Las Elecciones y La Ley Seca

I don't know if it made the news there in the states, but yesterday was an election day in Ecuador. Rafael Correa was recently elected president in January and has promised to change the political power from the hands of a few wealthy to the people. So yesterday 78.2 percent of the country voted to get rid of the old assembly and create one that is made up of local people, nominated and elected locally that will then re-write the constitution. A great article can be found here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6561961.stm

Now, any election is exciting, especially in a country where voting is obligatory. But a funny cultural aspect is that from Friday to Sunday, the whole country (and they did this in venezuela, too) is under la ley seca, or a dry law. No alcohol can be sold nor consumed publically, presumably so that people don't vote drunk. I always wondered if or how they enforce such a law, but here they certainly do. All the election coverage went from the latest statistical projections to the latest tally in each major town of how many drunks were arrested. Interviews were conducted outside the polls and inside the jails. It was quite an interesting few hours of t.v.!

Personally, I'm thrilled about the positive changes in politics here and in Latin America and I encourage you all to stay informed about the current situtation here in Ecuador! ¡La Patria ya es de todos!