Rafael Correa (Photo: Santiago Armas)

With Rafael Correa emerging victorious for a third and final term in Sunday’s presidential elections, the leader of the Alianza País party spoke to Argentine newspaper Página 12 about Ecuador becoming part of the Mercosur agreement, their relationship with Argentina, and same-sex marriage. During the interview, he also announced that his party obtained “97 or 98 seats” in the National Assembly, though the final results of the recount are yet to be announced by the National Electoral Council.

In the interview, Correa first discussed the strengthening of ties with Argentina by “further deepening the bilateral relationship” through trade, and agreed with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s condemnation of the “total surrender of our countries at the hands of transnational corporations”. Correa went on to say however that the relationship between the two countries is more than commercial because “with Argentina we have the same political vision”.

Throughout the interview Correa expressed his hope to join Mercosur, and when asked if the dollarisation of Ecuador would hinder the incorporation into the agreement, Correa agreed that it is “an obstacle for any integration process and trade liberalisation”. However, he insisted that “we are very interested in joining Mercosur… and they are very interested in integrating Ecuador”.

Speaking of the impending expiration of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication act (ATPDEA), Correa said, “Andean countries have a responsibility [to join these agreements] because they are the biggest producers of drugs! But the US say nothing of the responsibility they have for consuming them.” He went on to say that this agreement is “a new form of pressure for countries that do not behave according to the mentality of the US”, and that “if [the act is] extended, fine, if not, we will know how to succeed.”

As the interview progressed, Correa was questioned on the topic of same-sex marriage, in which he responded that, “the Constitution says that marriage is an institution between people of a different sex”. Correa said that although “we promote many rights and the non-discrimination of any person for any reason… the Constitution clearly says that marriage is between a man and a woman.”

Finally, when asked if the continuation of his government would mean a less restrictive abortion law, Correa said that, “personally I will not promote any law that goes beyond the two cases that are already covered in the current legislation, in the case of a violation of a woman with intellectual disabilities and in the case of rape, when a child is violated.”

You can read the interview in full here.

President Correa expresses joy over his victory (Photo: Miguel Angel Romero/Ecuadorian Government)

Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa was re-elected yesterday for a third and final term with 56.7% of the vote. Correa’s nearest rival, Guillermo Lasso, captured just 23.3% of the vote.

Correa was first elected president in 2006, for a 2007-2011 term. In 2008, the constitution was reformed and presidential elections were held early, and in 2009, Correa took office for a first term under the new constitution.

While Correa’s support has increased from election to election, his Alianza País has been unable to secure a majority in the National Assembly (the Ecuadorian parliament). The wide ranging reforms the president set out to achieve were somewhat held back by the parliamentary opposition, an obstacle Correa hopes will be removed as all 137 seats in the National Assembly were also up for renewal in yesterday’s election (results were not yet in at the time of writing).

Citizen’s Revolution

Rafael Correa first came to power in the midst of a massive institutional crisis, with only one president since 1996 managing to complete his term (Gustavo Noboa, who had risen to power as a result of a coup d’êtat against his predecessor).

Correa, originally an academic, became publicly known when he was economy minister for less than four months under his predecessor, Alfredo Palacio. He did not have his own party and was first elected with the support of actors emerging from the crisis of the traditional party system, including social movements and indigenous organisations, who rallied behind Correa’s call for a ‘Citizen’s Revolution’.

Fans Celebrate Correa’s Win ((Photo: fotospresidencia5 on Flickr)

This support, however, would not last the test of time and many social groups have since moved away to form a left-wing opposition, criticising the government for a lack of collaboration and discussion when implementing policy reforms. Despite this situation, the Citizen’s Revolution managed to consolidate a new path away from “the long night of neoliberalism”, as Correa often refers to the historic period that started in the 1980s.

Economic Reforms

Correa’s comprehensive victory margin could be considered a sum of the impressive economic numbers achieved under his rule. Growth averaged over 4% between 2007 and 2011, despite the double-blow of falling oil prices and remittance inflows that followed the global financial crisis in late-2008. The economic expansion, combined with growth in welfare programmes, brought unemployment down to a historic low of 4.8% in 2012. Poverty levels, meanwhile, declined from 37.6% just before Correa took charge to 27.3% at end-2012, according to official data.

Many commentators in mainstream and business media attribute the improved economic parameters – and by extension Correa’s popularity – to “populist oil spending”, enabled by favourable international prices for Ecuador’s key commodity and now threatened by the stagnation of the same. While it is certain that revenues from the oil sector, which accounts for more than half of the country’s exports, have been crucial in supporting a larger welfare state, the government did not flinch when oil prices crashed mid way through 2008, and continued to boost spending to bring the economy quickly out of the subsequent recession in 2009. As oil prices recovered, Correa renegotiated contracts with foreign oil companies, giving the state control of the resource itself and retaining 85-90% of income generated by those hired to extract it.

President Correa speaking with business owners (Photo: fotospresidencia5 on Flickr)

Other factors were also significant in propping up the government’s economic programme. In 2008, a national commission set up to analyse Ecuador’s foreign debt determined that over US$3bn, around 30% of total obligations, could be considered “illegitimate”, accrued by corrupt and unelected – in the case of military-run – former governments. By reducing total debt and the annual interest payments on it, Correa freed space to hike spending on education, health, and social welfare from 4.8% of GDP in 2006 to 9.3% in 2011. A comprehensive reform of the financial system, forcing banks to retain a significant amount of their reserves within the country, and encouraging them to provide loans for infrastructure and social housing projects, also complemented the fiscal stimulus.

Despite being criticised abroad and in the business community for unorthodox economic policies – some have labelled him ‘Ecuador’s Chávez’ – the move away from neo-liberalism in Correa’s first term did not involve a radical shake up of the country’s productive structure. While the 48-year-old economist has promised to bring ’21st Century Socialism’, a term coined by Chávez, to Ecuador, reforms so far have been limited to strengthening the role of the state within a capitalist framework.

Correa himself acknowledged in his campaign that recent advances have been largely about “doing the same as always: well”, and economic diversification away from the oil sector remains a key challenge going forward. This would leave the state budget less vulnerable to a downturn in the global oil market, especially given Ecuador’s difficulty in raising finance since its 2008 debt restructuring (so far it has largely relied on loans from China to cover budget deficits).

The government has pushed the development of mining as an alternative to the hydrocarbons industry, though growth in this sector has been impeded by protests from environmental groups and indigenous communities. The plan has also drawn some criticism from within Correa’s Alianza País party, which has made the environment a key aspect of economic development, while human rights groups have condemned the apparently “politically motivated” criminal charges brought against anti-mining protesters.

Correa and the Media

Another major battle for Correa so far has been his confrontation against mainstream media, part of the broader conflict between his government and the Ecuadorian elite.

Correa’s accusations against the press have gone further than verbal denunciation. Last year, the president won a libel suit against local newspaper El Universo, after one of its columnists, referring to him as “the dictator”, accused him of ordering to open fire against a hospital during an attempted coup against him in September 2010. Whilst Correa later pardoned the newspaper and the journalist, who would have had to otherwise pay US$40m in damages, the incident marked a point of no return in his relationship with the press.

President Correa speaks with Russia Today (Photo: fotospresidencia5 on Flickr)

One of the obstacles that Correa has had to face due to his parliamentary weakness has been the inability to pass a new communications law, which has been stalled in congress since 2009. In a similar way to the Argentine media law, Ecuador’s communication law promises to democratise access to the airwaves, by splitting the spectrum in thirds for private, community, and state-owned media, as well as break up the highly concentrated market of private media.

Correa’s vision of the social role of media was made explicit during a conference at the University of La Plata in Argentina in December 2012, when he said, “let’s understand that providing a right such as information gives power. Its good or bad quality massively affects society (…) From this central problem arises the need to democratise the ownership of the media and to make it independent from the control of the powers that be and, especially, from the control of the capital. It is also necessary to have media outside of the logic of the market, that means non-profit media and public media. It is necessary to have social control, that is, the right to receive information that is true, verified, timely, in context, plural, without previous censorship and with subsequent responsibility.”

The newly re-elected president has made it clear that passing the controversial communication law will be a priority in his new term. Critics cite this as one of their major concerns, as, in the absence of an organised and strong opposition, the media have become enemy number one for the government, and some fear repercussions for critical journalists and press freedom.

One of the main concerns regarding the new law has to do with the potential creation of a regulatory body that could sanction media over the contents they broadcast. The six-member Board for the Regulation and Development of Communication (which includes one government representative) would be in charge of delivering administrative sanctions, such as fines or mandatory apologies, to media organisations that broadcast content deemed discriminatory or that could incite to commit violent acts based on a discriminatory message.

Correa, however, has stated that his problem is not with journalists, but with the owners of “the big press”. He has, in fact, raised journalists’ minimum wage by 69.4%, and offered to subsidise the increase.

The ‘Big Country’

In his efforts to carry out an autonomous foreign policy, Correa has antagonised the US, international organisations (OAS, IMF, World Bank, etc.) and has a tense relationship with the UK, having granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Correa’s Ecuador, meanwhile, has turned to Latin America and played an important role in the region’s integration in recent years.

Opening meeting of Celac in Caracas, Venezuela, December 2011 (photo Eduardo Santillán Trujillo/Ecuadorian government)

Ecuador joined the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) in 2009. Last year, after Paraguay’s expulsion from Mercosur, the Andean country also began talks to enter this regional bloc, and it has been an active member of the recently created Celac, seen as a regional alternative to the OAS and the US influence on it. During the attempted coup against Correa in 2010, Unasur played an important diplomatic role, as most South American presidents promptly united in Buenos Aires on that same day to express their support for the president and the democratic order in Ecuador.

This regional integration has been favoured by the ideological and personal links between Correa and other South American presidents, and will likely continue during Correa’s next term. During his victory speech last night, Correa dedicated the win to the “great country” of Latin America, and his electoral platform includes specific references to the issues the president considers urgent in terms of integration, such as consolidating the “new regional financial architecture” and creating a South American bank to provide financing for local projects without having to turn to traditional international lenders.

With Hugo Chávez’s health deteriorating and an uncertain future for Venezuelan politics, many analysts have also pointed at a potential new leadership role in the region for the Ecuadorian president. While he has stated he has enough worries dealing with his own country and does not intend to replace Chávez’s regional leadership, his fiery rhetoric keeps him in the spotlight.

“No One Will Stop This Revolution”

With renewed support and a more responsive parliament, the next four years are likely to see a deepening of the core policies of the Citizen’s Revolution.

Regional integration, media reforms, the eradication of poverty, land reform, and economic diversification are the main challenges facing Correa in his third and final term as president. His intention, as stated last night, is to “make the changes irreversible” and to put Ecuador well into the path of the ‘Sumak Kawsay (Good Living in Ecuadorian quechua) Socialism’.

President Correa (Photo by Presidencia de la República del Ecuador, on Flickr)

The elections in Ecuador this weekend are swinging in favour of current President Rafael Correa who is leading by 62%, according to pre-election polls.

A survey released on Thursday by Private pollster Perfiles de Opinión, indicates that Correa will win nearly 62% of the votes, versus 9% for campaign rival Guillermo Lasso. If re-elected, Correa, who has maintained presidency since January 2007, will start his third and last presidential term.

Correa took one-month of leave from 15th January to campaign for another presidential term, while vice-president Lenin Moreno has taken a temporary presidential role.

Correa’s popularity is mainly down to his campaigns to boost state revenue by negotiating oil prices with global energy companies; a determining reason to why he is Ecuador’s longest serving president in a century.

In the run up to the election day on 17th February, many public events, including music concerts and street parties will be taking place across the country to celebrate the closing of the election campaigns.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) in Ecuador informed on Tuesday that 320 international observers will be in charge of the “observance of good electoral practices” during the presidential election, on 17th February.

The observers belong to various international organisations, including The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), The Organisation of American States (OAS), The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), The Arab League, and The African Union.

According to Domingo Paredes, president of the Ecuadorian electoral organ, the CNE did not invite the European Union for reasons of “dignity and principles.”

Minister of foreign affairs, Ricardo Patiño, indicated on Tuesday that the objective of the mission was to encourage the “national and international credibility” of the electoral process.

The CNE explained how the observers would be integrated to the Latin American electoral authorities, “as specialists in election processes.”

The council also informed that the NGO Participacion Ciudadana will participate in the counting of the votes. The CNE itself will also realise its own count.

These transparency-enhancing measures, implemented by the government, come amid speculation over the finances of the incumbent president Rafael Correa, who is running for another term.

The website Bananaleaks.com has been shut down since Monday, after publishing a inquiry which accuses the President of owning two secret bank accounts in Switzerland. Bananaleaks states that “the president has deposited money in these accounts for more than five years.”

According to the Agency Andes, during an interview given the night of the 29th January, Correa affirmed that “he would resign from the presidency if he actually owned bank accounts in Switzerland,” calling the Bananaleaks statement “lies”.

According to a survey published by the company Market on 18th January, the incumbent president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, is clear leader in the electoral race, with 49% of the vote.

Today, the Ecuadorian National Assembly approved President Rafael Correa’s request for a one-month leave of absence that will allow him to campaign fulltime for another presidential term. Correa’s hiatus begins on the 15^th January and ends on the 14^th February, right before the 17^th February elections. Vice president Lenin Moreno will assume temporary power in his stead.

Although the Legislative Law and Democratic Code allow for requested leaves of absence, this is the first time an Ecuadorian head of state has ever chosen to do so. The three-hour National Assembly session concluded in an almost unanimous decision with 97 votes in favour out of 100 representatives present.

According to Communications Secretary Fernando Alvarado, during his leave, Correa will only be able to access public goods related to security, and only at the request of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces. “What he cannot use are the presidential airplane and state helicopters. Neither can support staff paid by the presidency work for him, including the Communications, Judicial, or Administrative Secretariats,” said Alvarado. The Democratic Code stipulates that the president may not draw a salary either.

Last weekend, Correa appeared on his television program Citizen Link to explain that he decided to dedicate himself fully to the campaign to avoid neglecting his presidential duties.

In only six weeks, Ecuador will choose its next president, vice president, 137 assembly representatives, and five parliamentarians. Private pollster Perfiles de Opinión gave 60.6% of the vote to Correa last Friday, projecting a victory.

On Saturday, 49-year-old Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa accepted the ruling coalition Alianza Pais’s nomination for presidency in the 2013 elections. Victory for the highly favoured Correa would award him the nation’s highest office until 2017.

“The best is yet to come,” Correa promised thousands of enthusiastic supporters gathered in a Quito football stadium as he accepted the nomination. The crowd, a sea of the party’s trademark neon green, chanted, “We’ve got a president, we’ve got Rafael” in response.

Since taking power in 2007, socialist Correa has focused on a strong government role in Ecuador’s economy and public works projects. During his current term, the president favoured siphoning state revenue from oil and mining industries, a policy which took advantage of high oil prices since 2010. As a consequence, Ecuador has enjoyed economic growth and political tranquillity. However, banking on oil and mining could jeopardise his popularity should prices fall, a point often voiced by his critics, who also accuse him of freedom of the press crackdowns and chasing away foreign investment with debt defaults in 2008. Correa’s administration more than doubled the ratio of state spending to gross domestic product, using funds towards hospitals, schools, and roads.

The most recent opinion poll shows Correa leading by a gaping margin of 32 points, beating his closet rival, Guillermo Lasso, with 55% of the votes. Correa is especially popular with the lower and working class populace, many of whom live in the rural Andean highlands and Guayaquil and Quito shantytowns.

“I want all the public works to continue, and he needs another term in office to do that,” said Elma Lincango, a nurse from northern Quito. “My grandparents say that in their lifetime, he’s the only president that has worked exclusively for the poor.”

Lasso’s platform stands upon tax breaks, private investment incentives, and job creation. According to Paulina Recalde, of Perfiles de Opinion, an Ecuadorian pollster, Lasso is “seriously stigmatised” as a banker. Banks are widely blamed for Ecuador’s 1999 financial crisis, in which thousands lost their savings and the country adopted the dollar as Ecuadorian currency. But on the other hand, she added, “Lasso has credibility, inspires sympathy and has a low rejection rate.”

Correa will also run against former presidents Lucio Gutierrez and Abdalá Bucaram, his former ally Alberto Acosta, and banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa, none of whom attract more than 10% of allegiance in the polls. The candidates had allegedly discussed choosing a single challenger to improve chances of upsetting Correa, but because none stepped down, the race remains split between six.

Jorge Glas Espinel, current Strategic Sectors Minister will be Correa’s running mate. His current Vice President, Lenin Moreno, refused to run for health reasons.

The campaign will officially kick off on 4^th January 2013. The first rounds of elections will take place on the 17^th February; if the results aren’t decisive enough, Ecuadorians will vote again in a final runoff between the first and second place candidates on the 7^th April.

Correa’s tenure has seen political stability in a historically volatile country. In 2007, he took office after ten years in which three previous presidents resigned in the midst of mass protests.

Not one of the main subjects approached in this weekend’s regional meeting ended with agreement. The Summit of the Americas, held in Cartagena, Colombia, this last weekend is the annual meeting of all leaders from the Western hemisphere.

Cuba, drugs and the Falkland Islands/Malvinas dominated the meeting as expected, but the leaders disagreed on each of these topics. Although, as Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos pointed out, “Who thought that an agreement would be reached here about the Falklands and Cuba?”

“The fact there is no declaration is not a failure — just the opposite,” President Santos told reporters after the summit. “The fact that these topics were discussed is a success… hopefully within three years we will have Cuba as part of the summit.”

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner reacted badly to Colombian President Santos omission of the Falklands in his opening speech, allegedly whispering, “You forgot about the Malvinas.” She left the summit early, reportedly due to diplomatic tension over the issue.

The Cuban Elephant in the Room

Before the meeting, a few Latin American Presidents took issue with the exclusion of Cuba. Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa boycotted the Summit in protest of this decision, and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega did not attend partly due to the same reason.

It was discussed during the summit whether Cuba should be allowed to attend next time in Panama, 2015, but a consensus was not reached. Host President Santos called for this issue to be resolved by 2015, saying it was “unthinkable” not to invite Cuba to Panama.

Canada and United States strongly opposed the communist nation’s inclusion, with President Obama adding that Cuba “has not yet moved to democracy, has not yet observed basic human rights.”

Drug Issues

Drug trafficking was high on the agenda, with Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina calling for a discussion on the legalisation of drugs prior to the summit. Most of the leaders agreed that something needs to be done, and that the War on Drugs has not been successful.

A decision was made to direct the Organisation of American States (OAS) to conduct an independent investigation into the most effective way to prevent drug trafficking and related crime. President Obama reiterated that the United States would not support the legalisation of drugs.

Not All Bad

Although there was no consensus on the more controversial, the summit produced promising agreements as well. A regional commitment was decided to tackle poverty, close the inequality and technology gap, combat crime organisations, and promote commercial integration to name a few.

A free trade agreement was reached by the host nation and the United States, bolstering an already booming Colombian economy. The deal, starting 15^th May to see 80% of US consumer and industrial products imports become duty free. President Santos declared the pact was a dream come true.

First held in 2009, the conference addresses issues that concern the region from drug trafficking to trade and energy.

The march for “Water, Life and Dignity” arrived yesterday in the capital city, Quito. The activists, who are protesting against mining activities in Ecuador, are looking to meet with government authorities in order to present them with a list of 19 demands.

The document includes laws on water management and land distribution.

Many social sectors mobilised two weeks ago to reject mining activities in Ecuador. Representatives of the march will be met by the Ecuadorian Minister of Police, Betty Tola, and by the president of the National Assembly, Fernando Cordero.

The march, organised by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) joined other indigenous marchers from the northern Andes of Ecuador.

Moreover, hundreds of protesters in support of the administration of the Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, also gathered on Thursday in Quito to show their support for the president.

During a previous ceremony in the northeast of Ecuador, the president stated that the government had always been open to dialogue with indigenous leaders.

However, some government officials accused the marchers who oppose state mining policies of intending to stage an electoral coup.

In response to this, Humberto Cholango, the president of CONAIE, stated that the movement is peaceful, and that it does not aim to destabalise Rafael Correa’s government.

Ecuadorian authorities have scheduled different routes to avoid clashes between the two groups who will gather in the central park of El Arbolito and in Plaza de la Independencia.

Story courtesy of Agencia Púlsar (link to http://www.agenciapulsar.org/), the AMARC-ALC news agency. 

Groups convened in front of the Palacio de Carondelet de Quito to show their support for Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, while a number of opposition sectors started a mass protest.

Different social organisations and political groups gathered this Thursday in front of the governmental palace to back Correa’s presidency and to commemorate International Woman’s Day.

The president gave a speech in which he challenged the legitimacy of the opposition’s demonstrations, referring to the anti-government movement that has been organised by a number of social organisations.

The protests started across in the country in places like Cuenca, Ambato, Latacunga, Guaranda and Riobamba. The demonstrations have been organised by diverse groups such as the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE), the Popular Front, the Neighbourhood Association and the National Teachers Union.

The protesters plan to arrive in Quito on the 22^nd March to present their demands to the government. They are protesting the passing of a new water law and an “Agrarian Revolution Law” which might end up redistributing land.

The indigenous groups represented by CONAIE reject the open-pit mining projects and are struggling to protect their natural resources.

CONAIE president Humberto Cholango said their demands are, “authentic revolutionary struggles,” and they are not just looking to destabilise the government.

Translated from Agencia Púlsar

Cuba will not be attending the next Summit of the Americas in Cartagena de Indias, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos yesterday confirmed.

The event, due to take place on the 14^th and the 15^th of April, will bring together heads of states from 34 different governments in Cartagena, a Colombian city on the Caribbean coast.

Santos made the announcement at Havana airport before flying out from Cuba. He had allegedly been in the country to discuss Cuban’s participation in the summit with his Cuban and Venezuelan counterparts, Raúl Castro and Hugo Chávez.

“Unfortunately the decision to invite Cuba requires a consensus and we haven’t been able to obtain one,” Santos told journalists who had gathered on the runway.

The Cuban chancellor Bruno Rodríguez did not hide the fact that he blamed the United States for the exclusion. “The consensus on this subject means Washington’s authorisation,” he told a press conference, “this hasn’t been a surprise, it was chronic of a premeditated exclusion.”

“The North American spokespeople had ordered Cuba’s exclusion since the first day, displaying enormous disrespect for Colombia, Latin America and the Caribbean,” he added.

The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, who had previously talked about boycotting the event if Cuba weren’t allowed to attend, said he was still wasn’t sure whether or not to attend. “We would love to be at the Summit of the Americas but we have to analyse the issue very seriously,” he told a press conference in the governmental palace.

Colombia have already set plans in place for the security of the event, announcing that the summit will be guarded by 5,000 agents of the Colombian National Police Forces.