May 25, 2008     ECrisis ardently insists that all Andean residents stay on top of world events and stop ignoring the rest of the world as if by being badly undereducated and rejecting the rest of he globe that they can pretend to manipulate their own lives better. This is selfish and foolish at best. Stay educated and remain flexible to remain well prepared for the challenges ahead of rebuilding Ecuador or else abandon your commitments knowingly.

Here is the May 25, 2008 NEW YORK TIMES assessment to date on the Hugo Chavez AND Rafael Correa crime spree which Ecuadoreans pretend is not transpiring and worse yet- refuse to commit to real steps to clean up these "friends" inside the cess pool that is Ecuador:
 
                "Mr. Chávez’s Unsavory Friends 

    President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela has been caught. Despite his protestations of innocence, Interpol has corroborated the authenticity of thousands of computer files captured during a Colombian Army raid on a FARC rebel camp in Venezuela. Only a small share of this trove has been released, but it leaves little doubt that Venezuela has been aiding the guerrillas’ effort to overthrow Colombia’s democratically elected government. 

    The Colombian government released documents from the computers that suggest Venezuelan intelligence officials tried to secure weapons for the FARC and that Mr. Chávez’s government offered the rebels oil and a $250 million loan. Information in the files has already led to the seizure of FARC funds in Costa Rica.

    Colombia can now take the issue to the Organization of American States, the United Nations Security Council or the International Court of Justice. But it might need further corroborating evidence, as Interpol only certified that the Colombian government did not tamper with the files but said nothing about the veracity of their content. 

    Mr. Chávez has a more important choice to make: he can sink once and for all into the role of regional pariah, to be contained or isolated in the name of regional stability, or he can commit to becoming a responsible neighbor. All of his neighbors, and all Venezuelans, should urge him to choose the latter course.

    Responsibility means that Mr. Chávez must halt all aid to the FARC — which long ago chose drug trafficking over political liberation — and use his influence to get the rebels to lay down their arms and join the demobilization process that is under way for Colombia’s right-wing paramilitary groups. 

    Mr. Chávez’s posturing as a populist liberator is wearing thin at home, where voters defeated his proposal to overhaul the Constitution so he could stay in power indefinitely. It is also wearing thin abroad, where Mr. Chávez has used Venezuela’s oil riches to meddle in Argentina, Bolivia and Nicaragua, among others.

    Latin America’s leaders need to realize that his actions threaten the stability of the entire region and that cheap oil does not lessen that threat. They need to remind Mr. Chávez of the commitment to nonintervention and democratic rule in the Organization of American States charter. And they need to make clear that he has only two possible moves from here: he can become a responsible neighbor or be ostracized in the hemisphere."
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We are known by the company we keep- how we live, which dogs we lie down with and how many fleas infest our persons. Ecuadoreans pretend that each is holier than the rest and that no one has done anything wrong while hiding and running away from doing anything except living hollow, shallow and whining/demanding adolescent lives of screeching and manipulating each day. And so we ask again: what happens when people we know act like irresponsible adolescents and are dishonest and are committed to no progress while spending other people's money?  This article answers the question by stating “become responsible....or be ostracized." This applies to each and every single person living in the Andes. While it is very hard to break the cycle of irresponsible behaviors, it is imperative that it be done or else each be known for what he/she is: irresponsible. We are repeatedly informed that Chavez and Correa are two different persons and to compare them is a mistake. Well- of course no two people or acts are precisely alike. But there is enough cross over and enough parallel behavior that the similarities remain factually in front of us: if the facts fit, then the reality of the imagery is known.
 
We all know that Hugo Chavez and his Venezuelans thrive by bribery and by buying affection (sometimes called racketeering) - all for the show- as their thin veneer of respectability was dashed years ago. As with Rafael Correa, Chavez is no mere strongman: he is a dictator in every meaningful sense. Chavez and Correa do not simply "meddle" in extraterritorial affairs- they are buying up other's affections and commitments criminally while assuming that this is how their own citizens approve of their own state of affairs: bribe others by demands and tirades, act like spoiled rotten uneducated teen agers on a drunken binge, perform dishonestly with other people's money and these family values of in-home addictions to manipulative living will be approved across the land because it is what each family already instructs. The problem with this mindset is that it is aberrant, it is unproductive, it is selfish, it is lazy and it gets not just individuals but whole regions in to big trouble. And big trouble is coming soon because Chavez and Correa mirror each of us when each of us do nothing, perform even less and actually increase the level of  dishonest and manipulative screeching so easily seen as Rafael Correa took after yet three more journalists over the week end and taunted the global community to deliver more proofs that he is not mature, he is not dependable, he is not an adult, he is not honest and he has nothing in his job performance that is credible while all the while blaming and blaming everyone else for the failures of his social contract with all around him. This is not holy, this is not productive, this is not adult, and this is not sustainable unless each enjoys living miserable, meaningless lives behind the sheltering arms of self delusion and vapidity while spending other people's money.
 
Currently, Ecuadoreans are known in the free world for what they are today: lazy, irresponsible and dishonest. With over 1/3 of all Ecuadoreans having fled to foreign lands for safety or jobs, Correa cares nothing for their diaspora, calling emigres as "stupid." With massive crime, money laundering and utterly no governmental accountability, Ecuadoreans want to blame their administration's failure to deliver law and order and democracy on every thing they can blame it on- always someone else and never the fact that each of us never do one thing to help our communities improve. Ecuadoreans pretend that if they live behind the protective arms of their self imposed prisons which they call gaited communities, condos and homes that they never need face the light of day nor interact in any meaningful sense with life and society unless at the most vapid and meaningless base line. Ecuadoreans pretend that if they simply bear children that their lives are somehow "holy" and to be deemed worthwhile. This is perhaps the most manipulative of a whole string of manipulative ethics foisted day after day on Ecuadoreans by Ecuadoreans and that is a sense of worthiness which is neither valid nor realistic. True meaning in life only grows when action and spirit and commitment combine in each...not splinter and die to fulfill a manipulative lifestyle which hands over no stability for any societal unit- only more and more manipulative living which never self corrects and only leads to more and more machinations. Today Ecuadoreans live to complain and whine while lying to themselves that the false comfort of their homes remains secured and stable when they are not and have not been for all of this new century. Instead of pretending to manage loss by denials and more manipulations, each of us is called upon to unite for honest, adult living based on integrity and nevermore the lazy and inert deceptions so taught us by our Mothers who are in general seen as "nice" women but totally incorrect and ridiculous in this approach widely held that to be dishonest and to live off other people's money is their only virtue outside child birthing. This of course ignores the fact that 50% of Ecuador could be partners for progress but remain by choice locked in to partners for non progress. This is not helpful and creates a backward spiral of despair. The politics of manipulation in our lives and in our workplace succeeds only because we profit from manipulative and dishonest living: these addicts to dishonest living succeed by stating that everyone around them is guilty and that they alone are the victims in an unending irresponsible cascade of adolescent victimhood and inertia which works OK for 14 year olds but is ugly and repulsive in adults. We are all Correa and Chavez now as long as we do not stand to self correct our own dishonesty and cease playing the victim game while laying guilt like a butter spread over all. There is no guilt to spread and there is no victimhood: we are each of us responsible for this disgusting mess that is called Ecuador and unless each of us honestly stands united to perform self correcting behaviors, the world will respond writ large and we promise that this will not be pretty and it will be costly and you will have only yourself, as you run away again, to blame. This addiction to deceit and irresponsible living has led to the moment whereby the entire world knows Ecuadoreans for what they are while our own home life continues to deceive and disgustingly lie about the dire state of this irresponsible, self made ennui. In other words, if Chavez and Correa make for unholy partners by their graft, greed, delusions of self importance, criminal rackets and dishonesty....where is the partnering to stand united to reinstate the holy goals of responsible living, justice, democracy's fruits and safe/clean living? As Ecuadoreans know, hard poverty and joblessness is growing and we ask where is a little human charity for the truly unfortunate who have no clue as to how to feed their family today or where to go to get a decent job? You know them- you can see them huddling in the hedge rows by the side of the road on your way to your week end get aways...getting away from what we know not. Where indeed are these true partners for progress in this thing we call life? If we live for comfort off of someone else's money and live off of whining and complaining, we do not live to share and build this thing we call a Republic. This is an irrefutable and simple truism.
 
Great or even baseline good people do not live off of the guilt they spread, which is called dishonest manipulative living. What responsible adults do is to correct problems and tackle them honestly for the good of all.
 
Currently, a cynical humor site is urging readers to make a caption or headline for this photo of Hugo Chavez and Rafael Correa here 
Friday, May 23, 2008

You can add your own wordsmithing! We advise however that none of the suggestions yet are very nice...seems the free world has grown up to face a fact that Venezuelans and Ecuadoreans are afraid/fearful/passive-aggressive and ridiculously lazy about: knowing who and what their criminal cartel "leaders" are doing. And they are. Worse yet- actually doing something to request that these FARC supporting thugs resign for the good of mankind.
 
And just WHO makes Correa's cheesy little outfits? Who stitches Chavez's badly fitting red overshirts? The same folks who make the FARC outfits? Who makes these specialty clothing lines for communists? And why do the tax payers have to pay for their clothing for communists? You know that Chavez and Correa are cult leaders because they wear goofy clothing: a tool always used by cult leaders everywhere. Who makes these cult leader outfits for them and why do we have to pay for this?
 
The point is that the rest of the known world has agreed that Chavez and Correa are criminal thugs but the locals refuse to end their own selfish money making or emotionally addictive behavioral scams with Correa and Chavez, ending any question about the "innocence" of the local citizenry which is revealed as repulsive and unworthy of consideration because none want to be responsible or worthy of consideration by choice alone. No one is winning in Ecuador. There is nothing to be proud of except the clever, cynical rape of justice and democracy by thugs who know even less the value of living. These "leaders" tell us they are winning by insisting on stability at all costs, born of deception and no commitment to anything but the hollow and vapid. By whining, these non adults tell us that they are winning. Winning what is more the point even as we ask again what in the world anyone gains by bowing down and rolling over to demanding whiners and screechers? What have you gained? Peace in your time? Appeasement with things you do not like nor respect? Addictions to manipulative living are what you get and this inhibits the free choice and informed debate so necessary to rebuild justice and democracy in the Andes. None of us are victims and all of us need to stop enabling manipulative lifestyles or be known as true believers of the irresponsible and whining mores so infused in our days. Either stand up for integrity or be known as a manipulated fool whose opinions and work mean nothing for they do not.
 
The Patriot Post recently offered up this summary of recent events:

Patriot Vol. 08 No. 21 Digest | 23 May 2008 08-21 Digest
NATIONAL SECURITY

The terrorists’ man in Washington

Last April, in an attempt to kill the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Promotion Agreement, House Democrats removed a requirement that would have brought the bill up for a vote within a specific period of time. This underhanded method of keeping the bill from reaching the White House on President Bush’s watch was the brainchild of Rep. James McGovern (D-MA). Now, the capture of a terrorist’s computer has shed some light on McGovern’s possible motivation for stiffing the United States’ closest South American ally.

On 1 March, the Colombian Army attacked a camp in Ecuador belonging to FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization that is trying to overthrow the capitalist government. FARC leader Raul Reyes was killed, and his laptop computer was captured. Colombia turned the laptop over to Interpol, whose computer forensics lab confirmed that the 37,872 files on the computer’s hard drive were legitimate and had not been tampered with or created by the Colombian government. The files were a veritable smoking gun, indicating that FARC had (among other things) bought 60 pounds of uranium; that they were interested in building a dirty bomb; that Hugo Chavez had offered $300 million and Russian weapons to the terrorist organization; that FARC was responsible for numerous assassinations and bombings; that FARC had met with “gringos” about Barack Obama; and that FARC had links with a certain Democrat from Massachusetts... named James McGovern.

Indeed, it seems that FARC was trying to do business with McGovern. At the time Reyes’ laptop was captured, McGovern was using a go-between to offer the congressman’s services to FARC as a person of influence in America. The intermediary admits that he wrote some of the letters found on the captured laptop, but he excuses his actions on the basis that it is “a mistake to isolate [FARC].” McGovern also attempted to excuse his treachery, saying that “we need to find an interlocutor who could discuss these things including the safe haven” for FARC. So there you have it: Representative McGovern wants to make sure that Colombia gives a terrorist organization “safe haven.” Not only that, but he did FARC’s communists a huge favor by masterminding the holdup of a capitalist free-trade agreement. While correlation does not equal causation, we don’t think it’s a stretch to say that at least some Democrats oppose the Colombia trade deal because they have more sympathy for terrorists than an anti-terror ally.
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We at ECrisis say that with the death of the FARC's Sureshot/Marulanda and the FARC's bright red exposure as communist criminals, their stater sponsors- such as Correa and Chavez- are scrambling to cloth themselves in not only legitimacy for their criminal behaviors but are no doubt shopping for new designers to hide their now known criminal adventures. This has already begun in the border zones of Brazil and movements Northward through Mexico and Southward to Patagonia, thanks to the Kirchners and the narcostate installation plans, also called the Latin American Common Constitutional Movement- currently being sold by Chavez, Correa and their foot soldiers called the Soros family of NGO activists for a more unified narcoregion.  It is an export that needs to be stopped. 

One can only wear white shirts with fake Indigenous symbols for so long or bright red shirts or bright red underwear for so long before folks know you for the cult like criminal cartel leader you are/they are. The FARC is of course today called communist Bolivarians. Their leadership is found inside the Coordinators Offices and the numerous so called "diplomatic" offices of Chavez and Correa or the "Cuban Intelligence" officials masquerading as so called doctors and athletic supporters when they are Cuban Intelligence officials on a work detail across the Americas in what is Cuba's last remaining job corps for their paid performance in spying and propaganda mills. As we write this, Correa and Chavez's own TELESUR state run monopolistic media enterprises, also partnered with Iran's state news and AL JAZEERA, is running a steady stream of TV videos promoting the FARC and their passion for Sureshot and their commitment to "Bolivarianism"-Marxism. They claim their passion for the death of the murdering, raping and drug running Sure Shot emotionally on their new FARC TV channel: Chavez and Correa's own money making TELESUR.

Citizens are known for the struggles in life and how they overcome them. Ecuadoreans are taught by their mothers to blame all around them, lie a lot, perform deceptively, take as much of someone else's money and when all else fails, complain, whine and cry that all this mess is simply too trying on one's nerves and harms their health: more avoidance and more lies. Another one of our favorite excuses is that to be honest in the Andes today, one must be prepared to die for we are told that honest men and women suffer from loss of status and loss of money making schemes. Therefore, we must all of us be dishonest they preach while blaming all misfortunes or others, encouraging the cause of guilt by others and never once standing for anything meaningful.

This then is the face of Hugo Chavez, Rafael Correa and our family values today in the Andes.

Alvaro Uribe of Colombia reminds us that there is a better way. Ecuadoreans tell us weekly that they are envious of Colombians because they have a decent leader. This too is foolishness and childish envy. Ecuadoreans used to have decent leaders and can have them again of they but walk out in to the light of honest living and actually do something to better their days instead of remaining addicted to irresponsible living off someone else's money. If you want to reform, start with yourself. Do not wait for some Messiah to walk among us for he does anyway and is ignored as we are wedded to the notion- in relationship with the ethic- that there is no Messiah among us and we know best how to manipulate and deceive because we want to. Ecuadoreans insult our natural intelligence by insisting that they are victims of their own crimes and cannot be held responsible for their lack of judgment and lack of action. We hold no pity and no respect for this dishonesty.

We grow dishonest living each day when we do nothing to enshrine honest living based not on manipulations but on honest affection and regard for morality. the armies of he night have grown out of the bounds of responsible living in Ecuador as the unleashing of irrational, childish mores have commandeered our days.

If you want success, plan for it and stop being addicted to the very irresponsible living that bars success and jealously blocks success.

Today Rafael Correa informed the world that Fidel Castro is a true democrat and runs a truly democratic island state.

Ecuadoreans need to tell Correa to stop manipulating the truth and take his lies and manipulations with him and depart the world's stage.

The United States of America has told Rafael Correa in no uncertain terms that they want to help Ecuador. To date this help has aided and abetted destruction of liberty. We say this to the USA: if you want to help, start telling the truth about Ecuador. Real friends do not enable friends to lie and deceive and manipulate.

-Pedro Camargo for ECrisis