The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
WikiLeaks is playing a central role in helping National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden apply for political asylum in Ecuador. Michael Ratner, an attorney for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, praised Ecuador for standing up to the United States. "They’re trying to bully other countries, not only by pulling his passport away so that he can’t travel, but by saying, 'Send him back to us. Don't take him in. There’ll be consequences,’" Ratner says....
Ecuador is often in the news for harbouring WikiLeaks' Julian Assange in its London embassy, but this week it is making headlines because President Rafael Correa has won the country's most recent presidential elections with 61% of the vote. Analysts argue that Correa's electoral success is based on the fact that he has brought stability to the country. Unemployment reached a record low of 4.1% at the end of last year. Poverty is down 27% since he took office and education spending has doubled...
Julian Assange talks to the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. Correa is a left wing populist who has changed the face of Ecuador. Unlike his predecessors, he holds a Ph.D. in economics. According to US embassy cables, Correa is the most popular President in Ecuador's democratic history. But in 2010 he was taken hostage in an attempted coup d'etat. He blames the coup attempt on corrupt media and has launched a controversial counter-offensive. Correa says the media defines what reforms are...
International Living magazine has just declared Ecuador the number one place in the world to retire. Yet the country seems to otherwise get fairly negative press in the West. What makes Ecuador such a great place to retire? It could be the massive amount it is investing in social infrastructure from monies collected by increasing taxation on the rich and changing the royalty structure of oil companies operating in the country, where the government now receives 87% of all oil revenues -- and...
