Word: ballen
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...fishermen, corrupt politicians and a charismatic leader named Eduardo Veliz, the Galapagos' delegate to the National Congress. Tapping into widespread local resentment, Veliz pushed a law through the Congress that would give the islands enormous autonomy in setting their own rules for tourism and development. When President Sixto Duran Ballen vetoed the legislation and substituted a less favorable bill of his own, Veliz and his allies launched last month's mini-insurrection, threatening to hold tourists hostage and set fire to parts of the park if their demands for more home rule were...
...there is incredible,'' former Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose de la Puente Rabdill told reporters last week. But no geological studies of the site have been done. Instead, the skirmishing may have had more to do with domestic politics, as both Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori and Ecuadorian President Sixto Duran Ballen used the long-standing border quarrel to bolster their own popularity...
Ecuador's Duran Ballen is also beleaguered. His free-market economic reforms have provoked protests, especially after the privatization of the national telephone company and a series of utility price hikes. Critics speculate that the President may be encouraging the border fighting in an effort to appease an army disgruntled by last year's 35% cut in the military budget. Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Alberto Molina denies that soldiers are resentful: ``We've been cutting back for decades, and the armed forces would not provoke a confrontation just to be humiliated. We all know that Peru could blast...
...that is claimed by Ecuador. Two days later, Ecuadorian soldiers discovered a contingent of a dozen or so Peruvians in the same area. ``As soon as we ordered them to identify themselves, they opened fire. Since that day Peruvians have attacked nine Ecuadorian towns in the area,'' says Duran Ballen. Ecuador responded by mobilizing some 60,000 troops and accusing the Peruvians of attacking with helicopters that the U.S. had donated for drug-suppression programs...