Here's a link to a Ecuador news report on the part of today's radio show Correa dedicated to the mining issues. It gives a much better representation that the spin Reuters is putting on the story. Reuters took a small issue and turned it into the headline, presumably because it was the only thing that could possibly be turned into something negative.

Because it reflects Correa's words far more faithfully, here's my translation of the confirmado dot net story linked above. As usual, I'm happy with both my level of Spanish and this translation, but remember I'm not a sworn translator and you should consider getting a second opinion before making any decisions based on the contained information.

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"The position of the gov't is "yes" to responsible mining", President Rafael Correa said this Saturday during his radio program transmitted from Zaruma, in the province of El Oro.

The President asked groups that completely reject (mining) activity to suppress their "inflexible positions". On this subject, he asked "In what country in the world is mining prohibited?"

He ratified his joint responsibility along with the Constitutional Assembly for the elaboration of the mining mandate (decree). He stated that they were strong measures that have been established, but that they were necessary. He reminded those present that the Assembly has granted a 180 day term to produce a new mining law with "concessions granted in a technical and rational way."

He explained that by the term "responsible mining" he means negotiating contracts that benefit all concerned, that is to say "royalties are paid to the owner of the resource (the State), protecting the environment and allowing the participation of the communities that live in the zones where the activities are realized."

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That last part is a direct Correa quote, and makes it look very different. As I wrote earlier, the whole Correa radio section on mining this morning sounded very positive for the industry in Ecuador. So shove that up your editorial control, Reuters. As mentioned before, it's your responsibility to report the facts as stands, and not cherrypick the facts you want and then spin them whichever way you want. You can smell the BS from here.