MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Ecuador calls for an end to colonialism in Malvinas, Puerto Rico and Guantanamo
Ecuadorean Minister of Foreign Affairs Ricardo Patiño called on Wednesday for an end to the remains of colonialism and specifically mentioned the Falklands/Malvinas, Puerto Rico and the US Guantanamo base in Cuba. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesEcuador - well known for it's free speech apparently :-)
May 31st, 2012 - 02:42 am - Link - Report abuse 0http://www.cpj.org/blog/2012/05/nations-urge-ecuador-to-guarantee-freedom-of-expre.php
Ecuador: stay away from the US business. Puerto Ricans are US Citizens and do not want to leave the union. What are they going to do outside of the US? Become a 3rd world country?
May 31st, 2012 - 03:18 am - Link - Report abuse 0I can tell that most puerto Ricans that I know ( this is just like saying Texans , not as a name imposed by a country) want to be Americans.
Let a face it, probably many of Ecuador s people want to live in the US.
We are not perfect but somehow here you can have a better life.
As far as Guantanamo I can care less. Finally the falklands is an eternal River Boca( my mother was born in Argenrtina so I know about soccer rivalries). I believe it may never end. There is a good thing about being an American living in the continental US and living abroad. When you live here people do not talk about other countries ( as much as it could hurt many people who think we do, well we don't), the bad thing is the same, unless we read newspapers or sites like this we ignore what goes around the world.
God bless you all
http://falklandsnews.wordpress.com/
May 31st, 2012 - 03:32 am - Link - Report abuse 0End colonialism. Give the Falklands to Argentina. Long Live colonialism.....
May 31st, 2012 - 04:43 am - Link - Report abuse 0Ecuador seems to be ran by morons.
More support for Argentina.
May 31st, 2012 - 04:45 am - Link - Report abuse 03 Lorton(Rotted) still alive? For a while I thought that your students played target shooting on you :-)
Comment removed by the editor.
May 31st, 2012 - 04:55 am - Link - Report abuse 0Comment removed by the editor.
May 31st, 2012 - 05:00 am - Link - Report abuse 0End colonialism. Give Ecuador to the Amerindians. Argentina too.
May 31st, 2012 - 05:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0What has a decolonisation process of the Falklands got to do with Argentina.
May 31st, 2012 - 05:32 am - Link - Report abuse 0Option 1: stay a BOT (which is what the population want)
Option 2: have full independence forced on you and leave you defenceless against an aggressive neighbour
There is no Option 3.
Comment removed by the editor.
May 31st, 2012 - 05:55 am - Link - Report abuse 0And Ecuador has how much relevance? Sill we have no actions just toothless words.
May 31st, 2012 - 06:01 am - Link - Report abuse 0It is however nice to see that they reject colonialism and by default respect the self-determination of the islanders.
@2
May 31st, 2012 - 06:04 am - Link - Report abuse 0Sorry, no one cares about the US or Puerto Rico, much less in Argentina. And this website is to insult Argentine war dead, not to talk about the USA.
Irony: a Hispanic in South America preaching about colonialism.
May 31st, 2012 - 06:13 am - Link - Report abuse 0Comment removed by the editor.
May 31st, 2012 - 06:48 am - Link - Report abuse 0Mercopress endorses the above message.
May 31st, 2012 - 07:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0Tobias, even I reported that one for abuse.
May 31st, 2012 - 07:20 am - Link - Report abuse 0Comment removed by the editor.
May 31st, 2012 - 07:40 am - Link - Report abuse 0How nice that Ecuador supports decolonialisation. But according to the UN, that mainly means Independence, not handing Dependent Overseas Territories over to other colonialist powers like Argentina. Oh yes, and Argentina should be de-colonised as suggested by @8
May 31st, 2012 - 08:17 am - Link - Report abuse 0It will still distill to what the Falklands islanders want- as it should be for others in similar circumstances, otherwise none of us are free.
May 31st, 2012 - 08:33 am - Link - Report abuse 0A good statement, covering all the bases in the bigger picture of colonialism in the Americas.
May 31st, 2012 - 08:57 am - Link - Report abuse 0#2 If the Puerto Ricans want to stay American, fine, let Puerto Rico become the 51st state and let them have the same rights to elect Senators and Congressmen as other Americans; to be an “American” but to live in what is effectively a colony of the US, neither independent nor part of the mother country, surely violates their constitutional rights to equality under the law. Independence or statehood, and the same goes for Guam etc, they are the only options compatible with being an equal citizen of somwhere in today's world. As for Guantanamo, no-one cares that you don't care, its an absolute disgrace that its still there after 10 years, holding people some of whom have been cleared of all charges for up to 5 years yet are still being held, and tortured for as long as they are still held most likely, because the system is simply unable to process them. At least it means when you say torture is going on in Cuba you're technically telling the truth!
#8 And the US???
I'm finding myself agreeing with BK for once. The very existence of the Guantanamo bay detention centre is a disgrace to all who believe in democracy and the right to trial by jury, the UK should really pressure the US more on this issue. I also agree that Puerto Rico should either be given full statehood or independence, but yes there is the worry of how it will be as an independent state without US support...
May 31st, 2012 - 09:29 am - Link - Report abuse 0I know the islanders want to retain their UK links, but I really think that independence is the only way forwards for the Falklands. It would stop Argentina's claims dead in their tracks and they could then invite the UK to use their land as a military base if they so wished. I'd like to know what negative effects the islanders see from going for the independence route.
How many times has Puerto Rico voted a big NO to become a part of USA? And how many times more are they to say NO before USA lets them go? Maybe it's like in Ireland, they vote until someone gets their desired outcome...
May 31st, 2012 - 09:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0Boovis
May 31st, 2012 - 10:18 am - Link - Report abuse 0The Falkland Islands may seek independence one day but this will never happen while we live under constant hostility from Argentina. Removal of the soveireignty claim will not change their attitude towards us. As you can see from other posts, the Argentine government cultivates a hatred of the British, a disdain for Falkland Islanders and fury over the presence of a British military base. It will take a generation or two to work this out of their society, if in fact they are minded to do so (will they drop the 'history' lesson they teach in schools?) and we will still need military protection until we are confident we can trust them, which will take a generation or o on our side.
And apart from that, we like being British and have no interest in changing the status quo. Britain is happy with this. I don't why anyone else should make it their business to decide what is right for us.
@23: the problem with Argentina is that they confuse the decolonization debates with their claim for the islands, so to get rid of this one issue would be to give them less of an argument re british colonialism etc. How about the falklands voted for someone to represent them in the UK parliament? That's what various french colonies have done and the decolonization committees have considered this as proof that they are not completely controlled by an outside force and dropped the claims.
May 31st, 2012 - 11:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0The falklands run their own affairs apart from defence and thats because Argentina invaded and remains at least a theoritical threat.
May 31st, 2012 - 11:46 am - Link - Report abuse 0Patiño says in his speech:
May 31st, 2012 - 12:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“It is shameful that even today we are talking about colonized and excluded peoples. Let’s hope this is the last decade of subjugation and disdain towards those condemned in our XXI century”
Where are the 'colonised peoples'? = they are in Argentina. The Amerindians were colonised by the Spanish & murdered by them. They now represent 1.8% of the Argentine population, but are a truly oppressed people under the terms of the decolonisation declaration. When are the immigrants decolonising Argentina?
Where are the subjugated people on the Falklands? = none.
Where are the excluded people? = Argentines are allowed to visit, but not to invade aggressively.
The only disdain is for acts which are illegal under the United Nations charter. If Ecuador believes that these should be legal, then they have no place in the UN.
The Ecuadorian president asks for Self-Determination for the Puerto Ricans, but excludes the Falkland Islanders from the same basic human right.
OAS - Hypocrites all of them.
Who gives a rats arse what bloody Ecuador think, and what right do they have to tell democratic people who they should be. It just defies belief that around the world there are genuine opressed people, some of whom are not far from their own doorstep yet they want a conference to discuss 3000 people who have made their own feelings crystal clear. South Americans really do need to start growing up!
May 31st, 2012 - 12:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Told you we were united :) Don't shoot the messenger :)
May 31st, 2012 - 12:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“When we like what the UN has to say, we immediately enforce it and if possible with heavy bombings and we go well beyond words. But when we don’t like what the UN says we dump it in the dust bin”, said Patiño on criticizing what the described as “double standards and double morals” from the leading powers.
May 31st, 2012 - 12:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Nice Rant...anyone else listening
RG's only use this commitee to colonise the islands for themselves
They care so much they invaded the Falklands and planned to move the people off, to colonise the islands for themselves. And dont throw 1833 false history back at me because we all know the truth. RG's wish to colonise the islands FACT
@28 Guzz
May 31st, 2012 - 12:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ecuador the bastion of free speech, just like all the latam countries. Christ all mighty (pardon my french), the only bastion I can see are those BOTS in the carribean and a bunch of windswept islands 290 miles from the nearest continent.
30
May 31st, 2012 - 12:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Free speach? You mean like the Brit that got “suicided” for wanting to reveal the truth of what happened in Iraq? What was his name? David Kelly, was it?
I think PRs should pay Federal Tax if they want to stay a part of the USA. They cost us a fortune and provide nothing. I say good riddance we don't want or need them for anything.
May 31st, 2012 - 12:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As for Guantanamo kill all of them and close it. There is no reason to keep those psychopaths alive. We should have dropped them in the ocean as soon as we extracted all the info we needed.
...or mayhap you should have eaten their faces before dropping them in the ocean. I mean, why waste it...
May 31st, 2012 - 12:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Pretty soon RGs will be eating soylent green because they have destroyed their farming industry just like Zimbabwe and Venezuela...
May 31st, 2012 - 12:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As long as they don't take on your food culture, I wont stop them... Faces man, that's bloody out of order...
May 31st, 2012 - 01:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0How can Puerto Rico be an American State when their national language is Spanish?. If they do become an American State then Spanish would be recognised as the second language of The USA.
May 31st, 2012 - 01:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@25 Argieland is not a “theoretical” threat. It is an actual, every day threat. Just look at argieland's actions. Despite incontrovertible evidence of the falsity of their “claim”, they persist with it. They deny “innocent right of passage”. They interfere with the trade relations of other countries. They take actions against the FI that are tantamount to “acts of war”. They breach the UN Charter daily. Try the following Articles: Article 1(2), Article 2(3) & (4), Article 55 and Article 74.
May 31st, 2012 - 01:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@24 As honoria has pointed out, the Falklands are happy with the existing situation vis a vis Britain. Adopting a French mechanism would achieve what? The Falkland Islands are “administered” under a British system that Britain is happy with, the Falkland Islanders are happy with and with which the UN Trusteeship Council is satisfied. If the Islanders want something else, they can ask for it. They haven't.
@31 No, we mean like the 30,000 argies that got “disappeared” between 1976 and 1983. Not forgetting the confirmation from argie military intelligence that they “disappeared” 22,000 themselves between late 1975 and mid-July 1978. That's just 3 years. Plenty of time before 1983 to “disappear” the other 8,000. Or more! And Uruguay is not blameless. Unless you want to tell us you never saw all those flights over the River Plate and the little objects (with flailing arms) falling from the aircraft. 22 a day. Every day. No bodies on your side of the river?
Independence for the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador's colony in the Pacific Ocean.
May 31st, 2012 - 01:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 032 yankeeboy
May 31st, 2012 - 01:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Fred, keep working hard, Puerto Ricans looove your quota(welfare)checks every month :-)))))
If you blame Argentina and Uruguay for what their respective regimes did under the NON-elected military dictatorships, you are just fishing for arguments, and I wont bother explaining it to you, as you obviously don't understand what a military dictatorship means.
May 31st, 2012 - 01:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Uruguay were not watching the Argentinian flights, we were busy getting tortured by our own military, with a helping hand of the CIA.
Read your (our) history before you comment on it! I understand if you don't care, but if that's the case, eat your nails and don't bloody comment.
Aussie, the US doesn't have an official language. Each state does like Texas English and Spanish Louisiana English and French etc.
May 31st, 2012 - 01:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Guantamo like I said dont care much. Jut close it.
Technically Spanish is well spoken around the states since we have a large Hispanic American population. And for the likes of those who like to speak without fundaments most of them have been here for generations and many before this country was born (see west Texas and all the way to the pacific.
As an American I can care less what people speak as long as we all get along.
They are an annoying nusicance with a lound mouth but almost no capability to back anything they say up.
May 31st, 2012 - 01:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Although pulling off some ill considered stunt is alaways a possiblity.
Country with overseas territory calls for the end of colonialism.
May 31st, 2012 - 01:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 041
May 31st, 2012 - 01:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0US has official language which is -- American English --.
Aussie English is better than Americans and British using.
“US has official language which is -- American English --”
May 31st, 2012 - 02:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0No. There is no official US language. It is official in several states but not as a whole country. It's an “unofficial” language.
“Aussie English is better than Americans and British using.”
No.
Ecuador - Colony, taken from indigenous people.
May 31st, 2012 - 03:08 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Argentina - Colony, taken from indigenous people.
Falklands - Colony, formerly uninhabited.
Note the UN Decolonialisation process involves the inhabitants of the territory deciding for themselves. Self determination.
The Uruguayan dictatorship came about after a democratically elected executive and parliament called out the military to help combat urban terrorist guerillas aided and abetted by Cuba. But when these terrorists had been defeated and were in exile or in prison, the military took over the government and cancelled the legally elected authorities' political rights.
May 31st, 2012 - 03:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Subsequent treatment of prisoners of the military was unforgivably cruel and completely unexcusable because there was no longer any terrorist threat. Many of the torture sessions, sometimes ending in death, were to obtain information about money stolen by terrorists years earlier, rather than information of a military or political nature.
Many of Uruguay's present-day Gov't authorities were illegally imprisoned, mistreated and tortured during the dictatorship. That they have forsaken violence and turned to democratic process is very much to their credit.
But I don't see what this has to do with Argentine policy regarding the Falklands.
40 - Cop out...it happened air brushing it from history is just what a weak country does. If Agentina invaded tomorrow it would be a hugely popular move, as it was in 82,. what's democratic about the current rg government, kircher youth buy votes with food and cash, its corrupt as hell. So sorry don't buy it. It happened and it was massively popular, hence the countries fixation with the Falklands, even a football leauge named after it. Get over your humiliation at losing and try to make friends with th islanders as they ain't going anywhere.
May 31st, 2012 - 04:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0& 46
May 31st, 2012 - 06:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Australia ?....New Zealand ?....Diego Garcia ?...some Pacific Islands?
Rhodesia ?....Belize ?....
Patino is another politician who lacks facts and is pandering to the whims of Argentina.
May 31st, 2012 - 07:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0If he had done some research he would have discovered that Argentina has no legal right to the Falkland Islands and their claims are based on misinformation regarding historical facts and geographical proximity.
Hasn't Mr Patino heard about the rights of 'self determination?'
And as far as Puerto Rico goes the last pole taken showed that approximately 50% want Statehood but only 2.5% want independence. Of course CFK supports the Puerto Rico independence movement.
eye still say
May 31st, 2012 - 07:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0the falklands should now be incorperated into great britain fully,
yes or no.
this would end this greedy argentine crap, and the bloogers will simply move to claim atlantis .
mmmmmmmm
& 45
May 31st, 2012 - 08:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The official language is the constitution written language.
is that for all of us,
May 31st, 2012 - 08:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0as i think mine was in latin, or ye old english,
one must have a look .
Am I the only one to see that all the countries in South America are colony’s stolen from the local inhabitants that resided there first. Shear hypocrisy from a dumb idiot.
Jun 01st, 2012 - 08:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0ynsere
Jun 01st, 2012 - 11:04 am - Link - Report abuse 0Two questions for you:
When did the military take power in Uruguay?
When was Liber Arce murdered?
41 Good point!!
Jun 01st, 2012 - 01:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@31 Guzz
Jun 01st, 2012 - 03:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0What do you know that the police do not?
Maybe one day your country will be as free as the uk but I'm not holding my breath.
&57 Musky
Jun 01st, 2012 - 07:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Unfortunately at this moment Argentina is sandwiched in between Benin and Burkina Faso as one of the most corrupt countries in the World. This reflects badly on their democracy, and aspirations.
'Independence for the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador's colony in the Pacific Ocean.'
Jun 01st, 2012 - 09:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0..and Easter Island, gordo1 @38.
'If you blame Argentina and Uruguay for what their respective regimes did under the NON-elected military dictatorships, you are just fishing for arguments, and I wont bother explaining it to you, as you obviously don't understand what a military dictatorship means.
Uruguay were not watching the Argentinian flights, we were busy getting tortured by our own military, with a helping hand of the CIA.
Read your (our) history before you comment on it! I understand if you don't care, but if that's the case, eat your nails and don't bloody comment.'
Except that most of Argentine history consists of caudillist demagogues alternating with military dictatorships, Guzz@40. Peron was both, which might explain why Peronism is so popular and long-lasting.
Ecuador has possibly less credibility than Bolivia when it comes to lubing up for Hugo Chavez. It's amazing that they're still yelling about this issue. It's over. The islands are not going to belong to Argentina.
Jun 01st, 2012 - 10:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Why didn't he mention the French colony?
Jun 02nd, 2012 - 02:21 am - Link - Report abuse 0@38 Gordfo - nice point!
Jun 03rd, 2012 - 06:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@61 Pete Bog - I wouldn't claim to understand the machinations of this bizarre committee C-24 but it seems all the Falkland Islanders would need to do to have the same status as the French territory in the eyes of the C-24 would be to elect an MP to the British parliament. Then the Falklands would be part of Britain in the same way that French Guyana is a part of France and that presumably would be fine for the C-24. The fact that the Falkland Islanders choose to do things differently and Britain chooses to go about a different relationship with it's overseas territories to the way France does in this case seems to make it a target for this bunch of busybodies. It is difficult to comprehend...it's not like you hear any great noise from the peeps in St Helena to be independent, or any other BOT for that matter.
BTW where is Greek Yoghurt, I do miss his posts
And I will like to second Ecuador's opinion on Islas Malvinas cause and all occupied territory by european illegal aliens.
Jun 03rd, 2012 - 11:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!