debt is a good motto for them. we need to stop tossing money at poor nations like confetti...send doctors and business professionals instead, lol...wouldnt it be great if they could get those huge countries on thier feet and producing educated people and business's? such huge resources they have. i hope they make it to prosperity.

and by the way....i hope he thinks about opening up and expanding the school system there...nothing brings about change faster than an educated public...i wish there were some way we could educate EVERY child. sigh...wouldnt it be grand if every child who makes it to high school could spend a year in a foriegn country's schools too...globalize the children!

Martin, getting heard here in America is very difficult. The storyline is not one we hear on tv. We are not familiar with the history of South America, and barely know what the World Bank and IMF do. Why should a bank be a big problem? What are the issues? What role have international and US institutions played in the region, or the CIA? We don't have that background. It is essentially not part of our national transcript. To be heard you would have to give us the "back story," what has happened to bring this to the current pass?

But, with all due respect Phil C. We mustn't wait to be told what happened in the past, we must dig it up, read up and research, too!

Last night I saw the famous Al-Jazeera doucmentary movie

and was impressed where the station manager (owner?) says

"the one thing history shows is: humans have short memories."

then how much shorter one's memory, when it is something one

never knew in the first place? the cries for the back story

are intelligent evidence of willingness to learn, yet also

pointing an instructive finger at a critical detail i myself

alluded to in P.M. introducing this topic. ie angloamericas

know very little about what is goung on South of the Border.

The backstory is so rich and complex one would have to know

history, politics, literature, folk culture to represent it.

Under the circumstance one can only present the backstory as

a function of the frontstory; on wings of metaphor, as it were.

[Source: Agencia Estado, Monitor Mercantil, Nov. 28, Rio de Janeiro]

ONLY STATE INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CAN RESOLVE BRAZIL'S INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICIT, ECONOMISTS TELL THE LULA GOVERNMENT. At the request of Finance Minister Guido Mantega, a group of self-described "developmentalists" from Rio de Janeiro, including the former president of Brazil's Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES) Carlos Lessa, prepared a document for him on requirements for resolving Brazil's infrastructure crisis, particularly energy and logistics.

Leading up to the October Presidential elections, Mantega had requested that the economists put their proposals into writing and then met with them Nov. 28 to receive the document.

According to brief media accounts on the document, the Rio group argues that the State has to invest more in infrastructure, because it will not be possible to mobilize sufficient private capital to address Brazil's accumulated deficit.

"The suggestion is that the State have a much more defined, firm, strong, intervention," one of the authors explained. Otherwise, we will keep "chasing our tail," as has been happening for a long time. Apparently, the document either is in the form of a proposed bill, or includes a proposed bill, which would speed-up release of resources for key projects.

What is particularly interesting is that Mantega met with these economists at the height of the election campaign.

[Mantega replaced Lessa at the National Development Bank (BNDES), when Lessa was forced out by the financiers, and was named Finance Minister, when monetarist Antonio Palocci was dumped. Although he not shown Lessa's willingness to face down the financiers, he is a nationalist and pro-growth in outlook, and the financier interest was very upset when Lula said he would continue on as Finance Minister in his second term.

In America, South of the Border, the failure of the so-called

"neoliberal experiment" (in angloamerica, called "free trade")

is widely recognized. An organic political tidal movement has

formed in reaction to the bankruptcy and the sour promises of

Chicago School prophets: all false and hollow! Then, the assets

of the nations were privatized, swallowed by "the free market"...

The call for state sponsored infrastructure-building is anathema

to the international financial interests. ...unwelcome to them are dirigist economic

development policies, the application of hamiltonian, lincolnian and fdr methods

that tend to shift the center of economic gravity much closer to the national ground

of economic life for societies, and individuals within the societies.

To call for state-sponsored infrastructure-building has been a no-no.

...it is a provocation to entrenched international rentier/financier interests.

Intensifying Poverty. In Latin America, according to Inter-American Development Bank president Enrique Iglesias, adjustment programs had the effect of "largely canceling out the progress of the 1960s and 1970s." The numbers of people living in poverty rose from 130 million in 1980 to 180 million at the beginning of the 1990s. Structural adjustment also worsened what was already a very skewed distribution of income, with the result that today, the top 20 percent of the continent's population earn 20 times that earned by the poorest 20 percent. World Bank policies have devastated the Third World. Between 1984 and l990, developing countries under SAPs transferred $178 billion to Western commercial banks. The World Bank - IMF is owned and controlled by NM Rothschild and 30 to 40 of the wealthiest people in the world. For over 150 years they have planned to take the world over through money. The former chief economist of the World Bank, Joe Stiglitz, was fired recently. He pointed out to top executives that every country the IMF/World Bank got involved in ended up with a crashed economy, a destroyed government, and sometimes in flames with riots. Jim Wolfensen, the president of the World Bank would not comment on his dismissal.

Before Joe Stiglitz was fired he took a large stack of secret documents out of the World Bank. These secret documents from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund reveal that the IMF required nations:

1. to sign secret agreements of 111 items
2. in which they agreed to sell off their key assets - water, electric, gas, etc.
3. in which they agreed to take economic steps which are really devastating to the nations involved
4. in which they pay off the politicians billions of dollars to Swiss bank accounts to do this transfer of a countries fixed assets

If they do not agree to these steps they are cut-off from all international borrowing. Today if can't borrow money in the international marketplace, no one can survive, whether you are people or corporations or countries. If that does not work they overthrow the government and plant lies about the former government and/or even rewrite history.

nora the gypsy said:

and by the way....i hope he thinks about opening up and expanding the school system there...nothing brings about change faster than an educated public...i wish there were some way we could educate EVERY child. sigh...wouldnt it be grand if every child who makes it to high school could spend a year in a foriegn country's schools too...educate the children!

Here is a report i have received from some young people in Argentina;

the president's words should bring a smile to nora the gypsy's heart:

"Today, Nov. 30, we went to San Andres de Giles,

a small city about 100 km. from the capital,

which was celebrating the 200th anniversary of its founding.

The President was going to be there

and we figured it would be easier to speak with him.

Several local officials spoke at the ceremony--the mayor,

the Governor of Buenos Aires province, and President Kirchner.

Alicia Kirchner, his sister, who is the Social Development Minister,

was also there, along with Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana.

The President gave a very good speech on the new Public Education Law before the Congress,

emphasizing that he hoped it would be voted up in the course of the day.

He explained that this bill would allow all Argentines to have access to a good education,

and give back to them the privilege and right to have a good education

that would open the doors to a better future. He noted there were a lot

of older people in the audience, and that it used to be the case

that parents or grandparents held high hopes for their children and grandchildren --

that they would have a better education, a job, become a professional

and have a better life. "But today I have seen parents and grandparents cry,

because the only thing their children aspired to, was to receive a welfare subsidy.

I want us to go back to dreaming that our children can become businessmen,

professionals, and will have a better life than their parents or grandparents."

He also discussed how his government had paid off the IMF,

and quickly recovered the reserves it had used to make the $9 bn. payment.

"We stopped the abuses of the international lending agencies,

and we told the IMF that we had no use for its paternalism,

which destroyed Argentine labor and production.

Look what they did in the past to our Argentina!!"

the biggest threat to a corrupt politician/govt is an educated public...

The problem faced by the Iberoamerican people at this juncture

has little to do with corrupt politicians or corrupt government

Indeed, The Americas have been blessed with good leaders now.

It is a corporate psych-op meme that Third Worlders are corrupt.

The Presidents of South America have all been acting responsibly

and spoking forcefully; especially Nestor Kirchner of Argentina.

Yet also Michel Bachloret, President of Chile, a socialist.

Her father was tortured to death in her country in the 1980s.

Needless to say, she is an enemy of the fascist Cheney crowd.

Morales in Bolivia has the good will of everyone in the world.

The newly landslide elected President of Ecuador and of course

Lula of Brazil now has the ground to go to nationalist economics.

I agree with the posts from Irena--what has occurred because of the IMF is quite tragic.

I would also like to say that I agree with the idea that many more leaders in Latin America are less corrupt than has been the situation in the past--however, I wonder if there are corrupt institutions or corrupt organizations which provide "information" and provide support for forces which are against transparency...then...where do the people end up?

I see that the newly sworn in President of Mexico has sworn to reduce his annual salary by 10% and is going to be active in establishing controls on spending by the government in Mexico. I wish him success.

Underlying all of these ideas draws me back to an ongoing discussion I have been having with someone who is well-placed in South American society. His analysis leads to the thought that many of the problems which exist in Latin America are a reflection of the attitude of those who came there from Spain--namely--conquer, take all, and to heck with the natives.

So, these are some initial thoughts.

Brian Lewis said:

I agree with the posts from Irena--what has occurred because of the IMF is quite tragic.

I would also like to say that I agree with the idea that many more leaders in Latin America are less corrupt than has been the situation in the past--however, I wonder if there are corrupt institutions or corrupt organizations which provide "information" and provide support for forces which are against transparency...then...where do the people end up?

In my view, political "corruption" in the Third World

is a function of the neo-colonial control apparatus;

national governments are purposefully starved for cash

by the money/credit system which is imposed from outside

the country by foreign interests, enemies of any nation.

I believe, careful extensive research, it can be well demonstrated

that the "corruption" of 3rd World leaders is part of a mechanism

that is part and parcel of the financial control of the economies.

I see that the newly sworn in President of Mexico has sworn to reduce his annual salary by 10% and is going to be active in establishing controls on spending by the government in Mexico. I wish him success.

WEhich of the two sworn-in Presidents of Mexico were you referring to? Felipe Calderon, of the PAN, does not depend on the political system for his income, since his sponsors are the corporations and big business interests; a President's salary: peanuts Lopez Obrador on the other hand must rely one supposes on the political system for his personal income. However, there is NO reason to think the Lopez Obrador is interested in money, becasue he is putting his life on the line and seems to think of himself as an historical personage. It is more than obvious to Mexicans that Lopez Obrador could have all the money anyone could ever desire, in exchange for dropping his challenge to the legitimacy of the present day Mexican institutional system.

Underlying all of these ideas draws me back to an ongoing discussion I have been having with someone who is well-placed in South American society. His analysis leads to the thought that many of the problems which exist in Latin America are a reflection of the attitude of those who came there from Spain--namely--conquer, take all, and to heck with the natives.

Yes, over the centuries, the imposition of the hacienda system on top of the communistic system of the indian villages has created a hybrid economic system throughout the Americas. The political economic mixmatch is most notably dissonant in Mexico, which is the Iberoamerican country in which the idigenous and their communal economic system was best preserved.

Martin--

Your statement that people do not know what is occurring in Latin America is likely accurate--at the same time, do people know what is happening in the world?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6059274620628081943&hl=en

[Source: La Opinion Rafaela, La Nacion, Noticias Argentinas, Pagina 12, 12/4/06. Buenos Aires]

KIRCHNER AND HIS FINANCE MINISTER WARN STRIKING AGRO PRODUCERS: PEOPLE COME FIRST! Argentina's Rural Society, representing large landowners, and the Rural Confederation (CRA) began an 8-day strike Dec. 4 to protest the Kirchner government's policies of restricting exports and controlling prices, to ensure adequate supplies and reasonable prices for the domestic market. The Agrarian Federation (FAA) has also joined the strike, representing smaller producers.

Kirchner has been unyielding on the issue of protecting consumers, which enrages particularly the oligarchical landowners in the Rural Society who want "the market" to determine prices. "I'm not opposed to people making money, but there is a margin of solidarity that cannot be forgotten," the President said on Dec. 2.

Referring to the subsidies that producers receive to lower diesel fuel prices and maintain a favorable exchange rate, Kirchner warned that "it's difficult to have a rational dialogue when they want the liberalization of all exports and prices for the internal market." Look at the price of wheat, he said. "It's up in the clouds!" Australia, Ukraine and the U.S. have all restricted exports in order to supply the internal market, he said. "I cannot allow the price of bread to be doubled here!"

Finance Minister Felisa Miceli told producers: "Our government believes that the state must intervene in those areas where the private sector cannot provide what society as a whole needs. Farmers have to understand that this is a moment to think about income distribution.... We all want to earn more, but in Argentina, 30% of our inhabitants still live below the poverty line, with an average salary of 670 pesos ($200). That makes it out of the question to put international prices on Argentines' dinner table!"

[SOURCE: La Nacion, El Mercurio, Radio Cooperativa, wires, 12/4/06. Santiago]

On Dec. 3, the elderly fascist was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack, and his status was so grave that he was given last rites. (Reports that it was Torquemada's ghost who delivered the rites are unconfirmed.)

There is a consistent pattern of the old Nazi suffering a heart attack every time he is indicted, and given the number of indictments on his plate, one might conclude that he has no heart left--if he ever had one to begin with.

There is much discussion in Santiago as to how President Michelle Bachelet would deal with Pinochet's impending death, given that he is a former head of state. In June 2005, when asked that question during her Presidential campaign, she replied "as President, of course I will respect all the laws and decrees, but frankly, it would be an affront to the Chilean conscience to give him a state funeral."

Then in September, she reiterated, "it would be an affront, not only to me but to all Chileans, to give honors to a person involved in cases of human rights violations and [theft] of government funds."

On Pinochet's orders, Bachelet's father, an Air Force officer who worked with the late President Salvador Allende, was tortured to death in 1974. She and her mother were detained and tortured at the notorious Villa Grimaldi concentration camp, run by ex-Nazi Paul Schaefer in collaboration with Pinochet's secret police, the DINA.

In fact, according to the daily {La Nacion}, it is the Villa Grimaldi case in which Pinochet's conviction on charges of torture and kidnapping of prisoners is guaranteed. He has already been indicted and stripped of his immunity as a former head of state. "His probable death is the only thing that can save him," {La Nacion} notes.

[source: U.S., Latin American media, intl wires. 12/6/06]

IBERO-AMERICAN INTEGRATION DIPLOMACY INTENSIFIES, IN POST-ELECTION PERIOD. With the recent election to the presidency of Ecuador's Rafael Correa, and the re-election of Lula in Brazil and Chavez in Venezuela, integration diplomacy has escalated on the Ibero-American continent.

In a meeting this week in Quito with Argentine Deputy Interior Minister Rafael Follonier, Ecuadoran President-elect Rafael Correa said he intends to follow Kirchner's development model, including ridding his country of ties to the IMF and of the burden of the foreign debt, through either renegotiation or moratorium.

Correa had visited Kirchner in Argentina three months earlier, and plans a return trip as President-elect, on Kirchner's invitation, next week.

Correa will be visiting Brazilian President Lula this week, before heading to Cochabamba, Bolivia Dec. 8-9, to attend a summit of Ibero-American heads of state and foreign ministers.

Top of the agenda at that summit is to create a permanent secretariat of the South American Community of Nations. Correa was planning to visit President Uribe in Colombia after the summit, but at last report, that portion of his tour has been suspended.

Although no reason has been given, it is notable that Uribe will not be attending the presidents' summit, supposedly because of a growing scandal around his name and his political allies in Bogota.

In addition to Correa's diplomacy, Hugo Chavez has announced his own post-election continental tour to spur continental unity. Among those countries he plans to visit are Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia and Argentina. Indeed, on his first stop in Brazil, Chavez declared that "the Brasilia-Caracas-Buenos Aires-Montevideo connection is a priority and is fundamental" and that his concern is not relations with the U.S., but continental integration and "a united voice."

Chavez and Lula will travel together to Cochabamba, where they will meet as well with Chile's Bachelet and Bolivia's Evo Morales.

Newly-elected Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua has also announced plans to travel to Venezuela, where he plans to meet with President Chavez and pen some trade and other commercial agreements.

They need to be careful of tractor beams!

Of the "Beam me Up, Scotty" variety ?¿

That would be more fun than the type I was thinking about...just think, they could them beam back down and no one would believe anything they reported or said...

the President who cried Wolf

I like "the sky is falling!!!"

Did you know? Public Law 87-297 calls for complete disarmament so the UN can "maintain internal peace". 51 million American acres are now UN designated! Military capacity of US is 65% and UN is 800% of our 1991 levels. The UN Children's Rights takes responsibility away from parents and gives it to the state. No mention of God in the UN Charter. AIDS was UN-induced for population control (House Bill 15090.) HB 666 crushes our 4th Amendment Rights. UN command of US troops (PDD 25). Brian Lewis said:

Martin--

Your statement that people do not know what is occurring in Latin America is likely accurate--at the same time, do people know what is happening in the world?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6059274620628081943&hl=en