From: Familia Valdivieso <valdivieso@accessinter.net>

MIME-Version: 1.0

Subject: Re: Equador's government

>Dear Ms. t.,

> Could you please send us information on the political system in

>Equador? It would be good if you could come to our class after lunch (when you get back)

>someday. Thank you.

>7th grade red team, Shiloh and Sandy

Hi girls. Ecuador (spelled with a "C") is a republic. They vote for their

president. Many of the people there are natives who are illiterate and very

poor. They will vote for anyone who promises money or services for the poor

people. Most of these promises are never kept, they are just said to get

votes. Ecuador has had 20 or 30 different constitutions in the past years

and they are working on another new one right now. The last president they

had was removed by the people and he ran away with $50,000,000 of profits

from the sale of oil. The government doesnt have enough control, they cant

enforce the laws they make. They seem to have military bases all over the

place. They also have many military men with rifles in banks, hotels,

supermarkets and other public places for security. Also they have road

blocks to check the vehicles. This was a little scary for me. Some of these

guys with these big rifles looked like they were about 14 years old. They

have no traffic laws, you can drive as fast as you want and the roads are

in bad shape so its dangerous.

I did have a heated discussion with my host "dad" one night while driving

to Quito. My spanish is not that advanced to have understood everything he

said but he felt very strongly about it thats for sure. For example, that

night (it was two days before I was to leave for home) we had to leave

Riobamba in a big hurry because the main road, the Pan American Highway,

was to be closed the following day. I would not have been able to make my

flight out of the country if we didnt leave that very day. The reason for

this is that the government was planning to raise the prices of gas,

electricity and telephone. The people were protesting by blocking the road

with trees and marches of hundreds of people in the road. They had done

this before. So we had to pack quickly and drive 4 hours to Quito that

night. There were already some fires in the middle of the road. And that

day we had seen hundreds of school children in their uniforms marching and

shouting something in the streets of Riobamba. I was told that their

protests would not help change anything but this is what they did. Some of

the Spanish people there believe that the native indians who are illiterate

and can not read or be really informed should not have the right to vote.

There is a big difference in the classes there. The Spanish are very rich

and the natives are very poor. There is not a visible middle class, if

there is I didnt see it. I saw a few row houses on a street and was told

that was a middle class neighborhood.

Ecuador is a very rich country, it has many natural resources. It has

tropical rain forest, with lush trees and mecidinal plants, it has great

possibilities for development of its beautiful coastline and beaches. It

has huge areas of fruit trees and perfect growing conditions all year

round. It has natural reserves of oil. It has awesome mountains and much

rich farmland for cattle and agriculture. It needs to be developed by

people who know what they are doing to make money for the country and then

also they help its poor people. Many of the other countries in South

America are arid and dry and brown, nothing grows there. Ecuador has four

distinct different regions and is very fertile. It is a very beautiful

country. Have you gone to the web site on Ecuador?

Here is the url: http://www.ddg.com/LIS/aurelia/ecuado.htm

I wish I could have helped you more on the government but thats all I know.

If I think of anything else I will write again. This web site tells about

the government too.

Mrs. Tenenbaum