South American moves intensifying

Was Ecuador's recent popular uprising really a coup d'etat?

"Why was Lucio removed from power if there was not a real public rising up against him? Why did he relinquish power at 14:28 on the 20th after saying on the night of the 19th that he would not resign and played tough? The answer might be in the fact that early in the 20th he was visited by the ambassador of the US!! Why the US would want anything to do with it? Well, for starters, the position of Ecuador is critical back up for Plan Colombia and their plans in South America. Should Ecuador turn toward a real sovereign state it would isolate their operation in Colombia.

"Secondly, the US has a gigantic military base in the city of Manta at the pacific shore. This base not only helps Plan Colombia in Colombia but also helps keep military presence in all of southern Central America (recall that Central America bends south in Panama).

"Third, Ecuador has a large, and undeveloped, oil potential in the Ecuadorian Amazon and we know how Washington feels about oil.

"Fourth, Ecuador is, as I type this, negotiating the Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC) (Free Trade Agreement with the US) with all the Andean countries (Ecuador being one of the most stable of them) and every problem here could reflect in problems in the results of the negotiations."
  Axis of Logic article

Background.

Unrest in Nicaragua

With the constitutional crisis in Ecuador not yet resolved, the situation in Nicaragua is certainly hotting up. Two weeks ago a transport strike erupted after fuel prices rises and taxes increased, resulting in an increase in bus fares across the nation. This has been the spark which appears to have ignited a nationwide popular insurrection against Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos.

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So that readers can better appreciate the historical context of what has now erupted in Nicaragua, herewith a brief synopsis of the situation in Nicaragua from 1909 onwards:

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  Axis of Logic article

Hugo won't be visiting for a while

[Venezuelan President Hugo] Chavez, in Havana for trade talks, told an international gathering of activists here that before an earlier trip to Cuba, a U.S. State Department undersecretary he did not identify warned him not to go because he would no longer be received in Washington.

He said he went ahead with that trip anyway, and later traveled to the United States to visit U.S. President George W. Bush, who he said greeted him with a Coca-Cola in his hand.

"I have not returned, nor do I think about returning again, until the people of the United States liberate that nation," said Chavez, saying that Americans are "oppressed" by their government and U.S. media.
  CNN article

Colombia's pivotal role in US-SA relations

Will Colombia Be the Proxy in a US Attack on Venezuela?
By Sean Donahue,
Posted on Thu Apr 28th, 2005 at 12:33:37 AM EST

The U.S. is gearing up its rhetoric against Venezuela again as Condaleeza Rice barnstorms through Latin America -- and there are subtle indications that the U.S. may be ready to increase Colombia's role in undermining the government of Hugo Chavez.

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  CNN article