Rafael Correa

Rafael Correa
President of Ecuador
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 January 2007
Vice President	Lenín Moreno
Preceded by	Alfredo Palacio
Personal details
Born	6 April 1963 Guayaquil
Political party	Alianza PAIS
Spouse	Anne Malherbe

Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (born 6 April 1963 in Guayaquil) is the President of the Republic of Ecuador. A trained economist, he previously served as the country's finance minister.

Background

Correa earned an Economics degree at the Catholic University of Guayaquil in 1987. Following his degree, he worked for one year in a mission and welfare center run by the Salesian order in Cotopaxi Province, where he acquired some knowledge of Quichua, the language of the majority of the native pre-Columbian population concentrated in the Andes region. In addition to Spanish and Quichua, he is fluent in French and English.

Correa received a Master's degree in Economics from the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (United States) in 2001. According to The Washington Post, Correa's adviser at the University of Illinois, Werner Baer, supports his former student. "He appreciates the market to a certain point, but he knows that the market left alone concentrates wealth," he said. "He is not going to do anything foolish... because he is a fairly open-minded person."

In 2005, Correa served as economy and finance minister under his predecessor, President Alfredo Palacio. During his four months in office, he advocated poverty reduction and economic sovereignty. Correa was skeptical of a free-trade deal with the U.S.A., defied the advice of the International Monetary Fund, and worked to increase Ecuador's cooperation with other Latin American countries. He resigned from Palacio's government after the World Bank withheld a loan (citing the changes to the oil income stabilization fund). Correa had also proposed the issue of bonds at a lower interest rate than was current at the time (8.5%); Venezuela was to purchase half of the new bond issue. Correa claimed in his resignation letter that the sale was done with full presidential authorization, but cited lack of support from the president as a factor in his decision to resign.

The decision by Palacio to ask for his resignation was seen by some political analysts as a concession by Palacio to pressure by the U.S.A. When Correa resigned, polls showed he had the highest credibility of any official in the administration, with 57% of Ecuadorians saying that they trusted him.

Rafael Correa chatting with an American boarding student in Cuenca

2006 presidential campaign

At the start of 2006 presidential campaign, Rafael Correa founded the Alianza PAIS—Patria Altiva i Soberana ("Proud and Sovereign Fatherland Alliance"). The new party espouses political sovereignty and regional integration, and economic relief for Ecuador's poor. Correa, an observant Roman Catholic, describes himself as a humanist and Christian of the left.

During the campaign, Correa's proposed a constituent assembly to rewrite Ecuador's constitution. Alianza PAIS did not run any congressional candidates, as Correa had stated that he would call for a referendum to begin drafting a new constitution. However, the Alianza PAIS movement signed a political alliance with the Ecuadorian Socialist Party, which did present candidates for Congress.

On economic policy, Correa called for reform of the oil industry, including an increase in the percentage of oil revenues for the Ecuadorian poor, following the reforms enacted by former Economy and Finance Minister Diego Borja. He accused foreign oil companies operating in Ecuador of failing to meet existing environmental and investment regulations. In an interview, Correa stated:

Many of the oil contracts are a true entrapment for the country. Of every five barrels of oil that the multinationals produce, they leave only one for the state and take four... That is absolutely unacceptable. We're going to revise and renegotiate the contracts." He advocated reform of the financial sector, including limiting offshore deposits by local banks to no more than 10% of their holdings.

Correa also proposed strategies for reducing the burden of Ecuador's foreign debt service, through compulsory debt restructuring, saying he would favor giving priority to social development.

Correa criticized the neoliberal policies of recent Ecuadorian presidents, especially Jamil Mahuad. He criticized the decision by President Mahuad in 2000 to adopt the U.S. dollar as the country's official currency but, in late 2006, he acknowledged that it would not be feasible to abandon that policy.

Correa also criticized Ecuador's draft free trade agreement as currently negotiated with the United States, although he does advocate expanding trade and opening markets with other countries, urging in particular the integration of South American economies.

On foreign policy, Correa commented on Ecuador's relations with its neighbor Colombia. Correa stressed Ecuador's interest in staying uninvolved in internal conflict in Colombia. In October 2006, Correa added that he would "pursue and capture" FARC members if they enter Ecuador. He also declared that he condemns their kidnappings, violations of human rights and bombings.

Correa also commented on Ecuadorian-Venezuelan relations. In August 2006, Correa told the Ecuadorian press that he is not part of the Venezuelan Bolivarian movement, although he considers Hugo Chávez a personal friend. In response to Chávez's comparison of President Bush with Satan, Correa said it was unfair to the devil.

On U.S.-Ecuadorian relations, Correa pledged to shut down the U.S. military base in Manta, where 400 U.S. soldiers are stationed as part of the Eloy Alfaro Air Base – though he has also jokingly stated that "We can negotiate with the U.S. about a base in Manta, and if they let us put a military base in Miami, if there is no problem, we'll accept".

In addition to his platform on economic and social policy, Correa's ability to communicate with Ecuador's indigenous population in their own language also differentiated him from the other presidential candidates. He learned Quichua in his youth during a year he spent volunteering in a remote highland town. However, in the 15 October election, a large percentage of the votes in areas with high concentration of indigenous people went to candidate Gilmar Gutiérrez, brother of former president Lucio Gutiérrez, although Correa generally ran second in these areas.

In the 15 October 2006 general election Correa obtained second place (22.84%) behind banana tycoon Álvaro Noboa (26.83%). Correa won the subsequent 26 November 2006 runoff election with 56.67% of the vote. He took office on 15 January 2007.

Presidency

Rafael Correa was officially declared president of Ecuador on 4 December by the country's electoral court. He was sworn in on 15 January 2007 as the 56th president of Ecuador, the seventh to occupy the post since the legislature removed President Abdalá Bucaram 10 years earlier in the midst of a debt crisis that devastated the country.

Correa has called for a renegotiation of Ecuador's $11 billion external debt, following the example of Argentine President Néstor Kirchner. Some commentators suggest that the Argentine experiment has proven to be a success.

In his inaugural address on 15 January, Correa stated his belief that much of Ecuador's external debt is illegitimate, because it was contracted by military regimes. He also denounced the "so-called Washington Consensus." Correa has threatened to default on Ecuador's foreign debt, and to suspend review of the country's economy by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; indeed, on 26 April 2007, he ordered the expulsion from Ecuador of the World Bank's country manager.

Correa's administration has suggested that the new government will not sign an agreement allowing the International Monetary Fund to monitor its economic plan. In February 2007, Correa's economy minister Ricardo Patiño stated: "I have no intention ... of accepting what some governments in the past have accepted: that (the IMF) tell us what to do on economic policy." "That seems unacceptable to us," Patiño added.

In February 2007, Correa's plan to have a referendum on the convening of a constituent assembly was approved by Congress. The referendum was planned for 15 April 2007. However, after this date was set, the "statutes" for the referendum were modified by Correa to allow more powers to the constitutional assembly (if it formed). One of these powers was the ability to dismiss Congress, a power which Congress never approved. The newer version of the referendum was approved by the majority of the seven-seat electoral tribunal. In early March, Congress, which was primarily controlled by Correa's opposition, reacted by attempting to impeach four members of the electoral tribunal. The electoral tribunal, in turn, responded by removing from office the 57 members of Congress who voted against the referendum, alleging that they were obstructing electoral processes. Correa backed the electoral tribunal (which approved his version of the referendum) while stating that the removal of the 57 congressmen was constitutional. The situation escalated to a feud between the opposition in Congress and the Executive and marches in the street against Congress, including the shooting of Correa's opposition supporters.

On 22 March, 21 alternate deputies were sworn in, allowing the Congress to regain quoracy, and on 23 March and 24 March a further 20 deputies were sworn in. The new majority (formed by 28 alternate deputies and 31 deputies from parties that support the referendum and Assembly) pledged to support the referendum on the Constitutional Assembly. On 15 April Ecuadoreans voted overwhelmingly (78 % in favor) to support the election of a constitutional assembly.

On 23 April, the Constitutional Tribunal decided to try to reinstate 51 of the 57 Congressmen who had been thrown out office by the Electoral Tribunal. The Constitutional Tribunal claims that it was illegal to remove them in the first place, and thus they approved a petition that 51 of the 57 had signed requesting their reinstatement. Before the supposedly reinstated congressmen had the chance to enter back into Congress, Congress voted to fire all nine judges of the Constitutional Tribunal for their "unconstitutional actions."

External links

• Template:Es icon and (Kichwa) Official web site of the President of Ecuador
• Template:Es icon and (Kichwa) Official campaign web site
• "The resignation of Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s Economy Minister: an example of IFI’s influence?"
• Ecuador's Presidential Election: Background on Economic Issues, issue brief from the Center for Economic and Policy Research
• MSNBC, "Leftward Tilt: Political Shift in Latin America"

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