I am with you on this one Fatman. I think thief is too kind a word.

ARU management has to be tactful and prudent in the negotiations. They have to be car full of what they say.

As investors we do not. When someone is stealing or proposing to steal your property the proper response is anger. If they think they can get away with it and Canadians will just accept it then they will think we are a bunch of pansy's and that they can take more and we will still invest. I think we should let the Ecuadorian government know that that is not the case.

I think they got the point already. That reference to Canadian GDP in Correa's last speech was no accident. Neither was his mention of extremist elements financed from abroad. The man was incredibly tactful in not mentioning the role some Canadians play in that regard, in fact you could almost characterize this as a battle between Canadians being fought on Ecuadorian soil.

For my part, I'm content to let the Ecuadorean public figure out who the real imperialists are. We're not telling them how to live. We're not trying to shut them down. We're offering jobs and investment. All we want in return is a fair deal. So, what do the Greens have to offer? What's their grand economic plan that's going to put food on the tables of 14 million people?

If this were taking place in Canada or the US would you have the same response or would you be angry and in a mood to fight back?

Let's not forget that Correa is in a fight of his own right now, and by most accounts against a common enemy. This may have been a necessary tactic that went astray, or perhaps had a purpose we can't perceive from afar. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now, and if I'm wrong, well, there's an election coming up. I'll wager people down there have a better idea than we do who's responsible for this mess and will take that into account when they cast their ballots.

ebear