QUITO (Reuters) – The brother and opponent of Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa appealed for a tolerant attitude rather than a hard line against political foes after the government’s apparent comfortable victory in a referendum.

Correa already has been cast as an autocrat by opponents after four years as president but Saturday’s vote looked set to endorse 10 reforms giving the executive greater control over the judiciary and media.

“They didn’t thrash us as they said, by four to one,” older brother Fabricio Correa told Reuters. “The goal was always to tell the president ‘You have to be tolerant, you have to listen … to those of us who think differently.’”

Initial results showed the president ahead in all of the referendum’s questions by between 51 and 57 percent.

“It’s indisputable he won,” Fabricio said.

Previously close political allies, the brothers parted ways in 2009 when Fabricio was fingered in corruption accusations involving state contracts.

They may now run against each other in a presidential election due for 2013 in the Andean OPEC member nation. But Fabricio said it was important to bring politics back from its polarized state.

QUITO, May 7 (Reuters) – Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa hailed victory on Saturday after two polls showed him winning a referendum on judicial and media reforms that opponents say are a power grab undermining the Andean nation’s democracy.

“The Ecuadorean people have triumphed,” said Correa, claiming an average 62 percent “Yes” vote on the 10 proposals.

If confirmed by the election authority, the result would strengthen the popular but domineering Correa’s political base in the South American OPEC member and put him in a strong position for a re-election bid in 2013.

A private tracking poll by Cedatos-Gallop showed an average 57 percent of voters backing all the questions in what was essentially a vote of confidence on the flamboyant Correa, 48, who has governed since 2007.

An exit poll by Santiago Perez Investigacion y Estudios showed more than 60 percent said “Yes” votes to all questions.

Official results were due later on Saturday. Some opposition leaders, though, quickly acknowledged defeat.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

QUITO (Reuters) – Two private polls showed Ecuador’s leftist leader, Rafael Correa, comfortably on track to win Saturday’s referendum on judicial and media reforms that opponents say are a power-grab threatening democracy.

If confirmed, the result would strengthen the already popular Correa’s standing in the South American OPEC member and put him in a strong position for a re-election bid in 2013.

A private tracking poll by Cedatos-Gallop showed an average of 57 percent of voters backing all 10 questions on a referendum that was essentially a vote of confidence on the flamboyant Correa, 48, who has governed since 2007.

An exit poll by pollster Santiago Perez Investigacion y Estudios showed the two key questions concerning the judicial shake-up were endorsed by 61 percent of voters.

Official results are due later on Saturday.

Correa has maintained high popularity among the poor and lower-middle classes thanks to big spending on schools, roads and hospitals. Rivals accuse him of an authoritarian streak akin to his ally Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela.

“We’re giving Correa too much power, but it doesn’t matter. Someone has to tidy up this mess,” said “Yes” voter Cesar Acosta, 67, echoing Correa’s original justification for the vote to root out graft and inefficiency in courts.

QUITO, May 7 (Reuters) – Ecuadoreans voted on Saturday on a reform package likely to give their flamboyant leftist President Rafael Correa more power over courts and his media critics in the Andean OPEC-member nation.

Big spending on schools, roads and hospitals have underpinned Correa’s popularity among the poor and lower-middle classes, but rivals accuse him of having an authoritarian streak and using public votes to amass power.

Advance polls showed about 55 to 60 percent of voters in favor of the referendum’s 10 questions, which ranged from revamping the judiciary to banning bullfighting.

“I voted ‘Yes’ because we need honest judges who leave criminals behind bars. … We’re giving Correa too much power, but it doesn’t matter. Someone has to tidy up this mess,” said Cesar Acosta, 67, after voting in a poor Quito neighborhood.

The most controversial two proposals set the foundations for a new justice system in which Correa will have more direct say over appointments. He argues that corrupt judges have to go so police can better fight crime, a huge concern for the South American nation’s 14 million people.

“They’ve been saying it’s totalitarian … (a word) used for a state in which things are done by force. We’re doing this democratically and will follow on from whatever people decide,” Correa said before polls opened at 8 a.m. (1300 GMT).

Ecuadoreans seemed to be voting en masse, especially since those who fail to vote face a fine of around $25. Local TV showed voters walking through muddy roads in the Amazon area, wearing indigenous outfits in an Andean province and queuing in front of polling stations in the Galapagos Islands.

QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuadoreans were to vote on Saturday over a reform package President Rafael Correa’s rivals say would give the leftist leader too much power over courts and media critics in the South American OPEC member nation.

Big spending on schools, roads and hospitals have underpinned Correa’s popularity among the poor and lower middle classes, but rivals accuse him of having an authoritarian streak and using public votes to amass power.

Polls show about 55-60 percent of voters are in favor of the referendum’s 10 questions, which range from the revamping of the judiciary to a ban on bullfighting. But stronger campaigning by Correa’s rivals in the past few days has boosted the ‘No’ campaign, leaving them about 10 points behind.

The most controversial two proposals set the foundations for a new justice system in which Correa will have more direct say over appointments. He argues that corrupt judges have to go so that police can better fight crime, a huge concern in the Andean country of 14 million people.

“Some are saying this is a totalitarian state … in which things are done by force. Here we’re doing it with a (public) vote, the most democratic way there is,” Correa said.

Opposition leaders including the president’s brother Fabricio Correa and Jaime Nebot, mayor of the port city of Guayaquil, say Correa is using the reforms as a power-grab in the resource-rich country.

“I think he’s tired of the constitution … He wants more power to forge ahead with controversial projects like developing an open-pit mining industry,” Alberto Acosta, a former presidential aide turned Correa critic, told Reuters.

QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador’s popular President Rafael Correa is expected to win a referendum next week that his opponents — including his brother — say will extend his control over the judiciary and restrict the media.

A victory would reinforce Correa’s lead over his often hapless rivals who are expected to run for president in 2013 elections in the Andean nation of 14 million people.

All polls show Correa, 48, will sail to victory in the May 7 vote on 10 reforms aimed at overhauling an obsolete justice system and limiting media ownership, as well as rules banning activities such as bull-fighting and gambling in casinos.

The reforms will give Correa and his allies more say in the selection of Supreme Court judges, a move the president says is needed so the state can stamp out graft in courts.

Correa is an economist who has enjoyed high popularity since taking office in 2007. His image as a strong leader concerned by poverty and injustice plays well in a country tired of years of economic and political turmoil.

Like his socialist ally Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Correa has already won a string of national votes and consolidated his power with a new constitution, while rewriting rules for mining and oil companies to increase state income.

His opponents, among them a former coup-leader and a journalist turned politician, have so far failed to convince many voters to oppose his proposed reforms as they look for backing to run for president in 2013.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s largest real estate company, IRSA, is considering selling global bonds this year to finance expansion plans at home and abroad, Chairman Eduardo Elsztain said on Friday.

Last year, IRSA (IRS.BA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(IRS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) became one of the first Argentine companies to sell foreign debt since a massive 2002 sovereign debt default, which battered private companies’ credit ratings and sent lending rates soaring.

“The market is much keener about investing in Argentina, and we could explore opportunities to raise capital,” Elsztain told the Reuters Latin America Investment Summit in Buenos Aires. “We’ll probably go ahead with a transaction in the capital markets this year.”

Government efforts to swap defaulted sovereign debt have sought to restore investor confidence in Latin America’s No. 3 economy and lower borrowing costs for private companies.

About 92 percent of the $100 billion in debt that Argentina stopped servicing in 2002 has been exchanged, at a steep loss for bondholders, during swaps in 2005 and 2010.

IRSA sold $150 million in 10-year bonds at a rate of 11.5 percent in July 2010 and earlier this year its farmland unit Cresud sold $62 million in debt in several trenches.

Elsztain said that if IRSA were to issue debt this year it would probably pay about 7.5 percent.

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Argentine trade unions representing workers at key grain ports have called off plans for further protests after reaching a wage agreement with export companies, a union leader said on Wednesday.

Trade unions and grains exporters met for last-ditch wage talks to try to avert a new strike after workers last month blocked ports in one of the world’s top food suppliers.

Workers at grain ports and soy-crushing plants in the Rosario area suspended their week-long strike on Feb. 2 after the government ordered compulsory conciliation to resolve a dispute that delayed shipments and stoked global prices. SH1

“We just formalized the agreement … We’re satisfied. It’s not as much as we had aimed for, but wages will increase by 70 percent on average,” union leader Edgardo Quiroga told Reuters after the meeting.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Factbox-Argentine grains sector protests [ID:nN25253948]

Analysis-Argentine pay talks loom [ID:nN25191886]

By Eduardo Garcia

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters Life!) – Forget potted plants and privet hedges; a group of Buenos Aires artists want to make the Argentine capital a free-for-all kitchen garden, turning neglected parks and verges into verdant vegetable patches.

Following in the footsteps of “guerrilla gardeners” who have been scattering flower seeds in vacant lots and roadsides in cities such as London and New York since the 1970s, the Articultores group is taking the concept a step further.

Armed with vegetable seedlings and seed bombs — seeds packed with mud for throwing into neglected urban spaces, their goal is to provide organic food for city residents.

“We want to make the city prettier, but in a different way. The zucchini plant can be as beautiful as an orchid, but it can be eaten,” said Articultores coordinator Judith Villamayor after watering vegetables planted next to a parking lot.

“Our goal is for people to find carrots, courgettes or quinoa when they take a stroll … and we want to show them how to care after the crops,” she said.

The Articultores, whose name roughly translates as Arty Farmers, have thrown thousands of seed bombs in and around the sprawling capital city since they started meeting in 2009.

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 22 (Reuters) – A strike by soy-processing workers in Argentina’s biggest grains port halted at least six plants on Wednesday, disrupting crushing in the world’s No. 1 soyoil and meal exporter and helping lift U.S. soyoil futures.

Crushing plants in and around the city of Rosario account for about 80 percent of Argentine soybean oil and meal output and the one-day-old pay strike is hitting plants owned by major exporters such as Cargill, Louis Dreyfus and Bunge .

Union and industry sources in Rosario said half of the area’s soy-processing capacity was being affected by the strike, but some plants continued operating because not all workers belong to the union that is protesting for bonuses.

(Graphic: link.reuters.com/ket72p)

One union leader said a deal was possible to end the dispute quickly.

“I think we could reach an agreement today,” union leader Daniel Succi told Reuters before entering talks with government officials and company representatives.

However, the negotiations continued late into the night without a quick breakthrough.