Today we congratulate Hugo Chavez's man in Quito, Oscar Navas. He appears to be the only member of that august Diplomatic Corps willing to stand up and tell it like it is:  president-elect Rafael Correa is their Chavez boy- bought and paid for.

While the hyperactive Ecuadorian media, always scrambling to ignore the real story, failed along with their own voters, their election counsel, and their own Congress to ask Sr. Navas or his new el supremo-designee Rafael Correa exactly how much Chavez installed in the Correa gambit or how many Venezuelan agents and actors are involved across Ecuador.

In fact, they forgot to ask to what ends all this ally building by cash and political propaganda is supposed to lead to in Ecuador and to what benefit. And they really forgot to question the stubborn rumors that Venezuela's diplomatic pouches, brought in on private carriers to Mariscal Sucre airport, are actually bags of cash for "diplomatic relationship building."  You may be assured that those huge diplomatic pouches (also known as suitcases of cash and duffle bags of dough) are not carrying reams of scholarly diplomatic materials.

Here is a clip from the 11-27-06 media in Caracas, citing our main man in Quito, the Honorable Navas:

“Quito, 27 de noviembre.- El mandatario Hugo Chávez ganó "otro  aliado" con la elección el domingo del izquierdista Rafael Correa como  presidente de Ecuador, venciendo a su rival el magnate de derecha Alvaro Noboa, aseguró este lunes el embajador de Caracas en Quito, Oscar Navas, informó AFP.

    "Rafael Correa es otro aliado. Él cree en la integración y como dijo ayer  no va a firmar un Tratado de Libre Comercio (con Estados Unidos) porque sería  destructivo para Ecuador, y eso significa que estamos en sintonía", señaló el  diplomático a periodistas.

    Según Navas, ambos países han mantenido buenas relaciones y la elección de Correa -amigo de Chávez- permitirá estrechar más los lazos, con iniciativas como refinar petróleo ecuatoriano, impulsada por el izquierdista cuando fue  ministro de Economía del saliente mandatario, Alfredo Palacio.”

While Navas may be the most honest `diplomat' about the strength and reality of the Correa-Chavez alliance, he failed to disclose his financial and political propaganda efforts on behalf of the various anti-US actors across Quito to install their man Rafael. Then again, transparency in all elements about the Rafael Correa win in Ecuador is missing in action while the propaganda just keeps rolling out. As Navas notes, a win for Correa is a defeat for free trade; it is a return to caudillo style state union mercantilism: the Chavez way.

We commend Navas for his willingness to claim Correa's victory for the repressive, corrupt Bolivarian confab of anti-modernizing ideals even as we dismiss as totally useless psychobabble any and all statements that Rafael Correa is a sound partner for the United States or anyone else.