La embajadora Heather Hodges fue enviada a Ecuador en 2008 por el entonces Presidente George W. Bush. Anteriormente, tuvo una gestión exitosa como embajadora en Moldavia, país socialista que antes formaba parte de la Unión Soviética. En Moldavia dejó sembrada la pista para una “revolución de colores” que ocurrió, sin éxito, en abril 2009 contra la mayoría elegida del partido comunista en el parlamento.

Hodges estuvo frente a la Oficina de Asuntos Cubanos, como Subdirectora en 1991, división del Departamento de Estado que se dedica a promover la desestabilización en Cuba. Dos años después, fue enviada a Nicaragua, para consolidar la gestión de Violeta Chamorro, presidenta seleccionada por Estados Unidos luego de la guerra sucia contra el gobierno Sandista que logró su salida del poder en 1989.

Cuando Bush la envió a Ecuador, era con la intención de sembrar la desestabilización contra Correa, en caso de que el presidente ecuatoriano se negaba a subordinarse a la agenda de Washington. Hodges logró incrementar el presupuesto de la USAID y NED para organizaciones sociales y grupos políticos que promueven los intereses de Estados Unidos, incluso en el sector indígena.

Frente a la reelección del Presidente Correa en 2009, basada en la nueva constitución aprobada en 2008 por una mayoría contundente de ecuatorianos y ecuatorianas, la embajada comenzó a fomentar la desestabilización.

- Detrás del Golpe en Ecuador - Eva Golinger

How did we come to this? Deceived by 20th-century Communism and disillusioned with 21st-century capitalism, we can only hope for new Kravchenkos — and that they come to happier ends. On the search for justice, they will have to start from scratch. They will have to invent their own ideologies. They will be denounced as dangerous utopians, but they alone will have awakened from the utopian dream that holds the rest of us under its sway.
- via Slavoj Zizek Op-Ed Contributor — 20 Years of Collapse — NYTimes.com.

Despite the fact that they constitute only 12% of the U.S. population, immigrants have started 52% of Silicon Valley’s technology companies and contributed to more than 25% of our global patents.
Vivek Wadhwa — Why Skilled Immigrants Are Leaving the U.S. — Business Week

The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national

Bob Woodward — What everybody already knew is now official: USA tortured inmates in gitmo. — Washington Post

Paolo Pellegrin photo essay on the New York Stock Exchange, and its current crisis.

…or “US requests approval from the EU the presence of armed agents in transatlantic flights”

It is clear that the US is turning into — maybe it is already — a police state. By coercing the EU to accept new anti civil liberties regulations with the threat of visa requirements it seems to me that the US is only shooting itself on the foot. It is true that the unity of the EU has not proven to be mature yet, and the interests of the new EU members can play a big role in bilateral negotiations with the US. The new member states have not yet found their place on the European government and can fall short from understanding, or supporting bloc negotiations. They are not used to being big players in the grand scheme of things, and might see this as the opportunity to get some long awaited benefits from being in good terms with the US government.

On the other hand, the US is not in position right now to be cocky. Their economy does not resemble the American industrial machine of the past, and eight years of a diarrhea foreign policy has destroyed their image in the eyes of the world. Yet, again they make demands like a spoiled child, shouting aggressively and making threats.