Ecuador

One politician wants to add a woman's right to sexual happiness to Ecuador's new constitution. While her opponents claim she is trying to legislate orgasms, Maria Soledad Vela says that she simply wants to recognize the right to enjoy sex in a more open society. Since the new constitution will recognize the rights of indigenous communities and the poor, she says women should also be represented.

It seems like governments all over the world are always trying to legislate issues that can't exactly be solved with a law. Remember the Kentucky lawmaker who wanted to make anonymous Internet posting illegal? Or the fact that in Italy, it is illegal for men to grab their genitals in public. Why do you think governments have such an expansive view regarding what is appropriate for legislation?

Perhaps these politicians have worthy intentions — by calling to legislate sexual happiness for women, Soledad Vela has ignited a debate in conservative Ecuador about the female position in society. She hopes that an official endorsement of female pleasure will end the treatment of women as sexual objects.

Do you think Soledad Vela should be commended for trying to stop female sexual subordination? Or, is she treading on something intimate that has nothing to do with politics or law? Would you like to see a constitutional right like this in your country?

Source

• Beginning a march from India to Tibet, more than 100 Tibetan exiles are waging a protest against Chinese rule in the region. Using China's time in the spotlight as the host of the upcoming Olympics, Tibetans say this could be their biggest protest since their exile in 1959. The Dalai Lama approved of China hosting the games as it provides a forum for the world to pressure the Chinese government to uphold Olympic ideals of freedom of speech and equality. Using very pointed words, the Dalai Lama said "repression continues to increase with numerous, unimaginable and gross violations of human rights, denial of religious freedom, and the politicization of religious issues" by China.



• The tension between the four Latin American nations that were facing a diplomatic crisis over a Colombian military raid in Ecuador has ended with handshakes and embraces at a summit meeting. The four leaders that had earlier been insulting each other and shooting accusations of treachery, resolved the situation within the span of the meeting. President Rafael Correa of Ecuador shook hands with Colombia’s president, Álvaro Uribe, and said “with the commitment of never attacking a brother country again and by asking forgiveness, we can consider this very serious incident resolved.”
• Yesterday, the leaders of the two major political parties who beat Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last month combined forces and agreed that they would reinstate the judges fired by the president and would also take action to strip him of crucial powers. This agreement is a direct threat to Musharraf as the restored judges could now rule on petitions calling into question the validity of his re-election last October. Critics say Musharraf dismissed the judges last November exactly because he was afraid they would invalidate his presidency. Neither Musharraf nor the White House has commented on the agreement.

Yesterday, the Organization of American States (OAS) declared last weekend's Colombian raid in Ecuador a violation of sovereignty. The US was the only state to support Colombia's decision to enter Ecuador and kill 24 rebels, including a top commander of the insurgency group FARC. So what's the deal with FARC?

FARC is the world's largest, and richest insurgency group, currently waging war with the Colombian government. A Marxist group, its mission is the redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor, and the end of foreign influence by multinational corporations, and the US government.

Taxes levied on drug-traffickers give FARC $300 million in revenue each year. Of course, drug use among the 10,000 - 15,000 rebels is forbidden. Ransom collected from FARC's 3,000 plus kidnappings a year, also bankrolls the group. FARC, which pulls most of its support from rural areas, was founded in 1964, as the military wing of Colombia's Communist Party.

Colombia, with the full support of the US, maintains that Venezuela and Ecuador are assisting the rebels. Colombia is an important US ally, receiving $600 million a year in aid. Leftist countries in the region see the government in Colombia as nothing more than a US puppet.

For more informative background resources, read more