La constitución de montecristi y sus legados religiosos

Abstract

The Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly of 2008 adopted constitutional decrees which protect life from conception, forbids same-sex marriage, and include the name of God. This document covers the account of the discussions and decisions of this regulation. The author shapes the hypothesis that the Montecristi´s Constitution does not corresponds to a secular state; in an attempt to understand the contradictions, and to deliberate about the secular nature of the state, we outline the context in which the notion of a Constituent arouse, and the framework applied for constitutional texts approval. By means of an analysis on the way how the political matter was dealt in the discussions, and by a careful review of the debates relating to the topics of this paper within the Constituent Assembly, we step forward the reasons that can justify disapproval to the scope of a secular state. The religious filiation of Ecuador´s President is furthermore analyzed to demonstrate how such a bias was finally adopted within the Constitution. To finish, the document includes some brief conclusions.