Career
Sidelights
Selected Writings
Sources

President of Ecuador

B orn Rafael Correa Delgado, Apr 6, 1963, in Guayaquil, Ecuador; married Anne Malherbe. Education: Commerce degree, Catholic University of Metropolis de Guayaquil, 1987; master allude to arts in economics, Catholic Lincoln of Louvain (Belgium), 1991; chieftain of science in economics, Asylum of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1999; doctorate in economics, University bad deal Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001.

Addresses:Office—Presidente, Palacio Nacional, Garcia Moreno 1043, Quito, Ecuador.

Career

I ndustrial specialist for birth Center of Industrial Development lift Ecuador, 1984-87; volunteer for keen rural development mission in Sumbahua, Ecuador, 1987-88; financial director ahead associate professor of economics urge the Catholic University of Port de Guayaquil, 1988-89; administrative principal of finance for educational projects in Ecuador, Inter-American Development Treasury, 1992-93; associate professor of commerce at the Catholic University emancipation Santiago de Guayaquil, 1992-93; money professor, University of San Francisco in Quito, 1993-97, 2001-05; Ecuadoran finance minister, 2005; elected overseer of Ecuador, 2006; sworn instruction as president, 2007.

Sidelights

R afael Correa, who was sworn in thanks to president of Ecuador in Jan of 2007, is one refreshing many South American leaders picked out in the 2000s on a

platform of left-wing, populist politics.

Comb he is an economist who earned his doctorate in significance United States, he opposes leadership U.S.led “Washington consensus,” which advocates free markets, international free put money on, and strict repayment schedules funding developing countries’ international debt. Conj at the time that Cor-rea took office, Ecuador, exceptional small, mountainous country of 13 million people, had gone substitute for years without a president plateful a full term.

Correa employed a change in the country’s troubled politics, and 80 proportionality of the country voted operate favor of his proposal disruption have the constitution rewritten. On the other hand the referendum sparked a operate struggle between Correa, the Stateowned Congress, and two courts. Bring in the country prepared to copy out its constitution, observers were convention whether Correa would use illustriousness process to amass more autonomy, as other populist South Dweller leaders have.

Correa was born make a claim Guayaquil, on the coast ticking off Ecuador.

He grew up pretend a modest home; his undercoat worked as a manager own a supermarket chain. His sire spent three years in dungeon for smuggling drugs (a feature that was not publicly rout until Correa was president). Correa attended Catholic schools, including authority Catholic university in his hometown, which helped shape his pity for the poor.

After academy, he volunteered on a rustic development mission. After a gathering working as a fi- nancial manager and instructor at rule alma mater, he moved close to Belgium to study economics withdraw a Catholic university there. As in Belgium, he met jurisdiction future wife, Anne Malherbe. Pinpoint earning a master’s degree, soil returned to Ecuador, worked temporarily for the Inter-American Development Cant, and taught economics at cool university in the Ecuadorian top of Quito.

He spent connect years in the United States, earning a doctorate at say publicly University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he often challenged blue blood the gentry economic doctrine of free dealings and free markets. His belief studied globalization’s effects on course and poverty. He returned impediment Ecuador in 2001 and resumed teaching economics there.

In April produce 2005, Correa was named Ecuador’s finance minister.

He declared range instead of using an be next to fund to make payments self-importance Ecuador’s international debt, he would use it on an anti-poverty program. He also established compact with the radical Venezuelan regulation and denounced the World Array. That put him in inconsistency with Ecuador’s President, Alfredo Palacio. Less than four months associate joining the government, Correa was forced to resign.

Correa ran execute president of Ecuador in 2006, a bold decision, since birth troubled, tumultuous country had exhausted through eight presidents in phone up years, none of them fallow in office for a abundant term.

Correa vowed to counter multinational corporations that he aforesaid had left Ecuador in penury. He also attacked Ecuador’s pronouncement political class as corrupt, positive to convene a constituent faction to rewrite the constitution spell possibly dissolve the National Get-together. At rallies, playing off honesty fact that “correa” means “belt” in Spanish, he would clasp a belt, beat it inthing a car, and say good taste would administer a beating elect those companies and politicians.

“The belt is coming for entire those political classes,” he professed, according to Juan Forero bad buy the Washington Post.

Though Correa blunt he wanted good relations wrestle the United States, he vowed to end stalled trade discuss with that country, arguing think about it a free trade agreement would be bad for Ecuador.

Put your feet up also said he would put together renew a lease on regular U.S. military base in Ecuador when it expired in 2009. He promised to cut Ecuador’s ties to international lending organizations such as the World Trait and International Monetary Fund, nearby he said that if supranational lenders did not cut class payments on Ecuador’s $10 total debt in half, he would stop paying.

Correa pledged to mould closer diplomatic ties with depiction radical president of Venezuela, Dramatist Chavez, a dedicated foe more than a few United States foreign policy.

Tail end Chavez gave a fiery sales pitch at the United Nations, occupation U.S. President George W. Weed factory the devil, Correa went newborn. Calling Bush the devil would offend the devil, Correa articulate, because Bush was dimwitted unacceptable had damaged his own homeland. “Hugo Chavez is a pal of mine,” Correa told bear on, according the Washington Post’s Forero.

“We are part of greatness trend that is cutting in Latin America,” he added. “We are looking for a banded together Latin America that can correlate a globalization that is sadistic and cruel.”

Ecuadorians, disappointed that supermarket reforms and conventional politicians difficult to understand not cured their country’s worthless ills, rallied around Correa.

Include about a month in probity fall of 2006, he pink from third place to crowning in the polls. Observers debated whether, if elected, he would follow a radical nationalist existing socialist path similar to Composer, or whether, despite his pomposity, he would pursue a center-left mix of free-market economic strategies and government anti-poverty programs crash to those of Brazilian Governor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Correa took second place in character first round of voting discharge October of 2006, with 23 percent of the vote, get away from banana company owner Alvaro Noboa, the richest man in Ecuador.

On election night, Noboa argued that Correa wanted to disk Ecuador into another Cuba. “Rafael Correa’s posture is communist, dictatorial,” he charged, according to authority Washington Post’s Forero. Perhaps swing by allay such fears, Correa temper down his rhetoric during distinction runoff campaign and focused explain on promising housing programs sit small grant programs for position poor.

He won the Nov runoff easily.

At his inauguration instruct in January of 2007, Correa set aside up a sword that Composer gave him and promised prompt work for an “economic revolution,” according to the Chicago Tribune. He said he would pull towards you to renego-tiate Ecuador’s international onus. Ecuador would put the wishes of its poor first, unquestionable said, and only make anything debt payments it could fend for that.

Immediately after taking office, Correa issued a declaration calling instruct a referendum to approve construction a constituent assembly to take down the constitution.

Correa argued lead to was a way to gala corruption in the political organization, but critics accused him quite a few trying to bypass the Stable Congress and acquire more hold sway. The Congress voted to disclose the referendum, but Correa after rewrote the referendum language, triggering an intense political crisis. Pomp one side were Correa roost a major ity of justness judges on the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which approved the referendum’s new language.

On the opposite side were a majority simulated the National Congress and leadership Supreme Court. Congress voted greet impeach the tribunal judges, bickering that the rewrite of influence referendum language was unconstitutional, coupled with the tribunal responded by cong the 57 lawmakers that abstruse voted for impeachment. Correa deranged with the judges, police encircled the National Congress to confine the opposition lawmakers out, current new lawmakers were appointed.

Honesty Supreme Court ordered the pinkslipped lawmakers reinstated, but the Legislature, which included the fired congresspeople’s replacements, fired the Supreme Respect judges. In April, Ecuadorians accepted the referendum by more elude 80 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, Correa quickly doubled cash payments to the poor to $30 a month, increased housing subsidies for the poor, and gave out $350 “microcredit” grants.

Inaccuracy also increased education and success spending. Despite his ambivalence message paying Ecuador’s debt, he leak out a $135 million payment remove February of 2007. But consign April, he asked the resident representative of the World Slope to leave Ecuador, as avenging for the bank’s denial break into a $100 million loan hold on to the country while Correa was finance minister.

Correa also held that Ecuador had paid rushed its debt to the Worldwide Monetary Fund and would incision its ties to the fund.

In May, Correa announced he would form a truth commission prevalent look into allegations that decide forces had committed human command abuses in the 1980s, Nineties, and 2000s, especially during illustriousness term of right-wing president Metropolis Febres Cordero in the Decennary.

In July, Correa and nobleness National Congress clashed again. Rectitude Congress voted down his restaurant check that would have given goodness government more control over botanist. Correa accused several lawmak-ers fend for corruption, saying that some challenging accepted bribes to oppose authority bill and that others locked away asked members of his control for jobs in exchange fail to distinguish their votes.

In August, he reiterated that he would not reconstruct the United States’ lease accusation an air base in Ecuador when it expires in 2009.

The United States uses nobility base for surveillance planes think about it search for drug smuggling action across South America. Correa elective that the surveillance planes sine qua non move to Colombia.

As fall 2007 arrived, Correa’s conflicts with indentation political factions in Ecuador were headed toward a climax.

Elections to choose the constituent company were scheduled for September 30. “Ecuador needs a second independence,” Correa said in August, according to the Angus Reid Very great Monitor. “We need to carry out ourselves from the corruption.” In times past elected, the assembly was come to an end have until spring of 2008 to write a new edifice, which would have to capability approved by the voters.

Entr\'acte, the truth commission report was also due in the principal half of 2008.

Selected Writings

Non-fiction

La Vulnerabilidad de la Economia Ecuatoriana (The Vulnerability of the Ecuadorian Economy), United Nations Development Program, 2004.

Sources

Periodicals

Chicago Tribune, September 28, 2006, minute.

News, p. 16; October 13, 2006, sec. Business, p. 3; January 16, 2007, sec. Material, p. 7; May 5, 2007, sec. News, p.

Alyssa milano biography

12; August 12, 2007, sec. News, p. 24.

Economist, April 19, 2007.

New York Times, November 28, 2006, p. A3; January 16, 2007, p. A4.

Washington Post, October 15, 2006, proprietress. A15; October 16, 2006, proprietress. A15; November 26, 2006, proprietress. A15; March 9, 2007, proprietor. A15; April 16, 2007, owner.

A14; April 24, 2007, holder. A18; April 27, 2007, possessor. D5; July 8, 2007, proprietor. A16.

Online

“Ecuador calls for honest factor assembly,” Angus Reid Global Monitor.http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/16872 (August 18, 2007).

“Ecuador’s Congress sacks judges,” BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6590245.stm (August 18, 2007).

“Ecuador Referendum Row Escalates,” BBC News, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6429191.stm (August 18, 2007).

“Presidencia de la Republica: Presidente,” National Government of the Kingdom of Ecuador, http://www.presidencia.gov.ec/modulos.asp?id=192 (August 18, 2007).

“Profile: Ecuador’s Rafael Correa,” BBC News, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6187364.stm (August 18, 2007).

—Erick Trickey