By: Luke Gould
Last Saturday, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa condemned a new US plan announced by President Obama that, according to his administration, serves as a tool for intervention in non-American affairs. Anti-interventionist tones coming from Quito speak to deeper trends of change both within Ecuador and across Latin America.
President Obama unveiled a plan earlier this week to open a half dozen innovation centers across the developing world.
Correa responded with strong anti-imperialist rhetoric and criticized the corporate media structure of the US. “What they want is to intervene in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, because they say we attack freedom of speech; but go and see for yourselves who are the owners of media in United States.”
The anti-imperialist tones of Correa come during a time when the US is again expanding its military operations overseas. More importantly Correa’s rhetoric speaks to greater social and political transformation ongoing in Ecuador and several other Latin American societies.
Since the 2007 election of economist Rafael Correa, the state of Ecuador has undergone a series of transformations. The Correa administration’s plan, known as the Citizen’s Revolution, has made large strides in improving conditions for working class citizens in Ecuador. The plan has also strengthened the state’s economy leaving it almost unaffected by the global economic crisis.
Correa’s administration has made healthcare and education more available. The revolution has expanded and improved roads while creating nearly 100,000 jobs. According to a study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, under Correa “Poverty fell from a recession peak of 36.0 to 28.6 percent; prior to the recession, its lowest level had been 35.0 percent. Urban poverty fell from 25.5 to 17.4 percent.” The study went on to also a note a decrease in unemployment from 9.1 to 4.9 percent.
Correa has been able to stabilize politically polar Ecuador, which in the decade before his election saw a new head of state, on average, every 18 months.
Correa re-negotiated Ecuador’s high foreign debt, arguing that the dues and substantial interest were accumulated by autocratic regimes and used to benefit only the business and political classes of the country.
Polls have shown that Correa is extensively popular. Research conducted by Mexican polling firm, Consulta Mitofsky, in 2012 placed Correa’s approval rating at 80 percent. He is the most popular president in the Americas. Additionally, he has dominated the election booth by large margins in his three Presidential victories.
This administration maintains very close ties with Bolivia and Venezuela. These states are the face of new Latin American left and for many represent possible alternatives to the neo-liberal model that has come to dominate much of the region.
Since his 2006 election, Bolivian President Evo Morales initiated the creation of a new constitution and implemented other policies which drastically improved living conditions, access to basic services, and representation for the nation’s indigenous majority.
Hugo Chavez and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, have cut extreme poverty and increased access to education and healthcare in Venezuela.
From an international relations standpoint, all three leaders were essentially able to retake their states from political regimes that closely co-opted with the US and the West for their own personal benefit and at the expense of their own the people.
Ecuador and its political allies, however, have also faced a variety of sharp criticisms.
Both Correa and the late Hugo Chavez have been accused of wielding power in a semi-autocratic manner. The two have presided over legislatures dominated by their party, and judicial branches filled with appointed political allies. Both countries are members of OPEC and have fueled their populist policies and political success with oil. Both administrations have state media at their fingertips.
Correa and his Bolivian counter-part, Morales, have both sought to limit or remove term limits in order to seek reelection. Whereas Bolivia and Ecuador have seen relative calm in the wake of political transformation, Venezuela remains plagued by violent crime, social polarization and food shortages.
Environmental groups in Ecuador and abroad have vocally criticized Correa for funding his policies through oil revenues. The administration will likely begin allowing extraction of oil from Yasuni National Park in the next years. Yasuni is one of the most biologically diverse expanses not just in the Amazon, but on the planet.
For all the negatives of these new administrations, they represent a break from their neighbors and their own dark pasts.
The United States spent much of the 20th century intervening rather heavy handedly in Latin America. The end result has been influence and even control over governments and economic systems in the region. The US used its power to remove democratically elected governments in Guatemala, Chile and Brazil putting puppet dictators in their place. Successive American administrations simultaneously financed civil war in Colombia and the Dirty War in Argentina. Tax dollars made their way to far-right terrorist groups in Cuba and financed the genocidal whims of paramilitaries in Central America. The list of American intervention in the region goes on.
As a result, intense privatization, liberalization, globalization and economic integration are becoming cornerstone. This is particularly true in Chile, Brazil, Peru and several other states in the region. These policies are exploiting normal everyday individuals for the benefit of foreign businesses and a small elite domestic political and business class. In many smaller countries with less industry the governments amount to little more than corrupt money making intermediaries between local economic elites and western economic elites.
The current governments of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador, signal a breakaway from this exploitative paradigm. These countries too suffered under the yoke of American meddling and client regimes. Today, they provide a more humane, economically equal, socially conscious and above all sovereign system. This does not mean criticisms of power concentration and environmental policy should be ignored. Nor should we come to think of these new systems as perfect. But given the regional circumstances, these governments should be applauded for their efforts in making meaningful systemic changes that benefit and improve the lives of average citizens. These countries should be commended for resisting the superpower and standing up for the sovereignty of small nations. One can still cautiously hope that Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela will continue down this road, making the correct adjustments on the way, and illuminating possible paths for other states in the region to follow.
Photo Credit of Associated Press