The people of Ecuador have gone to the polls to vote on a new constitution.
President Rafael Correa says it will tackle political instability and make Ecuador a more just society.
It will enable Mr Correa to run for two new, consecutive terms, and let him dissolve Congress within the first three years of its four-year term.
Critics say it will focus more power in the left-wing leader's hands. The 444-article constitution will be the Andean nation's 20th, if approved.
The package contains some of the most wide-ranging proposals the country - any country in the region - has Zambian President Mwanawasa dies in French hospital ...
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The almost 10 million-strong electorate is being asked for a simple "Yes" or "No" answer.
President Correa, a 45-year-old US-trained economist, says he is fulfilling the promises he made when he won elections nearly two years ago.
He was elected following years of turmoil in Ecuador which saw angry crowds throw three presidents from office in the previous 10 years.
The articles in the proposed constitution include plans to tighten control of vital industries such as oil and mining.
Some foreign loans could be declared illegitimate so they would not have to be paid and there are plans to give free health care to older citizens.
President Correa is offering more say in the running of the country to women, the poor and Ecuador's large indigenous community.
He says he is trying to reduce the power and influence of the business and land-owning elite which has always run the country and, according to him, run it badly.
Not surprisingly, there is opposition to the proposals, says our South America correspondent.
Some say that Mr Correa is a puppet of the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, that he will be concentrating too much power in his own hands and that the state will interfere unnecessarily in business affairs, our correspondent says.
Foreign investors, especially in Ecuador's oil industry, will be concerned that the new laws will reduce their profits and that the country will not pay its foreign debts, he says.
The US, he adds, will be worried about what many there see as another move to the left in Latin America.
But opinion polls suggest that Sunday's "Yes" vote will win with anything between 55% to 60% of the vote.
The "Yes" campaign needs 50% plus one for victory.
(BBC)
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