Change I can believe in...

...isn't happening here, of course, and isn't going to anytime soon.  But it is happening right now in yet another Latin America nation:

Ecuador's new constitution was approved with 64% voting "yes" on Sept. 28. "No" won 28% of the votes, 7% were invalid, and 0.7% left blank, according to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

The results of the referendum reflect the high expectations for change that the majority of Ecuadorians are feeling, and which they have ratified with their votes in the last four elections. This desire for a profound transformation also extends to the immigrants that have left for the United States and Europe, who have been hit by the economic crisis. People voted for a more participative democracy and for the ability to intercede actively in political life.

The constitution combines a series of progressive traits that overcome some of Ecuador's current inequalities, discrimination, and injustices, such as the following: the balanced living concept (sumak kawsay), which implies living in harmony with oneself, society, and nature; nature's right to assure "the maintenance and regeneration of its vital cycles, structure, functions, and evolutionary processes"; national diversity and collective rights; the right to water and the prohibition of its privatization; food sovereignty and the permanent right to secure food sources; the right to communication, and access to public, private, and community media.

Thank goodness we have countries in this hemisphere that can show us what democracy looks like.  And who knows?  If we pay close enough attention, maybe we can have it here some day too.

Comments

[Mike]

Don't worry. Just need to crank the knob up on the black ops already underway, and those pesky leftists in the US backyard will be taken care of.

[Rosemary Molloy]

EXCELLENT point you made about democracy. Hope we enjoy it someday, too, but I fear the present system (and oblivious electorate) is firmly in place for some time to come.

[SteveB]

Wait a minute... Nature has rights?

Not hard to figure out how the Ecuadorian equivalent of Rush Limbaugh played this: "President Correa wants us to read that forest its rights before we clear-cut it!"