Seven changes made to the cabinet by Ecuador’s President, Rafael Correa, on top of the other 13 he’d already made on April 13th of this year, are part of what he refers to as “citizen revolution”. “The President is facing division within his party and given the political isolation he finds himself in, he’s handing out jobs to collect support…whether they belong to his party or not”, said Teodoro Bustamante, a social sciences college professor in Ecuador.

President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, said on Friday that his country will reestablish relations with Colombia only when he receives all the information regarding the military attack on March 1st of 2008 in Angostura. “What happened (…) was not a game”, Correa said reminding listeners during an interview that Colombia bombed and then raided the Ecuadorean region where Farc had an illegal base.

The Angostura incident was the “most serious bombing Latin American history and, according to intelligence reports, couldn’t have been done by Colombian planes, that’s why there are rumors about a third country; that’s what we want to clear up”, Correa said.

Ecuador wants the hard drives from the “famous laptops that survived the attack,” which Correa claims were used by Colombia to get information to accuse his country of supporting Farc, a claim he has always denied.

Presidents of Russia, Dimitri Medvedev and Ecuador, Rafael Correa, announced a 22 million dollar agreement yesterday in which Russia agrees to provide the South American country with two Mi-17 helicopters. Medvedev said the agreements as the beginning of a deeper relationship and a way to penetrate Latin America. Russia will build two hydroelectric energy stations and develop Ecuadorean oil and gas reserves.

Public scrutiny has increased for Ecuador’s President, Rafael Correa, since rumors of corruption against two of his siblings intensified. His brother, Fabricio, is accused of taking abusing his position to obtain lucrative contracts while Chevron Oil accused his sister, Pierina, of accepting bribes during legal proceedings against the company. Fabricio has also been summoned by the Attorney General to explain accusations of corruption he made against some of the President’s closest aides.

Santiago Basabe, director of the Political and Economical Investigation Center (Cipec), said the circle of corrupt aides that Fabricio speaks of involves between three and five people very close to Rafael Correa, a group that seems to make decisions without consulting the President which later lead to problems for Correa.

Despite being a strong critic against many of Correa’s policies, Basabe said it’s possible that many irregularities have taken place inside this circle but he believes they have done so behind the President’s back. “I am under the impression that the President per sei is not a corrupt or delinquent person like many former presidents, but he does associate with people of whom the same cannot be said and those are who Fabricio Correa is referring to”.

Leaders of Unasur member countries pose for official photo during a 5-minute break, shortly before signing final declaration

A report titled “South American Strategy. The white book. Air Mobility Command” is what President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, brought to the Unasur Summit as proof of the United States’ alleged true intentions to gain mobility in South America as part of its global military strategy and the danger that, according to him, the agreement between the U.S. and Colombia represents for the region.

The U.S. State Department was quick to respond that said report is not a secret nor does it represent a “strategic or political plan” but simply covers emergency procedures and humanitarian aid (…)”. Even President Uribe pointed out that Chávez’ presentation was not a great discovery the document is public and can even be accessed on the internet.

For UPB professor of political science, Luis Guillermo Patiño, the report is not official nor does it reveal the United States’ security or strategic policies; it was prepared by analysts and institutions focused on observing international geopolitics.

Patiño stressed that although Chavez’ speech could have had an “attractive tone for populist or radical left sectors”, many of his arguments are left unfounded because the text doesn’t represent Obama’s political views nor does it reveal anything new.

President Alvaro Uribe accompanied by Minister of Foreign Relations, Jaime Bermudez (pictured right) in Bariloche, Argentina

A calm, collected President Alvaro Uribe once again showed his skills as an orator and responded eloquently and reasonably to verbal attacks from Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela’s leaders during the Unasur Summit in Argentina.

Uribe managed to balance a discussion in which he held the upper hand from the very beginning, thanks in part to early diplomatic strategies like his “mute tour” of Latin America. As an added bonus, Uribe managed to get issues like weapons and drug trafficking and illegal armed groups addressed in the final declaration, an unprecedented occurrence given the differences that exist among the nations regarding these issues.

Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador and pro témpore President of Unasur

Participants became aware of the fact that above any individual problems the Unasur nations may have, there’s also a great regional project worth defending, one that cannot be shaped by the political or ideological inclinations of a specific government.
Before the Summit even started it was clear that President Uribe would not be reconsidering the military cooperation agreement with the United States; he did, however, leave the door open for Unasur to study the pact but asked that any evaluation be done accompanied by the OAS and that it be extended to other topics.

Hugo Chávez’ declaration of a “deep love for Colombia” left President Uribe unmoved. He reminded the Venezuelan President of his eulogy for Farc when he bid farewell to Raul Reyes declaring him a “great revolutionary”, or his threat to fly his planes and expand his project, even to Colombian parties.

President Alvaro Uribe will not be attending the Unasur Summit in Quito, nor will Foreign Relations Minister, Jaime Bermudez, the reason being the strained relations between Ecuador and Colombia.

This year it will be Ecuadorean President, Rafael Correa, will assume the presidency of Unasur, which Uribe refrained from doing last year given the circumstances.

A spokesperson from the Foreign Relations Ministry said there will be, however, a representative of the Colombian Government at the Summit, but the identity of said delegate has yet to be revealed.

Uribe’s decision came just one day after Presidents of Chile and Brazil, Michelle Bachelet and Luis Inacio Lula da Silva respectively, said the issue of Colombia’s military cooperation agreement with the United States needs to be addressed during the Summit.

Lula da Silva said in a press conference that “the security problems on our borders and especially the problem of Colombia having a U.S. base” could be brought before the South American Defense Council of Unasur, but he also expressed recpect for Colombia’s internal affairs.

Ecuador admitted that it’s possible a document written by deceased Farc leader, Raul Reyes, is authentic. The text incriminates several government officials of President Rafael Correa’s administration. The plan, however, is to wait for the results of a formal investigation.

For allegedly aiding Farc in its activities, a group of ten criminal attorneys and experts in Colombian international law are attempting to have President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).  Cases would also exist against Ecuador’s former Minister Gustavo Larrea and Vice-Minister Ignacion Chauvin; the latter publicly admitted his close relationship with the illegal armed group. 

“We will not let a government like Correa’s terrify us. It’s a matter of dignity for our country (…)”, said attorney Abelardo De la Espriella.

Two days ago Interpol turned down a petition made by an Ecuadorean judge to arrest former Minister of Defense of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, the reason being that there were political reasons behind the request.

Campaigns for Sunday’s elections in which Ecuadoreans must choose whether or not to support President Rafael Correa’s changes  came to a close with a divided opposition. The law dictates that campaigns must close by midnight on Thursday and there will be a period of tranquility until the elections.

The sale and consumption of alcohol are also prohibited until Monday. According to political analyst Hugo Barber, Ecuadoreans have a choice between a “political project in conjunction with a popular president(Correa) and confusing proposals without national leaders… I have never seen a campaign so devoid of content as this one”.