LETTER FROM THE AMBASSADOR TO THE WASHINGTON POST

Dear Editor,
The use of the phrase "constitutional coup," to describe the reform process in Ecuador (Crackup in Bolivia?, Editorial, December 14, 2007) is not only incorrect, it’s Orwellian.

Ecuador has suffered through a decade-long constitutional crisis, with a lack of rule of law that has resulted in eight presidents in ten years. President Correa was elected with an overwhelming mandate to solve this problem through the creation of a new constitution. Constitutional reform was his key campaign promise and he won handily with 58 percent of the vote in elections deemed free and fair by Organization of American States and European Union election observers. The formation of a Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution was then approved by 80 percent of Ecuadorians in a national referendum last April and delegates were elected to serve in the Assembly in another national vote, duly observed by the Carter Center, in September.

If this process of nationwide participatory democracy, certified by international observers and representing the will of Ecuadorian citizens, is a "coup," then George Orwell was right: War must be peace, freedom must be slavery and ignorance must be strength.

Sincerely,
LUIS GALLEGOS
Ambassador
Embassy of Ecuador - Washington

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