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Wednesday November 7, 2007

World Vision rejects accusations of Ecuadorian government

Carlos Ramos, QUITO, Ecuador, March 24, 2006

The Evangelical body World Vision rejected accusations made by President Alfredo Palacio who accused it Taxi Heathrow Airport of mobilizing indigenous groups against the Free Trade Agreement that the government is currently negotiating with the Untied States.

World Vision, a humanitarian institution that has been working in the country for the past 28 years said that its work consists in overcoming the poverty that the indigenous suffer, according to the president of the Ecuadorian Branch, Pastor Roberto Proaño.

This California-based institution is working in the provinces with the largest indigenous population such as Imbabura, Tungurahua, Cotopaxi y Chimborazo where the most significant mobilizations and highway blockades have taken place.

The Palacio government, after 12 days of protests, announced several measures that, according to analysts, are aimed at showing that they have control over the situation in order to pave the way to signing the FTA.

This include declaring a State of Emergency, a curfew after 10:00 pm and authorization for the police and military to use force to open up the highways.

President Palacio said that NGOs are funding the mobilization of the indigenous and said that according to military and police intelligence, one of these is World Vision.

He also accused three Spanish citizens of agitating the marches, canceling their visa and proposing that they be removed from the country. However, it was not clear whether they had been detained.