We are just a few days away from the important February 7 election for the presidency of Ecuador, which Andrés Arauz, the candidate aligned with the views of former President Rafael Correa, has a good chance of winning. We spoke with journalist Ivonne Amores about the current climate of political expectation in Ecuador. She is part of the Bulla Zurda (Left Uproar) collective, and when we interviewed her this week she was participating, in Quito, in one of the many Caravans of Hope that are part of Arauz’s campaign throughout the country.
The Network in Defense of Humanity celebrates the growing electoral strength of progressivism in Ecuador, led by Andrés Arauz and Carlos Rabascall, a force that puts on stage its victory in the contest of February 7. We hope that this victory will be celebrated by all the peoples of Our America on the road to cementing a regional project.
Precisely because of this, in the context of the dispute that neoliberalism imposes on a proposal for sovereignty raised by progressivism, there have been troubling maneuvers contrary to the rules and institutions of the rule of law, established by the Constitution of Ecuador. We have witnessed violations of inalienable rights, such as the cessation of the political rights of progressive actors and movements; there have even been violations of the rights of citizens by attempting to truncate the electoral process itself.
With this background, while celebrating the democratic spirit of the Ecuadorian people, the Network demands that the government and the electoral authorities of Ecuador fully respect the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box and ask for guarantees that the elections will be transparent and flawless before, during and after the casting of the ballots.
The Network in Defense of Humanity makes an urgent appeal to progressive and democratic forces around the world to be vigilant and watch very carefully the Election Day of 7 February, and with their watchful eye, avoid the misappropriation of the electorate’s preferences.
We ask international bodies to certify the non-interference of Lenín Moreno’s government, nor of foreign actors, such as the president of the OAS, Luis Almagro, or others, in the electoral process.
We call on the electoral observation delegations to take note of: 1) the impediments to the holding of elections in different places that concentrate the migrant vote; 2) the validity of the legislative elections for the Andean Parliament; 3) the clean counting of the vote in all scenarios.
For democracy to be reborn in Ecuador, it will be necessary to adopt an attitude of permanent participation and vigilance and to be absolutely intolerant of any attempt to pervert the purity of the vote or to ignore the will of the people.
Guaranteeing democracy for the peoples of our America is a task for all of us!
On this day, 6 February 1919, perhaps the most spectacular strike in US history took place: the Seattle general strike. Nearly 100,000 downed tools in support of striking shipyard workers but, more importantly, then elected a general strike committee and began running the city and essential services themselves.
While the shipyard workers did not get their pay increase, the five-day general strike was a historic and successful experiment demonstrating that workers could run society themselves.
After the strike ended, the newspaper of the Central Labor Council, the Union Record, explained its importance:
“We see but one way out. In place of two classes competing for the fruits of industry, there must be, eventually only one class sharing fairly the good things of the world. And this can only be done by the workers learning to manage.
“When we saw in our General Strike: The Milk Wagon Drivers consulting late into the night over the task of supplying milk for the city’s babies; The Provision Trades working twenty-four hours out of the twenty-four on the question of feeding 30,000 workers; The Barbers planning a chain of co-operative barber shops; The steamfitters opening a profitless grocery store; The Labor Guards facing, under severe provocation, the task of maintaining order by a new and kinder method; When we saw union after union submitting its cherished desires to the will of the General Strike Committee: then we rejoiced. For we knew it was worth the four or five days pay apiece to get this education in the problems of management. Whatever strength we found in ourselves, and whatever weakness, we knew we were learning the thing which it is necessary for us to know.
"Someday, when the workers have learned to manage, they will begin managing. And we, the workers of Seattle, have seen, in the midst of our General Strike, vaguely and across the storm, a glimpse of what the fellowship of that new day shall be.” https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1646543442197466/?type=3
Yesterday’s outfit for work & to get my Depo shot renewed at Whole Women’s Health in Austin (thanks again Texas lege for closing my local clinic 😡): Adam Ant concert tee, thrifted J.Lo stretch jeans, the best triple animal print glitter metallic sneakers & Vampurr sweatshirt for when it got cold. #ootd #fafafafafashionbeepbeep #EverydayFashion #CheapAssChic #ClearanceFinds #AllMyClothesFromTheKidsSection #ThriftScore #AdamAnt #antmusic #concerttee #vampurr #JenniferLopezJeans #StretchJeans #iwearblackontheoutsidebecauseblackishowifeelontheinside #thebestsneakers #AnimalPrintIsANeutral #glitter #PunkRockGirl #ComicShopGirl #womensreproductiverights #over50style #MyStyle https://www.instagram.com/p/CK9WBeOjUIl/?igshid=r8z2xgagt42k
Israeli antifascists have given the Klan a free pro-Jewish facelift, reports the BBC, defacing a chapter’s website with a banner saying “Shabbat Shalom! Goodnight white pride.”
Hayalim Almoni also shared a link to the Texas Public Sex Offender Registry, where, it said, a senior member had been registered for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl.
“There is a lot more coming,” one of the hackers told BBC News.
“We aren’t going to stop until we finish the Klan and strike a death blow to fascism in the United States.”
