[Marxism] Hints as to Correa's direction? Ecuador's new mining law

[Greg McDonald]

Fred comments:
<Sean has a point here, in my opinion. Still, I think Correa should  
bow to
the self-determination of the native people at this time. This is  
partly a
product of the process being led by someone whose heart is in the right
place, I think, but who does not have deep enough roots and ties to the
movement that is transforming Ecuador. He is a well-intentioned  
individual
who was carried into the presidency by the popular movement but not  
quite an
organic part of it like Chavez or Morales (not to mention the Castro
brothers).

But I tend to reject charges that his policy is "neoliberal."

This has become another reason why I think, and have for a while, that
Ecuador needs an indigenous president and an indigenous-centered  
government
(even though they are not the majority of the population as in  
Bolivia as
far as I know). This is the kind of government best qualified to  
determine
how to make use of these resources, and to learn by experience  
whether the
position that arises out of the experiences of the indigenous  
movement needs
modification or not. >

Great idea, but demographics and racism argue against an indigenous  
president in Ecuador any time soon. Ecuador does not have as many  
indigenous citizens as Bolivia, proportional to the mestizo sector,  
and racism in Ecuador is virulent, even among sectors of the left.

The movement which propelled Correa into power originated in the  
urban middle class, in reaction to the corruption of previous  
regimes. He never really had much contact with the CONAIE or the  
accion ecologica crowd.

Greg McDonald