Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Radio La Luna blamed for unrest in Ecuador

I found this article in the Washington Post, which shows how the government is trying to silence the voice of a particular radio station, Radio La Luna, and blames it for the civil unrest of the last couple of days in Quito, Ecuador. Although some protests have turned violent, last week there were many "innovative" protests that show how truly concerned the people are about the country's status. Some protests, for example, included "el globazo", in which people went out on the streets with balloons and then let them go; or "el tablazo" in which people went out with wooden boxes and made loud noises, etc. The involvement in some of these peaceful demonstrations I think shows a new attempt from the people to get their voices heard. Radio La Luna encouraged protests like these against the present, very unstable, government and emphasized that these should be carried out with no interference whatsoever from politicians (opposing parties, for example), that only the voice of the people should be heard. The director of the station has received several death threats, forcing him to relocate his family away from the capital, claiming that such threats are coming from Lucio Gutierrez's government.

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