I've been going over the Constitution and all I can say is it makes my head hurt. It reads more like a grab bag of wishful thoughts than an actual legal document. Some of it is clear and concise, but some of it is just a jumble of half-formed ideas with no possible hope of execution.

I ran some of it through google - parts which seem to be of interest to us, although there's other sections that affect us as well - if you can find them. An index would have been nice. They put something they call an index at the front, but it's really just a table of contents - no page numbers either.

I'm going to reserve judgement until I've read more of it and can get my head around what it is they're actually trying to achieve. A lot of it seems like it should have been enacted as legislation, not embedded in a Constitution. I think the intent was to make it hard to change, but that could well turn around and bite them down the road. I'm no lawyer, but I can already see holes big enough to drive a TEREX 6300 through (I love those trucks!).

Well, enough from me. Read it, and see what you think. It's the usual convoluted google translation, but trust me, it sounds just as convoluted in Spanish. Think I'll pop a couple of aspirins now before I go any further. Enjoy!

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Title VI
Development scheme

First Chapter
General principles

Art. 275.-The development scheme is all organized, sustainable and dynamic of
economic, political, socio-cultural and environmental guaranteeing
realization of good living, sumak kawsay.

The state planned development of the country to guarantee the exercise of the rights,
achieving the objectives of the development scheme and the principles enshrined in the
Constitution. The planning conducive to social equity and territorial promote the
consultation, and will be participatory, decentralized, devolved and transparent.

The good life requires that individuals, communities, peoples and nationalities enjoy
effectively their rights and responsibilities exercised within the
multiculturalism, of respect for their diversity, and of harmonious coexistence with the
nature.

Art. 276.-The development scheme will have the following objectives:

1. Improving the quality and life expectancy, and enhance the capabilities and potentials
of the population under the principles and rights that sets the
Constitution.

2. Build an economic system, just, democratic, productive, caring and
sustainable based on the equal distribution of the fruits of development, the
means of production and generating decent jobs, stable.

3. Encourage participation and social control, with appreciation the various
identities and promote their equitable representation at all stages of the
management of public power.

4. Recovering and preserving nature and maintain a healthy and sustainable environment that
guaranteed to individuals and communities and permanent access to water quality,
air and soil, and the benefits of subsoil resources and natural heritage.

5. Ensuring national sovereignty, promote Latin American integration and boost
strategic insertion in the international context, which contributes to peace and a
democratic and equitable global system.

6. To promote a balanced and equitable land use planning that integrates and articulate
sociocultural activities, administrative, economic and management, and
contribute to the unity of the state.

7. Protect and promote cultural diversity and respect their space and reproduction
exchange; recover, preserve and enhance social memory and heritage
cultural.

Art. 277.-In pursuit of good living, are general duties of government:

1. Ensuring the rights of individuals, communities and nature

2. Direct, plan and regulate the development process.

3. Generate and implement public policies and monitor and punish its failure.

4. Producing goods, building and maintaining infrastructure, and provide public services.

5. To encourage the development of economic activities through a legal order and
political institutions that promote, encourage and defend through
compliance with the Constitution and law.

6. To promote and encourage science, technology, arts, ancestral knowledge and
overall activities of the initiative creative community, associations, cooperatives
and private.

Art. 278.-In pursuit of good living, individuals and communities, and their
various organizational forms require them to:

1. To participate in all phases and areas of governance and planning
national and local development, and implementation and monitoring of compliance with plans
development at all levels.

2. Produce, exchange and consumption of goods and services with social responsibility and
Environmental.

Chapter II
Participatory planning for development

Art. 279 .- The national system of decentralized participatory planning organize the
planning for development. The system is composed of a National Council
Planning, to integrate different levels of government, with participation
citizen and a technical secretariat, which will coordinate. The National Council of
Planning will aim to issue the guidelines and policies to guide the
system and approve the National Development Plan, and will be chaired by the President or
President of the Republic.

The councils planning will be decentralized self-government
presided over by its leading representatives, and integrated in accordance with the law.

The city councils will be deliberative bodies and generation of guidelines and
long-term strategic consensus, which will guide national development

Art. 280.-The National Development Plan is the tool that will be subject to the policies,
programs and public projects, programming and implementation of the state budget,
and investment and allocation of public resources. Its observance will be in nature

mandatory for the public sector, and indicative for other sectors.

Chapter third
Economic Sovereignty

Section I
Economic system and economic policy

Art. 281.-The social and economic system is solidarity; recognizes human beings as subjects
and order; propende a dynamic and balanced relationship between society, state and market,
in harmony with nature, and aims to ensure the production and
reproduction of material and immaterial conditions that enable good living.

The economic system is composed of forms of economic organization public
private, mixed popular and solidarity, and others that the Constitution determined. The
economy and people's solidarity being governed by law and include a cooperative sectors,
associative and community.

Members of the economic system and primarily the State tended to:

1. To encourage domestic production, productivity and competitiveness systemic,
accumulation of scientific and technological knowledge; insertion in the strategic
global economy and productive activities complementary integration
Regional.

2. Ensuring food sovereignty and energy.

3. Promote the incorporation of value added with maximum efficiency within the
biophysical limits of nature and respect for life and cultures.

4. Generate internal processes of integration between regions and between rural and urban
in the economic, social and cultural development.

5. Promote full employment, valuing all forms of work, with respect to
labour rights.

6. Facilitating the exchange fair and complementary goods and services in markets
transparent and efficient, with priority attention to the satisfaction of
needs of individuals and society.

7. To promote the solidarity and equitable distribution of profits
socially in the processes of production and exchange.

8. Stimulating consumption socially and environmentally responsible.

Art. 282.-The economic policy will have the following purposes:

1. Making effective enforcement of rights under this Constitution,
the objectives of the development scheme and the National Development Plan.

2. Ensuring adequate distribution of income and national wealth.

3. Maintaining economic stability, defined as the maximum level of production and
employment sustainable over time, within the limits of biophysical nature.

Section second
Tax policy

Art. 283.-Fiscal policy will have specific objectives as:

1. Making effective enforcement of rights under the Constitution.

2. The financing services, investment and public goods.

3. The redistribution of income through transfers, taxes and subsidies
adequate.

4. The generation of incentives for investment in different sectors of
economy and to produce goods and services, socially desirable and
environmentally acceptable.

Art. 284.-Public finances at all levels of government, conduct themselves so
sustainable, accountable and transparent, and ensure economic stability. The
permanent expenditure will be funded with permanent income and expenses not
permanent non-permanent income.

The permanent expenditure for health, education and justice will be a priority and, so
Exceptionally, may be financed with revenue not permanent.

Art. 285.-A rule that cree an obligation financed with public funds
determine the source of funding. Only institutions
public law may be financed with taxes and special contributions established
by law.

Art. 286.-The buying public will comply with criteria of efficiency, transparency,
quality, environmental and social responsibility. It will prioritize products and services
nationals, particularly from the popular economy and solidarity, and the
micro, small and medium-sized production units.

Section third
Public debt

Art. 287.-The hiring of public debt at all levels of government are governed by
the guidelines of the respective planning and budget, and shall be authorized by the
Debt and Financing Committee in accordance with the law, which define its shape and
operation. The State shall promote the bodies to monitor and citizen power
audit public debt.

Art. 288.-The public debt is subject to the following regulations:

1. We shall resort to public borrowing only when tax revenues and resources
from international cooperation is insufficient.

2. Care should be taken so that public debt should not affect the sovereignty, rights,
the good life and the preservation of nature.

3. With public debt will be financed exclusively programmes and projects
investment in infrastructure, or who have financial ability to pay. Only
may refinance foreign debt, provided that the new conditions are
more beneficial to Ecuador.

4. The agreements contain no renegotiation, in a tacit or express, no
anatocismo or form of usury.

5. Will be to challenge the debts that are declared illegitimate by
Competent Body. If declared illegal, is the right to exercise
repetition.

6. It prohibits the nationalization of private debts.

7. The granting of guarantees of debt by the state being governed by law.

8. The executive is not obliged to assume debts of self-government
decentralized.

Art. 289.-The bodies that the Constitution and the law made determined
financial analysis, social and environmental impact of previous projects
involving public borrowing, to determine possible funding. Such
bodies perform monitoring and auditing financial, social and environmental at all
phases of internal and external public debt, both in hiring and in the
management and renegotiation.

***

ebear