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Summary Ecuador will hold a referendum to ban bullfighting, cockfighting and other activities that result in the death of an animal. The referendum is promoted by animal rights groups and the government of leftist President Rafael Correa.
Thousand of bullfighting fans gathered recently in the plaza to see six bulls killed and shout their opposition to Correa and his referendum. The crowd cheers as one of the bulls, named Libertad, or Freedom, enters the ring and a series of performers begin the fight with a sequence of jabs and prodding into the animals back. With blood gushing from the bull, the air fills not only with cheers for the matador about to kill him but slogans against the leader of this small South American country who wants to outlaw such spectacles.Correa is moving to outlaw bullfighting; a step he says would be in keeping with the environmental protections enshrined in the constitution written by his supporters three years ago. But the crowd of thousands here in Quito, home to one of the biggest bullfighting festivals on the continent, are dead set against the voter referendum that the leader plans to hold later this year.
