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Voters in Ecuador Approve Constitution and Rights of Nature

In a country rich with ecological treasures, including the Galapagos Islands and part of the Amazon rain forest, the constitution also calls on government to avoid measures that would destroy ecosystems or drive species to extinction -- the first such measure of its kind, according to Ecuadoran officials. The constitution would allow civil unions for gay couples.

Putting the rights of nature in Ecuador's constitution

It sounds like a stunt by the San Francisco City Council. But Ecuador is engaged in nothing less than an effort to redefine the relationship between human beings and the natural world. And as crazy as it may seem, the movement to give nature legal rights didn't start in Ecuador's Amazon forest or its Galapagos Islands -- it started years ago in the United States, in cities and towns seeking to fight off coal mines, incinerators and factory farms. Aided by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund in Pennsylvania, about a dozen municipalities have abandoned the old-fashioned way of halting development -- through the appeals process -- and are placing outright bans on environmentally disruptive activities.

Ecuador Constitutional Assembly Votes to Approve Rights of Nature In New Constitution

On July 7, 2008, the Ecuador Constitutional Assembly - composed of one hundred and thirty (130) delegates elected countrywide to rewrite the country's Constitution - voted to approve articles for the new constitution recognizing rights for nature and ecosystems. "If adopted in the final constitution by the people, Ecuador would become the first country in the world to codify a new system of environmental protection based on rights," stated Thomas Linzey, Executive Director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.

'Bank of the South' Will Promote Latin American Integration

two month old government of leftist Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and the popular movements that back him have emerged triumphant in their first battle with the oligarchy and the traditional political parties that have historically dominated... "new socialism of the twenty-first century" and declared that Ecuador end "the perverse system that has destroyed our democracy, our economy and our society."

Ecuador, Quito social movements storm congress

Ecuadorean riot police try to contain rioting supporters of President Rafael Correa that stormed Congress to demand that the legislators accept Correa's proposal for a vote on constitutional reform in Quito January 30, 2007. Lawmakers were forced to evacuate the building after police fired tear gas while battling with the protesters who fought thei

Shades of Chavez in Ecuador's Front-Runner

An audacious South American politician has made an unflattering comparison between President Bush and the devil, threatened to nationalize oil production and expressed his commitment to popular revolution. And it's not Hugo Chavez. The rhetoric of Rafael Correa, the favorite in today's presidential election here, could pass for that of Chavez, the Venezuelan leader. Correa, a 43-year-old U.S.-educated economist, has struck a stridently anti-U.S. tone in a campaign in which he has come from nowhere in the polls three months ago to assume a commanding lead. In a Sept. 27 television interview, when asked about Chavez's description of Bush as the devil in his address to the U.N. General Assembly last month, Correa responded: "The devil is evil, but intelligent. I believe Bush is a tremendously dimwitted president who has done great damage to his country and to the world."

The heat on Ecuador

Global warming is vanquishing ancient glaciers throughout South America, killing crops and threatening the water source for millions.

Ecuador protesters end blockades

Protests by Ecuador's indigenous people against a proposed free trade deal with the US have abated, easing the pressure on the country's president.

BBC NEWS _ Americas _ Ecuador protests enter fourth day

Demonstrators have rejected an offer by the government to form a committee to investigate their concerns about proposed free trade deal with the US, describing it as a smoke screen. They are blocking roads across the Andean highlands, where extra police and soldiers have been deployed.