Standing up for What they Beleive in

Hi there
I hope this to be a short blog..... I hope but I feel really passionate about this so who knows when I get a rattling along.
Tomorrow is the first time we will experience a National strike. This is where, in this case, the Indigenous persons will block all the roads in Ecuador, in protest of the new mining laws.
I understand that the miners are shockingly..... mostly Canadian companies. Most of the issues are referring to gold but also other minerals that are abuntant here. Those environmentally concerned companies (not) are chomping at the bit to get in there and start raping with the fervor of valkries. Since Rob has a very good understanding of the goings on of these industries and has directly witnessed the exploitation what the large companies do and how they manipulate the laws, especially when they think that no one is looking, plus we understand the results of the 25 year long oil spill in the Ecuadorian jungle, again caused by outside country companies, that has been what can only be discribed as the worlds' worst man-made catastrophe. I support these people fully. These people are afraid what happened in the jungle, the devestation of lives and environment, will happen in many other places here in Ecuador. This is a very natural resourse rich country.
Texico, I beleive was the company that happily and recklessly spilled their petro and or wastes for 25 years, for the priviledge of making sooooo much money at the expence of lives and land, and have since refused to clean up their mess. They are certainly not interested , (pardon my french)or give a shit, what will happen to or what has happened to those people and the jungle. Gee, I wonder why the citizens are not happy. (there is a class action suit going on against said company and I hope they win.) (I have met several people working in the jungle who are trying to solve the problem in both the clean up and the poisoning results to the locals and what they have said hurts my soul).
What I understand, that normally takes place in a National strike, is the protestors will close the highways with all the appropriate signage and cussing. However, I understand that the Ecuadorian military will make a huge pressence and there are expected to be fatalities.
Those who worry when I say this, must realize this action would only take place at the blockages on the roads to various cities and not residences or in towns. So we have no desire to leave the house or get into any kind of trouble, everyone knows where and who to stay away from to keep safe. Apparently, what is to be expected: traditionally, is that you store up stuffs at your house and that is where you hang for most of the day. Usually it is a one day strike, they burn tires on the road, no one travels from city to city and that is the end of that.
What really moves me to blog is, coming from complacent Canada, these people band together passionately, against their chosen government and cause immediate change.
I was involved in the stand against the changes to the medical cutbacks in the 80/90's in BC and our results were: When everyone thought that they were heard and there would be no changes, the government let it slide for six months and told everyone to be happy because they were listened to and with in the six months the government applied those cut backs anyway and changed the laws to make the protests illegal or at least more difficult.
This also happened with the irradiation of dairy laws, actually, it was 8 months before they restocked the shelves with irradiated dairy and only told the stores higher ups and not the public what they were doing. So the masses had absolutely no say in the changes and were kept in ignorance, and unknowingly consume irradiated foods they thought were not irradiated.
Nice eh. We the Canadians, are a sneaky country who doesn't like to fight in public. That's for sure. Here they stand for what they beleive in. No questions and no failing. Apparrently though, this is one of the reasons they have had soooo many presidents over the years and so many government changes. They catch the buggers in the act and oust them out, no long investigations and wasting time, out he goes, simple. Is that really soooo bad. It just seem logical to me somehow.
What I think though, and after having talked with soooo many people/locals about, is they love this president and want him to continue, however they just want to be heard and not allow their country to die. This is more of a stand against the raping of the land and providing voice and body to their feelings. I say all the power to them and burn those tires and block those roads, if that is what can make change happen. I know I don't want to see here another Fort McMurray or jungle exploitation.
Many people, make fun of the protestors here, especially if those people are "extranjeros". They are made fun of because we see burning tires and adding voice and energy to their ideals as primative, but I think if they can create change and cause such discomfort that the government bends, they are not primative at all, the extranjeros are because we just do what our governments dictates without question and without thought. I remember a logo that was out there that I loved and it was "Question Everything", also "there is not such thing as a bad Question".
Just look at the policies of the US that have changed, they, because they listened to their government, they are no longer the free, the proud and the brave,..... are they. Their government has stripped the people of all their rights of freedom because their government said so and want complete blinding control. They even changed ownership of land rights/laws in the US to where an individual doesn't actually own their land. We know of several US citizens who were either going to buy land in Ecuador or hotels and needed to get their money across only to be stopped at the border by the feds and told to put the money back in the country (they were not carrying it on their persons but sending it through the banks.) When those people said it was their money, the feds reply was "It is only your money while you are in the country, it is ours when it is out." Now thats real freedom, eh.
I don't want that to happen here, and I pray that if tire burnings and road closures cause ears to listen, then good for them. REALLY.
Talk with you all later, find your freedom and support life.
Robin