September 5, 2008   With less than one month to go until voting day, Ecuadoreans continue to exhibit shocking stubbornness and a willful determination before their own families and the world to look and act like some of the worst cretins on earth. Allowing for governmental vote pre-rigging and massive propaganda, Correa's prewritten communist manifesto still carries high public "support" for reasons that defy logic, denounce common sense and reject legitimacy. Before voting, none should vote YES without studying that dizzying array of communist and goofy so called laws found in Correa's constitution. To do as Correa tells one and all to do- to vote YES with no full knowledge of his constitution- is to deny informed democracy and commit national suicide.
 
What the Carter Center is doing, fully ensconced in Quito to review the so called open vote in all this remains a mystery too. Like a surgeon who is about to perform a life altering procedure, the Carter team apparently is on hand simply to insure that the operating room is operational on the outside, while giving no analysis whatsoever to the health of the citizen-patient nor the high risk of national death brought to Ecuadoreans under Correa's horrifying constitution. And like their paid sponsors, the OAS/US AID are also on hand to gloss over the entirety of the facts in Ecuador and pretend that all is well when it is not. We still do not know why the OAS and its Soros-backed legions of propagandists and Carter are brought in to bless national suicides in the crafting of narcostates and Marxist zones as they have in Venezuela and other dishonest regimes. But today they appear as willful, dishonest handmaidens to assist suicide. Notably absent are the EU observer teams...no longer welcome because their report on Correa's ASSEMBLISTA election vote revealed voter fraud patterns, also called buying votes, jiggered voter grids and illegal presidentially paid massive public propaganda which also excluded free speech to any opposition. Essential human rights are shredded by basic denial of free speech and freedom to act or vote one's conscience.
 
Yesterday, The Acton Institute brought some much needed light on the perilous choices facing Ecuadoreans right now. We reprint in full their analysis and an unofficial Spanish language version. This is a superb beginning analysis although much more needs to be done.
 
Ecuador: Freedom under Siege - by Samuel Gregg

Constitutional referenda are usually tame, even boring affairs. Sometimes it's a challenge just getting people to vote.

None of this, however, rings true for Ecuador's forthcoming September 28 referendum. After much acrimonious debate, this beautiful but deeply troubled Latin American nation is being asked to approve a gigantesque constitution (it contains 444 articles) as part of President Rafael Correa's effort to reshape Ecuador in his own leftist image.

Instead of serving to protect fundamental civil, religious, and economic liberties, Correa's proposed constitution does the exact opposite.

For one thing, many of its provisions will diminish private enterprise and free exchange in theory and practice. It declares, for example, that Ecuador's economy will be "social and solidaristic." This is code-language for prioritizing state-run enterprises over private business.

The same constitution also guarantees all Ecuadorians "a good living." Precisely how this will occur in a country where 39 percent of people live in poverty is not explained. Perhaps the president assumes his constitution's furtherance of the state's already-dominant place in the economy will miraculously create abundant wealth for all.

Populist regimes of left and right sometimes try realizing this goal through manipulating the money supply and ignoring the inflationary consequences. Correa's new constitution will give him this option because it places Ecuador's Central Bank under his direct control. All these measures, Correa claims, will prevent "neo-liberalism" - which, as usual, remains undefined - from rearing its head in Ecuador.

As in the case of other Latin American leftist-governments, the main opposition to Correa's constitution-to-end-all-constitutions is coming from the Catholic Church. Quite rightly, Ecuador's Catholic bishops say the Church has no economic models to offer. Their job is saving souls -- not organizing an economy. The bishops are, however, deeply worried that the proposed constitution opens the door to direct attacks on innocent human life, marriage, and parental rights to educate their children as they see fit.

But the bishops go to the heart of the matter when they write: "We have discovered that statism seems to be the connecting thread of the new Constitution. It speaks about rights, of course, but many of these rights flow from the State, violating the creativity and responsibility of people within society."

The state, the bishops know, merely recognizes human rights. It doesn't create them.

The Church has been careful not to express its concerns about Ecuador's creeping statism in partisan-political terms. But even this cautious approach, it seems, was enough to strip away President Correa's hitherto smooth facade.

It has revealed an angry old-fashioned anti-clerical Christian-leftist of the type more familiar with liberation theology than orthodox Christian doctrine. Until recently, Correa was fond of claiming he was the only Latin American leftist leader with a good relationship with the Catholic Church.

That's no longer the case.

Like his self-described "personal friend," Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Correa now publicly insults Catholic clergy. The Church, he says, wants to keep Ecuadorians in "darkness." Correa even accused the bishops of "stabbing me in the back" by questioning his proposed constitution. (Incidentally, Correa also derides Ecuador's press as "a group of wild beasts.") His language was so extreme that Ecuador's Council of Lay Catholics issued a public statement asking the president to tone down his rhetoric.

Correa's rage may have been provoked after he admitted in a radio-interview that his government paid two Spanish socialists associated with a left-wing hyper-secularist Spanish think-tank to help draft the proposed constitution. No one should be surprised by this. After all, Correa calls Cuba's Communist dictatorship a "democracy."

Even more sinister is the emergence of a coordinated wave of harassment of the Church. Death threats have been made against Archbishop Antonio Arregui of Guayaquil, and there are efforts to file criminal charges against him. The archbishop's criticisms of the new constitution, it is alleged, violate the clergy's legal obligation, enshrined in Ecuador's 1937 agreement with the Vatican, to abstain from partisan politics. But, the bishops note, the same agreement explicitly acknowledges the clergy's freedom to publicly defend Christian doctrine and morality.

Throughout Ecuador, television advertisements are regularly aired attacking Catholic bishops and clergy for questioning the draft constitution. Churches have been desecrated and the Eucharist profaned.

Sound familiar? It should. It's a replica of the intimidation campaign waged by Chavez against the Catholic Church in Venezuela. Once again, Latin America's populist-left has shown that it understands two freedoms must be radically curtailed before "21st Century socialism" (whatever that means) can be realized: religious liberty and economic freedom.

Could there be a timelier reminder that all liberty is ultimately indivisible?
____

 
Ecuador: Libertad Sitiada - por Samuel Gregg,      ACTON.org

Los referendos constitucionales generalmente son asuntos sosos, incluso aburridos. A veces el intentar que la gente vote ya es un reto.

Nada de esto, sin embargo, parece cierto en el próximo referéndum del 28 de septiembre en Ecuador. Después de mucho agrio debate, esta hermosa pero profundamente problemática nación latinoamericana esta siendo llamada a aprobar una constitución gigantesca (contiene 444 artículos) como parte del esfuerzo del Presidente Rafael Correa de cambiar Ecuador a su propia imagen de izquierda.

En lugar de servir para proteger derechos fundamentales civiles, religiosos y libertad económica, la constitución propuesta por Correa hace totalmente lo contrario.

Por una razón, muchas de sus disposiciones disminuirán la empresa privada y el libre intercambio, en teoría y en la práctica. Declara, por ejemplo, que la economía de Ecuador será “social y solidaria”. Este es lenguaje clave para priorizar empresas estatales sobre empresa privada.

La misma constitución también garantiza a todos los ecuatorianos “un buen vivir”. No se explica con precisión cómo esto ocurrirá en un país donde 39 por ciento de la gente vive en la pobreza. Tal vez el presidente asume que el aumento en su constitución del lugar ya desde antes predominante del estado en la economía, milagrosamente creará abundante riqueza para todos.

Los regímenes populistas de izquierda y derecha a veces tratan de lograr este objetivo a través de la manipulación de la oferta de dinero, e ignorando las consecuencias inflacionarias. La nueva constitución de Correa le dará esta opción porque sitúa al Banco Central de Ecuador bajo su control directo. Todas estas medidas, Correa dice, prevendrán que el “neo liberalismo” –mismo que, como es usual, continua indefinido- se asiente en Ecuador.

Como en el caso de otros gobiernos de izquierda latinoamericanos, la principal oposición a la constitución de Correa -que termina con todas las constituciones- ha venido de la Iglesia Católica. Correctamente, los Obispos Católicos de Ecuador dicen que la Iglesia no tiene modelos económicos que ofrecer. Su trabajo es salvar almas –no organizar una economía. Los Obispos están, sin embargo, sumamente preocupados de que la constitución propuesta abre la puerta a ataques directos a la vida humana inocente, matrimonio, derechos de los padres a educar a sus hijos como ellos crean conveniente.

Pero los Obispos van al corazón del asunto cuando escriben: “Hemos descubierto que el estatismo parece ser el hilo conector de la nueva constitución. Habla de derechos, por supuesto, pero muchos de esos derechos provienen del estado, violando la creatividad y responsabilidad de la gente dentro de la sociedad”.

El estado, los Obispos saben, simplemente reconoce derechos humanos. No los crea.

La Iglesia ha sido cuidadosa de no expresar sus preocupaciones sobre el creciente estatismo de Ecuador en términos partidistas políticos. Pero aún este enfoque cuidadoso, parece, ha sido suficiente para remover la hasta ahora dulce fachada del Presidente Correa.

Se ha revelado como un enojado anticuado anticlerical cristiano de izquierda del tipo más familiar con la teología de la liberación que con la doctrina cristiana ortodoxa. Hasta hace poco, Correa cariñosamente clamaba que era el único líder latinoamericano de izquierda que tenía una buena relación con la Iglesia Católica. Ese ya no es el caso.

Al igual que su “amigo personal” como él lo describe, Hugo Chávez de Venezuela, ahora Correa públicamente insulta al clero católico. La Iglesia, dice, quiere mantener a los ecuatorianos en la “oscuridad”. Correa hasta acusa a los Obispos de “apuñalarlo por la espalda” al cuestionar su propuesta  constitución. (Incidentalmente, Correa también se mofa de la prensa de Ecuador como “un grupo de bestias salvajes”.). Su lenguaje fue tan extremo que el Consejo de Laicos Católicos de Ecuador emitió un comunicado público pidiendo al presidente bajar el tono de su retórica.

La cólera de Correa puede haben sido provocada después de que admitió en una entrevista radial que su gobierno pagó a dos socialistas españoles, asociados con un tanque de pensamiento de izquierda hiper secularista español, para ayudar a escribir la constitución propuesta. Nadie debería sorprenderse por esto. Después de todo, Correa llama a la dictadura comunista de cuba una “democracia”.

Aún más siniestro es el afloramiento de una ola coordinada de acoso a la Iglesia. Se han hecho amenazas de muerte contra el Arzobispo Antonio Arregui de Guayaquil, y hay esfuerzos para presentar cargos criminales en su contra. Las críticas de los Arzobispos a la nueva constitución, se alega, violan la obligación legal del Clero a la luz del Acuerdo de 1937 entre Ecuador y el Vaticano, de abstenerse de políticas partidistas. Pero los Obispos hacen notar que el mismo acuerdo explícitamente reconoce la libertad del Clero de defender públicamente la doctrina y moralidad Cristiana.

A través del Ecuador, anuncios de televisión se ponen al aire regularmente atacando a los Obispos Católicos y al Clero, por cuestionar el borrador de constitución. Las Iglesias han sido profanadas y la Eucaristía ha sido profanada.

¿Suena familiar? Debería. Es una réplica de la campaña de intimidación oleada por Chávez contra la Iglesia Católica en Venezuela. Una vez más, la izquierda populista de América Latina ha mostrado que entiende que dos libertades deben ser radicalmente cortadas antes de que se pueda poner en práctica el “socialismo del siglo 21” (lo que sea que esto signifique): libertad religiosa y libertad económica.

¿Podría haber un recordatorio más oportuno de que la libertad es en última instancia indivisible?

 - - The Editors of ECrisis