Ecuador delays its mining contracts...again

Hey, remember those negotiations between Correa's Ecuador and the big mining companies that want to go play there? Yeah, you know, those deals that were supposed to be agreed upon and signed in 2010....then January 2011....then March....then we were assured that July would see the done deal...then most recently negotiations would wrap up end July and be signed in August?

Well, make that October now. Here's a translation of the top of this report:

Rafael Correa: Mining Activity Will Be Beneficial

Various contracts will be signed next October for mineral exploitation, amongst them that of the Rio Blanco project of International Minerals (IMC), situated in the Molleturo area.

Date of publication: 4 Aug 2011

During his visit to Cuenca, President Rafael Correa said during a visit to the Azuay government that he had hoped to conclude negotiations this month, but the demands of the mining companies had delayed the process.

News roundup (we poke with pointed sticks those which others fear to poke)

 you're doing it wrong, gringo

'Chelle Bachelet causes shock horror headlines in Spain's El Pais and Argentine media for having dared tell the truth back when she was Chile's Prez. According to the latest round of wikileaks, she said, "Argentina has credibility problems as a country. Its democracy isn't robust and its institutions are not strong. It tends to live from crisis to crisis instead of persuing stable policies." Outside of the huff'n'puff patriotic brigades you won't hear many arguing with that one.

Argentina says today it will pay off its Paris Club debt to the tune of $9Bn. If you think you've heard something like this before, that's because you have, In 2008, in 2009 and in 2010 in fact. See paragraph above concerning 'Chelle for more details.

You know when a State news agency is talking utter utter utter bullshit when it starts an article with something like, "Peru is the number four Latin American country for investment in technology" and then goes through the whole of the report only quoting percentage increases and no hard numbers. Your humble scribe's time spent in the 1980's reading the USSR's Pravda (English version) still comes in handy after all these years.

Prez Rafa Correa sez this about trade agreements between Ecuador and the big boys: "We will never sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTZ) with The USA or with the European Union" and that's NEVER, because there'd be much more cost then benefit in such agreements. Sez Rafa.

Just about the biggest two week party in Peru kicks off this weekend as the Titicaca town of Puno holds its annual Virgen de la Candelaria festival. To make people don't regret the hard partying too much afterwards, Peru health people are distributing 100,000 free condoms to revellers to combat unwanted pregnancies and the spread of HIV/AIDS. Just goes to show that in some things, Peru is far smarter than the its anally retentive Andean neighbours.

News roundup (we dare to use words like 'reload' and 'crosshairs' before they're banned on the interwebs by President Palin.)

Death by caffeine. Apparently it'd take about 700 cans of Coca-Cola or 200 shots of espresso to kill me. How 'bout you? Sillyfun interesting site.

Ecuador votes to make organ transplant donations automatic. You're allowed to opt out if you want, but those who don't get to donate organs if their time comes to an end early. IKN applauds this move.

Colour me unsurprised. "Residents of Colombia oil patch complain boom is passing them by" say the L.A Times. "It's like deja vu all over again" says Otto.

How many dead miners in Peru in 2010? Sixty-three dead miners in Peru in 2010.

And a very happy birthday to my sister, who turns older today.

Death by exhaustion

A life less ordinary: Ramón and Katiuska

Today's slice of LatAm Wonderful comes from Ecuador and is translated from this report. Enjoy.

Man Said To Have Had 96 Children with 49 Women Dies In Ecuador

Ramón Moreira died of a stroke aged 72. According to family members, his funeral was attended by at least 52 of the 96 children that, during his life, he said that he had procreated with at least 49 women.

In La Chorrea, a small fishing village in the coastal tourist province of Manabí in (western Ecuador), lived "Don Ramón Gonzalo" who attracted the attention of locals and foreigners alike due to his almost unique history.

He was proud to live up to the Manabian male's reputation of "brave, macho and machetero (machete-wielding)" for having seduced at least 150 women. "I was dangerous. A good fish head's soup, plenty of shellfish, the sea breeze and I was ready to go," he told this reporter during a recent interview. He said that his first two children were born in Medellín more than 53 years ago and since then assured that another 48 women had had children by him. "I was born with the gift of seducing women, it's not my fault", he said, with an expression of mischief and nostalgia.

In his time he was a seaman, truck driver, contrabandist of fuel and oil, salesman, fisherman and in his final years the owner of a small hotel and beach restaurant along with his partner of the last 26 years, Katiuska Argote. With her he had seven children: Priscila, María Katiuska, David, Daniel, Dante, Estefanía and Evelyn. "This old man only gave me respite during the 40 day post-natal period and the next day he was trying for a new baby," said his partner, who also had to put up with him having children with other women at the same time. She remembered that her third child David was born on March 8th and 10 o'clock at night and five hours later, in the same town, another woman gave birth to Frank who was also a child by "Don Ramón". "He was very attractive an gallant and never lied to me. When I met him I was 20 years old and I fell in love with him to such an extent that I eloped with him. He never lied to me, he said that he had 50 children and I didn't believe him, but it was true and afterward he kept on having children with me and with other women," said Katiuska.

Don Ramón, despite his poor health having suffered from ulcers, a stroke and a heart attack, remembered the names of many of his women. "I had ten Marianas in my life" he commented while trying to list the names of the women who had given birth to Gonzalo and Hernán Moreira Díaz who lived in Colombia, to Gerardo and his brother 'El Chiringo' who were clothing salesmen in Panam, to Onías who lived in Italy and to another 10 Gonzalos in his native Manabí.

Katiuska, partner of Ramón Moreira, had the dream of reuniting all his children. In 2005 she managed to get the names of at least 50 of them and said she had reunited 42 of them at their house. "They were all married and on doing the count, Ramón's grandchildren may have already been 200," she said.

An album of yellowed photos was treasured by Ramón, who showed them off proudly between tears and regret for not having known all the children he said he'd brought to the planet. "I have no regrets, these things are destiny and I never wanted to hurt anyone. Everything I did was with love", he said nostalgically.

News roundup (we saw mommy kissing Santa Claus and told daddy all about it cos we're like that)

Ecuador and Colombia get ATPDEA approval for another 18 months (from the US Congress at least, the Senate still has to do its thing) while Bolivia is left out of the deal for the third year running. Because it doesn't have oil. Mind you, the continued GDP growth in Bolivia means that Evo doesn't really need it. So ya boo to you.

The population of Argentina is officially 40,091,359 as at the October 2010 census, up 10.6% from the last official census of 2001, though a few have been born since then for sure. And a few have died. But more have been born.

Today's bizarre story. A pair of Colombian twins meet up after 12 years separated. One is a solider in the Colombian army, the other a member of the left wing FARC insurgents. Soldier twin convinces FARC twin to give himself up. 

After getting his US-versioned profile Wikileaked, Peru's President Twobreakfasts actually says something smart: "This is the opinion of gringos".

Friday in Ecuador.....

...will be an interesting day for mining there, because according to today's reports that's the limit date for Ecuador's government to release details of its new mining contract with producers (the whole shebang we told subscribers about last Sunday and noted on the blog Monday evening). In other words, Ecuador's suited people have until Friday latest to tell us what kind of royalty, windfall tax and etc type things they propose for the sector.

The same report has the President of Ecuador's Chmber of Mining Commerce very happy about recent developments.

It's Dynasty time. At last.

Dynasty (DMM.to): What subscribers read about Ecuador yesterday

If you were a subscriber you would have known yesterday (Sunday 7th) why DMM made a decent move today (Monday 8th). First they read this:

Dynasty Metals & Mining (DMM.to): Is the long wait nearly over? Modestly optimistic news came out of Ecuador Friday evening, which we examine in detail in ‘Regional Politics’ below.

And then in the 'Regional Politics' section of the weekly, 1,018 of the 14,000 words contained in IKN79 were devoted to the subject. The only thing missing is the small chart that's also available on link 15.

Ecuador: The government set to sign its deals with miners

News out of Ecuador on Friday was positive. Early Friday the Ministry of Non-Renewable Natural Resources (MRNNR) (15) published the following (translated):

The Ministry of Non-Renewable Natural Resources (MRNNR), via the Vice-Minister of Mines, has made ready the “Contract for Mining Exploitation” that will be negotiated with those mining companies that are found in the the exploitation/production phase.

The Vice-Minister of Mines, Luis Bustamente Monteros, said that the contract has been elaborated together with the Tax Office (Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI)), the Ministry of the Environment, the Secretary of the People, the Ministry of Finances and the National Secretary of Water (Senagua) due to their direct areas of competency in mining activities.

The terms of the contract document will be disclosed once the Minister of Non-Renewable Natural Resources, Wilson Pástor Morris, signs the respective ministerial agreement as established by Article 41 of the Mining Law.

Bustamente said that the contract model is directly related to terms established by the Mining Law and the Law of Fiscal Equity. This means that the document will include terms on royalty payments as well as windfall taxation.

He confirmed that the “Contract for Mining Exploitation” must be signed by mining companies that have large scale and industrial projects, that are in production phases and whose concessions were acquired before the implementation of the current Mining Law (January 2009).

Included in the list are the five projects considered as the “Strategic Mining Projects”: Fruta del Norte (Kinross Aurelian), Quimsacocha (Iamgold S.A.), Río Blanco (San Luis Minerales S.A.), Mirador (Ecuacorriente) and Panantza San Carlos (Explorcobres S.A.). The Fruta del Norte, Quimsacocha and Río Blanco projects have gold and silver resources, while the Mirador and Panantza San Carlos projects have copper resources.

For the negotiations, programmed to begin around the middle of December 2010, the MRNNR and Vice-Ministry of Mines will be represented by teams made up of national and foreign experts.

Vice-Minister of Mines Luis Bustamente said that once the contract model is officialized it will be shared with representatives of mining companies that operate in the country.

The MRNNR also included this map with its release showing the location of the five large projects deemed “strategic” by the government of Ecuador.

Dynasty (DMM.to), along with other mining companies outside the five “strategics”, was not named in the release, but this new contract is clearly the one DMM signs with the government as well. As the Zaruma project is already up and running (though on tick-over until the deal is done and dusted) DMM will be there at the front of the queue to sign and be done on this issue.

Now for a bit of Friday timing. Interestingly, the MRNNR release (16) came early Friday morning, but seemed to pass largely un-noticed by the wider world. Around midday Friday, while the markets were still open, there was an oblique mention of the NR in another Ecuador government website (17) but it wasn’t until the story was picked up by State newswire ‘El Ciudadano’ (The Citizen) and published after the Friday bell (5:15pm local time) (18) that other newswire services noted the event and ran their own copy (19) (20) etc. This may explain the lack of movement seen in DMM.to on Friday, because the contents of this release are a solid step forward for mining companies in Ecuador. There are still unknowns here, as we’ll be particularly interested in seeing the precise terms of state burdens proposed by the Ecuadorian government (royalty percentages, WFT details etc) and we’re still going to have to wait until mid-December to get to negotiations between government and mining companies underway, but we now have a document that’s ready to be presented and we have a fairly solid timeline (though the usual LatAm caveat applies at this point; when it comes to timescales, anything can happen and often does).

As for the terms that may be included, we recall that according to the letter of Ecuador’s revised mining law each mining company must negotiate its terms with the government. However, by the sounds of things it looks like there will be some sort of group negotiation, if only on the main terms that are most likely to include its royalty and windfall tax (WFT) agreements. We also recall that according to the terms of the mining and state fiscal laws, the WFT cannot be set under the spot price for the metal on the day of the agreement, which means that, for example, if DMM signed this very evening the WFT base level could not be set under Friday’s London PM fix of U$1,395/oz

Be clear: I fully expect Dynasty (DMM.to) to rally on this news Monday morning. I’m also reasonably confident that once details are revealed we’re not going to see any nasty surprises for mining companies and the terms that Ecuador wants to apply will allow mining companies to go ahead, do their stuff, mine for metals and make a decent profit. Yes, the burdens are likely heavier than other regional countries, but when it comes to DMM we’ve already accounted for a 51% total burden on revenues and come out with a stock that is a virtual double, so there’s plenty of room for the very robust economics displayed by DMM at Zaruma to accomodate extra state payments (according to this analyst’s Casio at least). So once the contract terms are known to the outside world, there’s every reason to see a second rally in DMM. In my mind’s eye (Ecuador and mining: WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?) we’d then get a quiet period until the negotiation gets going mid-December and if all goes well between miners and government suits, shareholders in DMM will be set for a year to remember in 2011, a year to wipe away three years of suffering.

Yes, I’m bullish DMM.to. Always have been in fact, because there’s no getting away from the fundamentals on this one. All we want is a final piece in position, a country that finally gives DMM a chance to do some serious mining.

DYODD, dude. I'm also happy to report that at least two subscribers (maybe more, I only have evidence from two people mailing in) took advantage of those $4.00 prices at the opening bell.

CNN's coverage of the Ecuador attempted coup causes the resignation of CNN's reporter in Ecuador

Rodolfo Muñoz

Amazingly, you haven't been fed this story up there in the homogenized, filtered world of EngLang news, have you? It turns out that the CNN journalist on site at the September 30th attempted coup in Ecuador has resigned from the company due to the way in which that news channel reported his story.

Here follows a full translation of this Spanish language report on the resignation of Rodolfo Muñoz (it has to be translated, because there aren't any EngLang reporters in LatAm that think this newsworthy... strange that innit?). IKN thanks the legwork of reader 'MR' on the translation, which is a good one. Read on and find out that even the people reporting what happened on September 30th in Quito, Ecuador disagree with the editorial line of the TV channels that tried to make out it was some sort of non-event. Or in other words: Yes, you're being lied to. Get used to it.

CNN's Version on the Ecuador Coup Provokes Resignation of its Reporter 

The Ecuadoran journalist stated that he decided to resign from CNN that very Sept. 30 because the US TV channel’s viewpoint on the circumstances that day in his country differed from what he observed as he covered the events which pointed to the fact that a coup d’etat was taking place. Muñoz also noted that there is evidence that killing President Rafael Correa was a goal.

The former CNN correspondent in Ecuador, Rodolfo Muñoz, explained on Tuesday that his resignation from the US news channel was due to the viewpoint that it had on the attempted coup d’etat in his country, which differed from what he observed as he covered the events.

"That same night on Sept. 30 I determined that it was no longer in my interest to continue doing that sort of work, a distinct slant from what was happening in my country; in the end I found that the option was gone, the conflicting viewpoints is what changed without a doubt and that’s where it ended,” the reporter said to the press in his country about his resignation from CNN, after covering the attempted coup d’etat in Ecuador.

In a press release that Muñoz put out on Tuesday announcing his decision,the journalist affirmed that the role of a reporter is that of mediator and not that of agent or protagonist in the events.

"Throughout my career, I learned and taught that the reporter’s role in any news event, be it simple or complex, is only that of mediator, not that of agent or protagonist. I learned that we mediators cannot await newsworthy outcomes according to our own particular desires, preferences, phobias and prejudices.

He added that the information that communicators transmit, in particular that to audiences in other countries, must allow for the possibility of two different views of the events.

"I always knew that all information, especially if it is directed to a foreign audience, one that does not know the particularities of a country other than their own, should be shown at the very least from two distinct perspectives ", he expressed in the statement.

They Wanted to Kill Correa

During an interview given to teleSUR on Tuesday, the Ecuadoran journalist reiterated that there is proof that they intended to kill President Correa during the putsch on Sept. 30.

''A ton of ‘broadsheets’ showed up on the internet (...) above all a version which circulated worried me (...)  some in the media were stating that nothing had happened (...) there is proof that they wanted to kill the president'', he asserted.

A group of police seized by force last Sept. 30 the First Regiment in Quito in protest, supposedly, against the refusal to veto the Public Service Act which proposes eliminating bonuses and promotions that are paid out in yearly salaries.

Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, was in the insurgency’s focal point to attempt dialogue, but was obliged to withdraw on account of the violent actions which were taking place in the area.

In the face of this, Correa denounced the fact that the violent police protests occurring in Quito formed part of an attempt at a coup d’etat which had been in preparation for months on the part of the opposition and had called on the police force that serves the country to revolt.

During the coup attempt, the Ecuadoran president remained for 12 hours held involuntarily in the police hospital where later he was rescued in a joint operation of the military and units from the Special Operations Group of the police.
After the attempt, some recordings from the central police radio dispatch revealed that rebelling agents were inciting the killing of the leader and were affirming that they would not allow him to leave the hospital, where he had sought safety after being attacked, as long as he refused to repeal the law.

After the events, the Ecuadoran leader in various occasions has declared that they tried to assassinate him during the putsch to overthrow him.

"We were able to make it to the emergency in an armoured car. When we set out in the car and we began to leave, a shower of bullets hit the President’s car, seeking to kill the President", Correa stated to teleSUR about the moment in which he was rescued from the health center.

News roundup (we take the left turn at Albuquerque that others should have taken)

If Bananama Republic is voted the best blog in the whole of The Americas this year it wouldn't come as a surprise. BR lifts the lid off more Panama scumball doings and happenings in this great post today, today's best read. You get to hear all sorts of rumours about shady dealings in places like Panama, but very few people have the cojones to directly confront the nasties behind the scams and shine a light in their direction. BR has cojones to spare. Go read.

We agree with Cam Hui over at Humble Student of the Markets as he closes his thoughtful and balanced post on the crisis-talk with this line: "Barring some other unforeseen catastrophe, the problems of the Financials do not have the potential to return the major market indices to their 2008-9 lows."

La Jornada of Mexico ran a very insightful interview with Ecuador's President Rafael Correa this week, go read it here. You get to find out Studmuffin's views on the attempted coup, hear about just how much danger he was in at the time (a lot), his thoughts on how CONAIE has sold out, the CIA backing of the coup, his support for Obama, all sort of things. Top interview.

Old School US/LatAm relations 101: US Citizen comes to LatAm, "discovers" some site that the local knew about already, steals all the ancient treasures and artifacts from the site, takes them back to his Alma Mater "on loan", authorities let nearly 100 years slip by and refuse to give the priceless treasures back to their rightful owners, because.....well, because.....errrr.....well, they're all small and dark down there, aren't they? IKN gets you up to date with Yale University versus Peru in the matter of Machu Picchu.

Approval ratings of four local Presidents (for the attention of Foreign Perfidy)

This chart as a complement to Greg Weeks' post this morning, as he decided to debunk some of the guff and nonsense written by Foreign Policy on Ecuador.

Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill

Your humble scribe ran this recording on his twatter last night and now it's time to note it here at IKN as well. It seems the northern milquetoast pardoners of explicit violence against Rafael Correa, all the hangwringing academics that try their best to follow S.Am affairs from up North and just end up looking teh stoopid every time, will finally have to admit that Ecuador's September 30th happenings that centred around the country's police force in Quito weren't just a call for social justice, or a protest gone wrong. As we pointed out on the blog last week it was clearly a coup attempt.

M'lud, we offer evidence. This link is to a recording of police radios that day and captures the ill and violent intent of the coupmongers all too clearly. In Spanish of course, you can either take my word for things or get your own translation done but amongst the choice phrases used by the police who fired tear gas canisters at their President and managed to shoot dead one of the military personnal that was shielding Correa as he left the hospital under fire in the late evening are the following:

"Kill Correa" 

"The man doesn't get out today"

"Kill them, fill them with lead, shoot them"

"Kill Correa and finish with this protest"

"Shoot the son of a bitch Correa" 

"The man doesn't leave unless a stiff"

"Cut the power" 

"Don't let the bastard leave"

There are dozens more on the 27 minute recording, help youself to a few facts and find out for yourself. 

It was an attempted coup. Sez me, sez Correa, sez all the Presidents of the region who signed the Unasur declaration from the right (Santos, Piñera) to the centre (García) to the left (Morales, Chávez) and all points in between. It's your choice to believe the bullshit CNN would like you to believe but me I like the truth, not gringospin lies.

Correa's big opinion poll boost

Jurgen Schuldt over at Memorias de Gregorio Samsa has all the details of the opinion poll published by Santiago Perez OPE (one of Ecuador's main pollsters) with six screenshots of the published poll. Go there to get the details, but let's just note one datapoint to give you a taste:

September 25th 2010 (before the police protest/attempted coup last week): Positive Evaluation of Correa Government:

65%

October 2nd 2010 (after the police protest/attempted coup last week): Positive Evaluation of Correa Government:

75%

Go to here for more, including Correa's personal numbers.

UPDATE: Reliably witty mailer, reader 'MP' writes, "Just imagine where the polls would be if he were to knee someone in the nuts...."

Translation of the Unasur declaration on Ecuador published this morning

Directly translated from this copy of the communique by this author.

The Heads of State and government of Unasur, meeting in the San Martín Palace, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1 October 2010:

1) Reaffirm their strong commitment to the preservation of democratic institutionality, the State, constitutional order, social peace and the unrestricted respect for human rights, essential conditions for the process of regional integration.

2) Strongly condemn the attempted coup d'etat and subsequent holding of President Rafael Correa Delgado, as occurred in the sister Republic of Ecuador on September 30.

3) Celebrate the liberation of President Correa Delgado as well as the quick return to institutional and democratic normality in the sister Republic. We express the need that those responsible for the coupmongering actions be judged and condemned. In this context we reiterate the fullest and most decided support for the constitutional government and highlight the role of those institutions in the re-establishment of constitutional order.

4) Affirm that our respective governments energetically reject and do not tolerate under any circumstance any new challenge to the institutional authority nor any attempted coup against the civil power elected legitimately and warn that in the case of new outbreaks again the constitutional order will adopt concrete and immediate measures  such as the closure of borders, suspension of commerce, suspecnsion of air traffic, suspension of energy provision, services and other.

5) Decide that their chancellors will travel today to the city of Quito to express their full support for the constitutional President of the Republic of Ecuador, Rafael Correa Delgado, and for the people of Ecuador, indispensible participants in the full restauration of democratic institutionality in that country.

6) Agree to adopt in the fourth ordinary summit meeting of Heads of State and government of Unasur, to take place on 26 November in Guyana, an additional protocol to the constituent treaty of Unasur that establishes the democratic clause.

UPDATE: This comes to mind. 

Quito’s Police: CIA breeding ground

Considering today's events, this Machetera post can be classed as more than interesting.

Mo' Ecuador

There's regionwide condemnation of the police protest/insurrection/attempted coup (choose the one you prefer, I'm not sure which one is right at the moment) with the OAS and Unasur members all speaking out against today's troubles in Ecuador. Man, this is so unanimous that even Hillary in the US has said something against it...mind you, she did that when Zelaya got kicked out of Honduras and look how that one ended.

Anyway, it looks like Unasur will convene an emergency meeting in Buenos Aires in the very near future to get the Heads of States together and make an official "stop that right now" communique, much in the same way they did when Evo had his problems back in September 2008 (sidebar; why is September such a popular month for htis kid of malarkey?).

Meanwhile, recent news is that the anti-govt police force members aren't giving up so easily. They have Correa barricaded inside a hospital near the airport where he was taken after the tear gas attack (which refutes clear govt spokespersons' assertions earlier that Correa was back in the Presidential Palace...odd one, that) and the very latest is that police protestors have broken into a TV station (Gama) to either cut transmission or take over the signal for their own ends (conflicting reports on that). Also, there's a seven day state of emergency been declared by Correa from his hospital hideout, so clubs and restaurants in Quito can look forward to a quiet weekend.

The overall feel right now is that bar some sort of violent attack from the rebelling police officers on Correa's hospital wing, this one is in the hands of the government. What's needed now is a way for both sides to back down from the posturing, more than anything else. As for the medium-term future of the country, a snap election is a possibility as Correa may wish to secure a continued mandate from his fellow citizens...though how that will sit with with the "two term only" constitution is anyone's guess.

Ecuador's airport and armed forces rebellion

Interesting stuff. Here's AP in English, but Spanish language readers should check out Comercio

QUITO, Ecuador – Hundreds of soldiers and police protesting a new law that cuts their benefits have seized the main airport in Ecuador's capital and shut off highway access to it.
The rebellious troops fired tear gas and burned tires after taking over bases in Quito, Guayaquil and other cities

The protests do not appear to threaten to topple the government.

President Rafael Correa has gone to speak with a group of protesters.

UPDATE: This is getting big, tense and complicated. Here's a live streaming TV following the story. It's not outright mutiny here (for want of a beter word, perhaps), but it's most definitely a direct defiance of President Correa by the armed forces...that's never good in South America. The whole protest stems from a law Correa wanted to send to Congress that would cut pay and benefits to some areas of the armed forces and the police. There's reports of tear gas, disturbances and "hundreds" of soldiers and police officers in control of the Quito air base, Ecuador's largest barracks.

UPDATE 2: Here's a quote from a defiant Correa to the military protestors; "If you want to kill me, kill me if you're brave enough, instead of being in the crowd, hiding like cowards". There's also talk of Correa dissolving parliament to deal with this situation.

UPDATE 3: 11:07am local time and Ecuador TV is reporting that Correa is meeting with his cabinet in the Presidential Palace.

UPDATE 4: 11:12am Defense Minister Carbajal says that the situation has been caused by disinformation and people who wanted to propagate the falsehood that the new law would cut armed forces and police pay and benefits. He states that he expects the situation to calm and come under control in the very near term today. TV is also reporting that the protests at the barracks are now much calmer.

UPDATE 5: A good observation from a reporter on the scene. He says that the banners being carried and displayed by the police and army personnel protesting the government and the law passed yesterday are very well elaborated and suggest some fairly sophisticated preparation for this protest.

UPDATE 6: It sounds like things are getting worse, not better. Newsflow isn't easy to follow and is rather confused, but it seems that "nearly all barracks" up and down the country have joined the protest, that the Minister of Eduacation has asked all schools and colleges to keep students inside their buildings until the situation is calmer and that Correa was taken to hospital for a while (now discharged) because when he went to talk/negotiate with the police and army members at the Airport he was greeted by teargas and inhaled too much gas. However we reiterate that he's now fine and meetin gwith his cabinet in the Presidential Palace.

UPDATE 7: IMPORTANT. The head of Ecuador's armed forces has just (11:34am local time) expressed his full support for President Rafael Correa and his Government.  A significant declaration and one that is likely to calm things greatly.

UPDATE 8: Ecuador's Vice President Moreno says that the main protest is coming from police officers, with some lesser protests from some army personnel, but the main protest is from the police forces. He says that all high ranking officials have reaffirmed their loyalty to the President and the government. In the live phone covnersation Moreno sounded very calm and relaxed and wa clearly aiming to calm the waters.

UPDATE 9: Interior Minister Carbajal (not defence minister as stated earlier) says that the situation is delicate that has been brought about by a systematic program of disinformation from unknown sources. He affirms that the main protest is from the police force and NOT the army. He says that police officers are being mislead and they will not lose pay or benefits from the law passed yesterday. When asked to identify the destabilizing elements, he pointed at the oligarchy elements of Ecuador who oppose the changes brought about by Correa. He affirms that Correa is not in hospital, he is in the Presidential palace and is being protected by the military. He was keen to emphasize that violent episodes have happened but are relatively minor. Three banks have seen raids in Guayaquil and are getting headlines, but so far looting has been sporadic, despite the lack of police on the streets.

UPDATE 10: A Flash update has been sent to subscribers on today's events and how they might affect Ecuador exposed companies. We're signing off on our updating now, as the mainstrea media now find this interesting. So follow it via the professionals. 

Start your day the Salazar Way: A smile, a cheer and a cease trade order

Now here's a different one. The BCSC, revelling in its new muscular "we're gonna clean up this town" persona, has just slapped a cease trade order on Salazar Resources (SRL.v) because it doesn't much like the contents of SRL.v's Feb 2009 technical report and says it doesn't come up to standard. If you feel like downloading the report in question, go find it on the Salazar page of SEDAR (it's 42Mb, be warned) but all you really need to know is alluded to by SRL in this morning's NR:

" On September 10, 2010, when it issued the Cease Trade Order, the BCSC advised the Company that it continued to have significant concerns about the Amended Technical Report and the qualifications, objectivity and independence of the author thereof. "

So the BCSC picks on Fredy Salazar, a guy known as one of the better, straighter shooting and more honest dudes in the junior mining sphere. I'M GOOD WITH THAT! I like this new aggressive BCSC and I like the fact they're going after anyone who's been lax with the rules (according to themselves, at least) and reputations can go hang. Meanwhile, SRL gets a serious image-slapping and its shareholders have a few days to wait and wonder what the stock is going to do once it gets out of hock. DYODD.

News Roundup (We're shifting the whispering sands)

Hemispheric Brief calls the ruling 'fascinating' and this humble corner of cyberspace agrees. Costa Rica now makes internet access a fundamental human right. Gotta love the ticos.

Studmuffin won't have to complain about the editorial line in this paper, methinks. Ecuador's government this week launched its own pro-party daily called "PP El Verdadero" (the 'true thing' or the 'reality' I suppose, tough to nail the translation in context) a tabloid-style paper that appeals to the masses and will be according to the publishers, "....a different newspaper, with optimism, positivity, hope, where we analyze issues from a humanist point of view". He also says that the paper won't be a simple gov't mouthpiece. Yeah right.

Mo' Ecuador with Correa in Korea. After hosting Bolivia's Evo just a few days ago, South Korea rolls out the red carpet for the Muffin Man who's touring the factories and seeing what Seoul could do for Ecuador's growth profile. Thusly South America continues to divert its eyes from the North and look to the other side of the Pacific....and the USA still thinks it's in charge. Rude awakenings in the pipeline, gringos.

Yesterday's sickest joke? President Twobreakfasts is going to declare Peru free of illiteracy in 2011, which is the kind of thing that could only be said by a moron who cares much more about image than actually getting out there and doing something constructive for his country. There is no way this can be true, just ask anyone in the field who understands the reality of the situation. But it doesn't stop the bullshit from spewing out his face.

And to wrap up, this humble corner of cyberspace would like to declare that it doesn't give a shit what Fidel thinks of Cuba's economic model or what Hillary thinks of Mexico'10 vs Colombia'90. Both issues are LatAm-For-Gringos fodder only.

Adventures in basic mathematics, Ecuador oil edition

Your humble scribe was surprised to see this report in his interwebnetpipes this morning:

BEIJING, Sep. 6, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Ecuador finance minister Patricio Rivera has said the country would sell 360,000 barrels/day of crude oil to PetroChina (601857.SH; PTR.NYSE) in the next four years, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report.

 The South American country's finance minister was quoted as saying that the crude oil will be sold at market prices. CONTINUES HERE

Why so? Time for the funmath!

1) According to home gov't and EIA figures (which unlike Venezuela largely agree) Ecuador currently produces 490,000 barrels of oil per day (bbl/d)

2) Ecuador's internal consumption of oil currently runs at 180,000bbl/d

3) This means that even in the very VERY unlikely event that Ecuador stops selling its wares to traditional partners (such as main customer USA or next door Peru) they still have another 50,000bbl/d to magic up from somewhere.

So tell me again how this greenheaven Yasuní ITT initiative will work? Meanwhile, today's pretzel math gives us a great chance to CUE THE MUSIC!

Goddam freakin' Socialists....

...and their twobit freakin' banana republic mindsets, always raising taxes and makin' it difficult for us fine upstandin' people to move in and make money. Freakin' pinko commie swine.

Oh...wait a minute....

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuador’s government will propose a 3 percentage point tax reduction for businesses to help boost investment and job growth in South America’s seventh-biggest economy, Production Minister Nathalie Cely said.

President Rafael Correa’s Cabinet agreed yesterday to propose a cut in the corporate income tax rate to 22 percent from 25 percent in an effort to at least double investment by next year, Cely, a 45-year-old Harvard University-trained economist, said today in an interview at her offices in Quito CONTINUES HERE