I’ve been saying it for a while–and Latin American commentator Al Giordano has been saying it for even longer: Ecuadorian president Lucio Gutierrez’s days may well be numbered.
Lucio’s a populist who got elected because he told the country’s poor indigenous voters that he’d help ‘em out. He hasn’t. They’re mad. And now there’re some new developments from Quito:
The Financial Times’s Andy Webb-Vidal is reporting the start of what could turn into a Bolivia-esque mess: an indefinite strike:
Ecuador’s powerful indigenous movement on Monday began what it said could be an indefinite strike and series of nationwide street protests against President Lucio Guti�rrez (pictured), increasing tensions in the Andean country.
Conaie, the umbrella indigenous confederation, at the weekend called on hundreds of thousands of members and associated peasant groups to block main roads across Ecuador in protest at the unpopular president’s economic policies.
It’s too soon to know if the protests’ll gain traction, though. We’ll have to wait and see. This isn’t the first time I’ve predicted Lucio’s demise, of course; I thought a campaign contribution scandal back in November would be the beginning of the end.
–I saw The Autumn Defense, headed by Wilco bassist John Stirratt, at Iota last night. The music was good. And Iota, as always, is such an excellent little venue.
–BBC: “Inmates at a prison in Ecuador have taken more than 100 people hostage to press their demands for speedier trials and better living conditions.”
–Jesus H. Christ. A-Rod’s going to the Yankees.
–Is this 1) a legitimate news report, or 2) a synopsis of a new Stephen King screenplay:
Seven dead at kite-flying festival
From correspondents in Lahore
February 16, 2004
SEVEN people were killed and more than 100 injured in Pakistan during the annual kite flying festival marking the arrival of spring, officials said today.
An 18-month-old girl’s throat was cut by a stray kite string while she was travelling with her parents on a motorbike, witnesses said, adding that she died on the spot.
Three people were electrocuted when metal wires they were using to fly or catch stray kites fell on live electric lines, and two people fell from roofs, hospital officials said.
A 12-year-old boy died while trying to catch a stray kite when he was hit by a car on a main road, police said.
More than 100 people had been reported injured since last night in various kite-related accidents, medical workers said.
I’m back and I’m blogging, baby. Aren’t you glad?
Here’s what I’ve been up to since I last posted: Jill A. was here in DC visting me and Lindsey L. last week. Then Jill and I went down to my adopted hometown of Beaufort, South Carolina, last weekend. Among other things, we ate and we ate and we ate some more.
My favorite meal was at Duke’s BBQ, a fine establishment that whips up what is hands-down the best southern food I’ve ever tasted. Duke’s features home-made pork rhinds and gizzards and hash and rice, and all the utensils are plastic and everything else is styrofoam. The clientele is not petite: at 6’3″ and 200 pounds, I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I am within the lower 10th percentile of the collective Body Mass Index of Duke’s clientele. Including–no, especially–the ladies. (There is nary a belt in sight at Duke’s. It’s all elastic waistbands all the time.)
My step dad, Mike B., had a funny conversation when we were standing in line for the buffet. He ran into an old friend of his; the guy informed Mike that he and some of his buddies had been “Spam hunting” a few days earlier. What in the hell is spam hunting? Get a bunch of guys together, he said, tie cans of Spam to a tree, and pick ‘em off with shotguns. (I imagine that the consumption of several cases of inexpensive domestic lager is also part of the game.) For a finale, these guys blew up a refrigerator with dynamite. Welcome to life in Beaufort, SC, ladies and gentleman.
I'm Newley Purnell, an American journalist in Bangkok. I report for Bloomberg BNA, ABC News Radio, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and more.