History of Ecuador (1990–present)
History of Ecuador |
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Ecuador is a country in South America.
Ballén presidency
In 1992, Sixto Durán Ballén won his third run for the presidency. His tough macroeconomic adjustment measures were unpopular, but he succeeded in pushing a limited number of modernization initiatives through Congress. Durán Ballén's vice president, Alberto Dahik, was the architect of the administration's economic policies, but in 1995, Dahik fled the country to avoid prosecution on corruption charges following a heated political battle with the opposition. A war with Peru (named the Cenepa War, after a river located in the area) erupted in January–February 1995 in a small, remote region, where the boundary prescribed by the 1942 Rio Protocol was in dispute. The Durán-Ballén Administration can be credited with beginning the negotiations that would end in a final settlement of the territorial dispute.
Bucaram presidency
In 1996, Abdalá Bucaram, from the populist Ecuadorian Roldosista Party, won the presidency on a platform that promised populist economic and social reforms. Almost from the start, Bucaram's administration languished amidst widespread allegations of corruption. Empowered by the president's unpopularity with organized labor, business, and professional organizations alike, Congress unseated Bucaram in February 1997 on grounds of mental incompetence.[1] The Congress replaced Bucaram with Interim President Fabián Alarcón.
Constitutional reform
In May 1997, following the demonstrations that led to the ousting of Bucaram and appointment of Alarcón, the people of Ecuador called for a National Assembly to reform the Constitution and the country's political structure. After a little more than a year, the National Assembly produced a new Constitution.
Congressional and first-round presidential elections were held on May 31, 1998. No presidential candidate obtained a majority, so a run-off election between the top two candidates - Quito Mayor Jamil Mahuad of the DP and the Right Wing Álvaro Noboa - was held on July 12, 1998. Mahuad won by a narrow margin. He took office on August 10, 1998. On the same day, Ecuador's new constitution came into effect.
Mahuad's presidency
Mahuad concluded a well-received peace with
Ecuador since 2000
On January 21, 2000, during demonstrations in Quito by indigenous groups, the military and police refused to enforce public order, beginning what became known as the
US Dollar has been the only official currency of Ecuador since the year 2000.[3]
Although Ecuador began to improve economically in the following months, the government of Noboa came under heavy fire for the continuation of the dollarization policy, its disregard for social problems, and other important issues in Ecuadorean politics.
Retired Colonel
In December 2004, Gutiérrez unconstitutionally dissolved the Supreme Court and appointed new judges to it. This move was generally seen as a kickback to deposed ex-President Abdalá Bucaram, whose political party had sided with Gutiérrez and helped derail attempts to impeach him in late 2004. The new Supreme Court dropped charges of corruption pending against the exiled Bucaram, who soon returned to the politically unstable country. The corruption evident in these maneuvers finally led Quito's middle classes to seek the ousting of Gutiérrez in early 2005. In April 2005, the Ecuadorian Armed Forces declared that it "withdrew its support" for the President. After weeks of public protests, Gutiérrez was overthrown in April.[6] Vice President Alfredo Palacio assumed the Presidency and vowed to complete the term of office and hold elections in 2006.[7]
Rafael Correa (2007-2017)
On January 15, 2007, the social democrat
In November 2009, Ecuador faced an energy crisis that led to power rationing across the country.[10]
Between 2006 and 2016, poverty decreased from 36.7% to 22.5% and annual per capita GDP growth was 1.5 percent (as compared to 0.6 percent over the prior two decades). At the same time, inequalities, as measured by the Gini index, decreased from 0.55 to 0.47.[11]
Beginning in 2007, President
As the Ecuadorian economy began to decline in 2014, Correa decided not to run for a fourth term[22] and by 2015, protests occurred against Correa following the introduction of austerity measures and an increase of inheritance taxes.[12][23] Instead, Lenín Moreno, who was at the time a staunch Correa loyalist and had served as his vice-president for over six years, was expected to continue with Correa's legacy and the implementation of 21st century socialism in the country, running on a broadly left-wing platform with significant similarities to Correa's.[21][24][25][26]
After Correa era since 2017
Rafael Correa's three consecutive terms (from 2007 to 2017) were followed by his former Vice President Lenín Moreno's four years as president (2017–21). In the weeks after his election, Moreno distanced himself from Correa's policies
Due to increased borrowing by Correa's administration, which he had used to fund social welfare projects, as well as the 2010s oil glut, public debt tripled in a five-year period, with Ecuador eventually coming to use of the Central Bank of Ecuador's reserves for funds.[34][35] In total, Ecuador was left $64 billion in debt and was losing $10 billion annually.[35] On 21 August 2018, Moreno announced economic austerity measures to reduce public spending and deficit.[36][37] Moreno stated that the measures aimed to save $1 billion and included a reduction of fuel subsidies, eliminating subsidies for gasoline and diesel, and the removal or merging of several public entities, a move denounced by the groups representing the nation's indigenous groups and trade unions.[36][37][21]
In August 2018, Ecuador withdrew from
In October 2018, the government of President Lenin Moreno cut diplomatic relations with the Nicolás Maduro regime of Venezuela, a close ally of Rafael Correa.[39]
In March 2019, Ecuador withdrew from Union of South American Nations. Ecuador was an original member of the block, founded by left-wing governments in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2008. Ecuador also asked UNASUR to return the headquarters building of the organization, based in its capital city, Quito.[40]
In June 2019, Ecuador agreed to allow US military planes to operate from an airport on the Galapagos Islands.[41]
On 1 October 2019, Lenín Moreno announced a package of economic measures as part of a deal with the
The relations with the United States improved significantly during the presidency of Lenin Moreno. In February 2020, his visit to Washington was the first meeting between an Ecuadorian and U.S. president in 17 years.[51]
Lasso's (2021-2023) and Noboa's (since 2023) presidencies
The 11 April 2021 election run-off vote ended in a win for conservative former banker, Guillermo Lasso, taking 52.4% of the vote compared to 47.6% of left-wing economist Andrés Arauz, supported by exiled former president, Rafael Correa. Previously, President-elect Lasso finished second in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections.[52] On 24 May 2021, Guillermo Lasso was sworn in as the new President of Ecuador, becoming the country's first right-wing leader in 14 years.[53]
In October 2021, President Lasso declared a 60-day state of emergency with the intention to combat crime and drug-related violence.[54] In October 2022, bloody riot among inmates at a prison in central Ecuador caused 16 deaths, among them was the drug lord Leonardo Norero, alias “El Patron.” In Ecuador's state prisons there been numerous bloody clashes between rival groups of prisoners.[55]
A series of
As a result of the protests, Lasso declared a state of emergency.[57] When the protests blocked roads and ports in Quito and Guayaquil, there were food and fuel shortages across the country as a result.[58][59][60] Lasso was criticized for allowing violent and deadly responses towards protestors. The President narrowly escaped impeachment in a vote in Congress. At the end of June, protesters agreed to end their protests and blockades in return for an agreement by the government to discuss and try to address their demands.[61]
Lasso proposed a series of constitutional changes to enhance his government's ability to respond to rising, largely drug-related crime. In a referendum in February 2023, voters overwhelmingly rejected his proposed changes. This result weakened Lasso's political standing.[62] Meanwhile, Lasso's government faced accusations of corruption. Citing those accusations and claiming that the government had failed to meet its demands from June 2022, CONAIE called on Lasso to resign and declared itself in a state of "permanent mobilization", threatening additional protests.[63][64]
On 15 October 2023, center-right candidate Daniel Noboa won the run-off of the premature presidential election with 52.3% of the vote against leftist candidate Luisa González.[65] On 23 November 2023, Daniel Noboa was sworn in as Ecuador’s new president.[66]
In January 2024,
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Rafael Correa combines the populist with the technocrat in his persona. Self-described post-neoliberal experts occupy key positions in his admin-istration. ... The populist leader and technocrats share a view of society as an empty space where they can engineer entirely new institutions and practic-es. All existing institutional arrangements are thus consider to be corrupt, and in need of renewal.
• Fisher, Max (10 April 2015). "The president of Ecuador just tweeted "Heil Hitler"". Vox. Retrieved 12 October 2019.Correa, in power since 2007, is part of a Latin American tradition of fire-breathing populist, leftist leaders. ... But in practice, Correa has used his populist zeal as a cover for his authoritarianism.
• Jaramillo Viteri, Pablo; Kraul, Chris (5 February 2018). "Onetime popular president eyed a return to power. Ecuador voters had other ideas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 October 2019.Correa's reversal of fortune resembles the falls taken by other populist Latin American leaders in recent elections. Their costly social programs, such as those supported by oil revenue in Venezuela, have been undercut by plunging prices of commodities that once made them feasible.
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As China industrialized in the first decade of the century, its demand for raw materials rose, pushing up the prices of South American minerals, fuels, and oilseeds. From 2000 to 2013, Chinese trade with Latin America rocketed from $12 billion to over $275 billion. ... Its loans have helped sustain leftist governments pursuing otherwise unsustainable policies in Argentina, Ecuador, and Venezuela, whose leaders welcomed Chinese aid as an alternative to the strict conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund or the financial markets. ... The Chinese-fueled commodity boom, which ended only recently, lifted Latin America to new heights. The region -and especially South America- enjoyed faster economic growth, a steep fall in poverty, a decline in extreme income inequality, and a swelling of the middle class.
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... if Moreno were seeking a second term, he would most likely not be reelected ... Restoring checks and balances, moving to the center, and overcoming polarization have thus far not paid off politically. Ecuadorans who still admire Correa for helping the poor contend that the current president has betrayed the country. ... Moreno's reversal of Correa's populist authoritarian tendencies was not the result of a popular decision to end Correa's political project.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Business heir Daniel Noboa sworn in as Ecuador president". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
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- ^ "Ecuador's youngest mayor Brigitte García shot dead". 25 March 2024.