Rafael Correa

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Rafael Correa
President of Ecuador
Incumbent
Assumed office  15 January 2007
Vice President(s)	Lenín Moreno
Preceded by	Alfredo Palacio
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.

Contents 1 Background 2 2006 presidential campaign 3 Presidency 4 Footnotes 5 External links

[edit] 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 Indian population concentrated in the Andes region. In addition to Spanish and Quechua, he is fluent in French and English. ^[1]

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, "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."^[2]

In 2005 Correa served as the economy and finance minister under his predecessor, President Alfredo Palacio. During his four months in office he advocated for poverty reduction and economic sovereignty. Correa was skeptical of a free trade deal with the U.S, defied the advice of the International Monetary Fund and worked to increase Ecuador's cooperation with other Latin American countries. Correa also proposed the issuing of bonds at a lower interest rate than existing bonds (8.5%). If his plan had been accepted, Venezuela would have bought about half of the bonds (his successor, Magadalena Barreiro, eventually issued the Global 2015 bonds, at a coupon of 9.38 % - some reports indicate that Venezuela bought $300 million of the $650 million issued). Correa resigned from Palacio's government after the World Bank withheld a loan (citing the changes to the oil income stabilization fund). 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.^[3]

Some political analysts have seen Palacio's decision to ask for Correa's resignations as a concession of Palacio to U.S. pressure. When Correa resigned, polls showed he had the highest credibility of any official in the administration, with 57% of Ecuadorians saying they trusted him.^[4]

Prior to becoming President, Correa denounced the "sophistry of Free Trade," in an introduction he wrote for a book titled The Hidden Face of Free Trade Accords. One of the authors of that book is today Correa's Energy Minister, Alberto Acosta. Citing as his source the book, Kicking Away the Ladder,[3] written by a Korean economist based at Cambridge University, Ha-Joon Chang, Correa identified the difference between an "American system" opposed to "a British System" of free trade. The latter, he says, was explicitly viewed by the Americans as "part of the British imperialist system." Correa wrote that Chang showed that it was Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, and not Friedrich List who was the first to present a systematic argument defending industrial protectionism. (Correa includes List's National System of Political Economy in his bibliographic references.)

[edit] 2006 presidential campaign

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

During the campaign, Correa's proposed a constituent assembly to rewrite Ecuador's constitution.^[5] 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 (PS-FA), which did present candidates for Congress in some provinces.^[6]

On economic policy, Correa called for a reform in the oil industry, including an increase in the percentage of oil revenues that went towards the Ecuadorian poor. His desired policies were similar to 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." ^[7]

He also 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.^[8]

Correa criticized the neoliberal policies of recent Ecuadorian presidents, especially León Febres Cordero and 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 reverse that policy (although he added he would seek a common Andean or South American currency).

Correa also criticized Ecuador's draft free trade agreement as currently negotiated with the United States,^[9] although he does advocate expanding trade and opening markets with other countries, urging in particular the integration of South American economies.^[10]

On foreign policy, Correa commented on Ecuador's relations with its neighbor Colombia. Correa stressed Ecador's interest in staying uninvolved in internal conflict in Colombia.^[11] 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.^[12]

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.^[13] In response to Chávez's comparison of President Bush with Satan, Correa joked that this comparison was unfair to the devil.^[14]

He declared to the Argentinian newspaper Clarín that he does not consider himself a "chavista", as he is against any sort of cult of personality, and that he feels close to progressive governments in Latin America, including Kirchner, Bachelet and Chavez.^[15]

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".^[16]

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.^[17] However, in the 15 October election, a 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, and there was also a candidate from the indigenous movement, Luis Macas.^[18]

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.^[19] He took office on 15 January 2007.

[edit] 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 ago in the midst of an economic crisis.

Correa has called for a renegotiation of Ecuador's $10.2 billion external debt. In his inaugural address on 15 January, he said that he believes that much of Ecuador's external debt is illegitimate because it was contracted by military regimes.^[20] He also denounced the "so-called Washington Consensus."^[21] Correa has threatened to default on Ecuador's foreign debt, and cut off ties with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.^[22]

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 Patino 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," Patino added.^[23]

In February 2007, Correa's plan to have a referendum was approved by Congress. The referendum is planned for 15 April 2007. However, the "statutes" for the referendum were modified by Correa to allow more powers to the constitutional assembly (if it formed).^[24] 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.^[25] The electoral tribunal 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 is constitutional. The situation escalated to a feud between the opposition in Congress and the Executive and marches in the street against Congress.^[26]

On March 22nd, 21 alternate deputies were sworn in, allowing the Congress to regain quorum, and on March 23rd and 24th 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, slated for April 15th. ^[27]

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• (Spanish) and (Kichwa) Official web site of Correa
• "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"

Preceded by Alfredo Palacio

President of Ecuador 2007–present

Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
NAME	Correa, Rafael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Ecuadorian politician and economist
DATE OF BIRTH	April 6, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH	Guayaquil, Ecuador
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH