Ecuador votes to end 500 years of bullfighting

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Irish Times

The Irish Times - Monday, May 9, 2011
Ecuador votes to end 500 years of bullfighting

TOM HENNIGAN in São Paulo

~snip~
As well as ending the killing of bulls in the ring, voters in a referendum held on Saturday outlawed cockfighting and casino gambling. More controversially, President Rafael Correa won approval for new controls on the country’s media and financial sectors.

Voters backed all 10 constitutional reforms backed by the popular Mr Correa, who campaigned hard in favour of the new measures. Provisional results though from electoral authorities show the margin of victory was tighter than expected.

The president’s opponents had claimed the referendum was the latest moves in his campaign since taking power in 2007 to strengthen the power of Ecuador’s executive. However, at a victory rally on Saturday night, Mr Correa called the result a victory for his “citizens’ revolution”, saying voters had not been scared off by a “ferocious opposition” and a corrupt press. “We have beaten them all,” he told supporters.

Bullfighting has long been a traditional pastime of Ecuador’s European-descended elite. Its supporters sought to portray the proposed ban as an attack on their freedom of expression and cultural heritage and claimed an end to the spectacle would leave 100,000 people out of work.

Read more: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0509/1224296491068.html