What I always but always want from a news media is a piece of reporting that doesn’t try to pander to my political views or those of anyone else…just tell it to me straight, please. Don’t tell one side and don’t prefer one opinion over another. These journalistic basics are woefully lacking when it comes to coverage of AxisOfEvo countries such as Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia. None of these countries are political heaven on earth, but neither are they some sort of disaster zone.
And so to the latest newsworthy happenings in ecuador, that of the indigenous protests. that are largely aimed at water rights but encapsulate opposition to mining projects in the region. While the world of whore reporting on LatAm tries its hardest to find controversy where there is none (note President, indigenous groups at odds over fatal protest in Ecuador from CNN, Ecuador Indigenous Groups Threaten More Radical Protests from DJNW as just two of far too many) the LAHT tells things as they are. Here’s the first part of its recent report on the current situation in Ecuador as regards the indigenous protests, click through for the rest and kudos for the good job of work done by LAHT.
Indian Representatives Give Petition to Ecuadorian Government
QUITO – Delegates from the Shuar and Achuar Indians delivered to a governmental commission a petition as the Confederation of Indigenous Nations of Ecuador, or Conaie, and the Ecuadorian government are holding discussions, which began because of the Indians’ fears over a bill they say will privatize water.
The government delegation went to Amazonia on Saturday, where the protest has been under way since last Monday, to meet with representatives of the Indians.
The meeting with the Shuar and Achuar tribes took place in the town of Sucua, in Morona-Santiago province.
Miguel Carvajal, the coordinating minister of internal and external security, who headed the government delegation, said that the government complied with what it had offered to do before the meeting, namely to receive a list of the tribes’ demands and construct an agenda for dialogue.
President Rafael Correa said Saturday that Conaie, Ecuador’s largest Indian organization, had requested to meet with him about the water bill, adding that he would receive their representatives “with open arms.”