Galo Lara: “We’re helpless” in Ecuador

Ecuador Times had the opportunity to talk with the Assemblyman of Sociedad Patriotica political party, Galo Lara. The assemblyman referred to the current state of politics in Ecuador.

“Helpless”

Galo Lara

‘I thank God, my fellow Assembly members and the thousands of people who informed me via Facebook and Twitter about a complaint that president Correa submitted against me on September 15 (2011) at the Attorney but nobody of the Office notified me.’

The prosecution moved that President Correa’s report to the National Court of Justice on October 8 (2011) and the National Court of Justice neither notified me.

The same complaint was taken to the National Assembly on November 10 (2011) where President Correa calls for the lifting of my immunity and no one notified me on that.

What is clear is that in Ecuador we are in a state of helplessness. If this happens to an assemblyman, what is going to happen to an ordinary citizen.

The President of the Court of Justice, Maria Leonor Viteri, was removed from her office because she said “judges swallows” but there was never investigated whether there has been manipulation in the sentence of Diario El Universo. (Yesterday the Secretary of that court said she was given the sentence of Diario El Universo Case already written).

Yesterday, it was clear that the vote of the 71 Assembly members rejecting the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of Galo Lara did not mean that Lara Galo won, it meant the triumph of democracy in Ecuador; the triumph of justice, the truth triumphed.

On the “most expensive tax that Ecuadorians pay”

They wanted to shut up and stop the corruption allegations with dictatorial maneuvers. We will continue to fight corruption, which is the most expensive tax that Ecuadorians pay: Only in the oil sector it means $ 400 million; in public works, the same. In the power sector, some 400 million dollars. Corruption means 1,200 million dollars a year in this country.

The finger assignments and contracts have replaced the public procurement law, the tendering and price competition to choose the best deals. The economic conditions, in the practice, are dead letters. Those who live in Carondelet (the Presidential Palace) manage corruption by mobile phone in this country.

Correa and international agencies

Since I went to the Human Rights Commission and gave a CD containing documents of the violation of the human rights in Ecuador, associations, institutions, media, politics of any Kind have come to speak there.

It happens now that President Correa does not respect the Human Rights Commission, does not Respect Human Rights Organizations with which Ecuador have a signed agreement.

Ecuador is living now in a dictatorship. That state in which you would get a complaint and notice nobody is serious in Ecuador. (…) I call to do what we did yesterday in the Assembly: To ask for respect.

We see that President Fernando Cordero allowed to enter a tax law through the Ministry of Law and tried to lift the parliamentary immunity of Galo Lara (…) without notifying the defendant.

He said on television yesterday that the 71 assembly members who voted for immunity are hypocrites. He must prove it by giving names. He cannot stay ahead of the legislative function because he is not defending the institutions of the legislative function. He abandoned the office of President of the Assembly with everything he has been saying. (FO)