ECUADOR STATE OF EMERGENCY

Following the announcement on 1 October by Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno of harsh austerity measures, the country has been rocked by a nationwide strike of transportation workers and joined by students and indigenous groups. 

Last February, Moreno made a deal with the International Monetary Fund for a $4.2 billion loan in exchange for some $1.4 billion in government cutbacks, which have deepened hardship among the general public. 

Protestors are angry over government measures that canceled fuel subsidies and weakened labor protections while generous tax breaks were offered to corporations. They are calling for a repeal of the austerity measures and resignation of President Moreno. 

In response, Morena decreed a state of emergency, suspending civil rights and allowing authorities to seize public and private property.

Ecuador’s largest social unrest in 14 years, it has resulted in over 500 arrests. As we go to press on 8 October, protesters continue to paralyze roads and block highways throughout the country. 

TREND FORECAST: As the global slowdown speeds up and economies go down, the wave of men, women, and children fleeing poverty, repression, violence, and corruption to seek safe-haven nations will dramatically increase. 

While the mainstream media briefly reported on these important stories with major trend implications, they quickly vanished from U.S. news media.

Instead, the Internet and airwaves are being flooded with heavy doses of the Trump/Biden/Ukraine Impeachment melodrama.