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Ecuador
Key facts (Territorial, demographic and economic data)
Population (2010 projection): 13.7m
Territorial area: 272,045 km2 (105,037 sq m)
Capital: Quito
GDP (Billions of current dollars, 2008): 52
Per capita GDP (2008, in 2000 dollars): 1,744.6
Growth rate of GDP per capita (2008, annual rate of variation): 5.0%
Persons living in poverty: 39.0%
and indigence: 14.2%
Income or consumption distribution (Gini Index, 2005-07): 54.4
Real minimum wage (2008; 2000=100): 146.7
Rank in the UNDP Human Development Report index, 2009: 80 (high human
development)
Net foreign direct investment (Millions of dollars, 2008): 974
Key exports: oil, bananas, seafood, coffee, cocoa
General sources: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs; UNDP; UNCTAD; ECLAC; World Bank;
Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico
Notes: A Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.
Key dates (timeline)
1979
1981
1984
1988
1990
1992
1996
1997
1998
2000
2002
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Jaime Roldós Aguilera of Concentración de Fuerzas Populares becomes first civilian
president following military rule.
Brief border war with Peru. Roldós dies in a plane crash and is replaced by vicepresident, Osvaldo Hurtado.
Conservative León Febres Cordero of Partido Social Cristiano becomes president.
Social democrat Rodrigo Borja Cevallos of Izquierda Democrática becomes president.
Indigenous organizations stage nationwide protests against austerity policies.
Sixto Alfonso Durán-Ballén of centre-right Partido de Unidad Republicana becomes
president but neoliberal reforms alienate unions and indigenous groups
Businessman Abdalá Jaime Bucaram Ortíz of populist Partido Roldosista Ecuatoriano
elected president, but neoliberal reforms spark protests.
Bucaram deposed by congress for ‘mental incapacity’.
Jamil Mahuad of centrist Democracia Popular-Unión Demócrata Cristiana elected.
Mahuad’s decision to use US dollar as national currency provokes uprising under
Colonel Lucio Edwin Gutiérrez and he is forced out. Vice-president, Gustavo Noboa,
takes over.
Gutiérrez wins elections at head of newly created Partido Sociedad Patriótica 21 de
Enero in alliance with indigenous and Marxist groups.
Congress dismisses supreme court, which Gutiérrez accuses of supporting
opposition.
Congress replaces Gutiérrez with vice-president, Alfredo Palacio.
Protests over proposed free-trade deal with US. Rafael Correa of left-of-centre
Alianza Pais wins presidential elections.
Voters in a referendum support Correa’s plan to rewrite constitution. Alianza Pais wins
majority on constituent assembly, which dissolves congress.
Colombian strike into Ecuador sparks diplomatic crisis. Correa wins 64 per cent of
votes in referendum to increase powers. He pledges to default on foreign debts.
Ecuador expels two US diplomats. Alianza Pais dominates after legislative elections
and Correa wins second term. Government refuses to extend US military lease of
Pacific air base. Ecuador joins leftwing Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).
Correa dismisses allegations seeking to link his election campaign with FARC
funding.
State control extended over oil industry, and Ecuador agrees not to drill for oil in
Amazon rainforest in exchange for compensation from rich countries.
Key political developments (summaries of current events)
Years of instability culminated for much of the 1970s in military control and Ecuador’s
transition to democracy since then has been fragile. Political development has been
characterised by social unrest, irreconcileable tensions between coastal and highland areas,
and poor relations between the executive and legislature that have cut short a number of
presidencies. Although the military withdrew from power in 1979, the party system was weak
and fragmented, and the tradition of populism strong. In 1979, the reformist Jaime Roldós
Aguilera (1979-81) of the populist Concentración de Fuerzas Populares (CFP, Concentration
of Popular Forces) in alliance with the Christian-democratic Democracia Popular (DP, Popular
Democracy) became the first civilian president following military rule, but he died in a plane
crash in 1981. He was replaced by his vice-president, Osvaldo Hurtado Larrea (1981-84),
who struggled against a divided congress and amid economic difficulties to complete the term
in 1984. The conservative León Febres Cordero (1984-88) of the Partido Social Cristiano
(PSC, Social-Christian Party) succeeded him as president and initiated a raft of neoliberal
reforms but again fell foul of economic crisis, a hostile congress and a recalcitrant military. His
successor, the social democrat Rodrigo Borja Cevallos (1988-92) of the Izquierda
Democrática (ID, Democratic Left) initiated austerity policies that caused large strikes, and
indigenous organisations staged an historic uprising in 1990.
In 1992, Borja was succeeded by Sixto Alfonso Durán-Ballén (1992-96) of the new centreright Partido de Unidad Republicana (PUR, Party of Republican Unity) who attempted tough
neoliberal reforms but again alienated unions and indigenous groups. His successor, the
businessman Abdalá Jaime Bucaram Ortíz (1996-97) of the populist Partido Roldosista
Ecuatoriano (PRE, Ecuadorean Roldosist Party), benefited from a protest vote against
established politicians but his neoliberal reforms rapidly provoked demonstrations that
paralysed the country, and in 1997 congress removed him. Elections gave the presidency to
Jamil Mahuad (1998-2000) of the centrist Democracia Popular-Unión Demócrata Cristiana
(DP-UDC, Popular Democracy-Christian Democrat Union), but resistance to neoliberal
policies persisted. Mahuad’s decision to use the US dollar as the national currency provoked
a popular uprising under Colonel Lucio Edwin Gutiérrez Borbúa (2003-05) and Mahuad
resigned. Gustavo Noboa (2000-03) of the DP-UDC took over as caretaker president and
Gutiérrez won elections in 2002 at the head of the newly created Partido Sociedad Patriótica
st
21 de Enero (PSP, Patriotic Society 21 of January Party) in alliance with indigenous and
Marxist groups. A populist, Gutiérrez lacked a coherent party base and failed to deliver on
promises to reverse neoliberal policies. Amid anti-government protests, congress replaced
Gutiérrez with his Vice-President, Alfredo Palacio (2005-06).
Palacio came under pressure to abandon free-market policies adopted by Gutiérrez and
faced violent demonstrations over how oil revenues were spent. In March 2006, the country’s
interior minister, Alfredo Castillo, resigned amid violent protests against free trade talks with
the US, warning of the danger of a military coup. Disillusionment with the turbulence of recent
years and traditional politicians allowed a populistic outsider to come to power later that year.
Promising a social revolution to help the poor, Rafael Correa of Alianza País won presidential
elections and has since pursued left-of-centre domestic policies and strengthened ties with
leftwing leaders in the region. In 2007, voters in a referendum backed Correa’s plans to form
a national assembly to dissolve congress and rewrite the constitution, although disputes
broke out over the sacking of MPs for apparently seeking to obstruct the move. Correa was
able to increase his powers in 2008, winning 64 per cent of votes in a referendum and
pledging to default on foreign debts. His popularity in 2009 enabled Alianza País to dominate
following legislative elections and for him to win a second term. The government took
Ecuador into the leftwing Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) and refused to
extend a US military lease of a Pacific air base. In 2010, Correa extended state control over
the oil industry and this has strengthened Ecuador’s bargaining position in such issues as
climate change. In August 2010, for example, the country agreed not to drill for oil in an area
of the Amazon in return for payments from developed countries. One cost of Correa’s more
radical positions, however, has been diplomatic, with serious strains developing with
Colombia and the US. In 2008, a Colombian military strike into Ecuador sparked a diplomatic
crisis, and in 2009 Ecuador expelled two US diplomats whom it had accused of interfering in
its affairs.