CEBEBRÄT1W© Ä
10
street r o o ta lB
Education ♦ Dialogue ♦ Independence
INTERNATIONAL
The Latino Obama?
Rafael Correa won a landslide second term a s president o f E cuador in a “citizens’ revolution, ”
but he faces huge challenges in realizing his election manifesto a n d placating ja dem anding electorate
B Y HENRY MANCE
Occidental Petroleum and the phone
allies have been his very opponents, those
grave for some time.
network Porta, for environmental offenses
traditional politicians who keep doing
# When Chavez compared George Bush to
Quito/ Ecuador
politics in the same outdated ways.”
Satan, Correa chimed inthat it was unfair to and tax evasion'respectively. “The party’s
over,” he told Porta. “If you don’t like it,
s this what hope looks like after two
Change and slick advertising, yes, but the
the devil. Yet most of thq time Correa is
years in power? Rafael Correa - a little
we’ll use another company.” The moves .
Ecuadorian president is not a conciliator like happy to leaye the humor to the Venezuelan
stockier, greyer and hoarser - bounces
were “a boost to national self-esteem,”
Obama. If there’s an opportunity to insult
president; he is more boffm than buffoon.
opto the stage, hugging just about anyone . someone, he’ll probably take it.
according to analyst Paulina Recalde.
He earned a master’s degree in Belgium, an
he can get his arms around.
. ‘ -
The president then announced Ecuador
Environmentalists and indigenous groups
economics doctorate in Illinois, and speaks
The rally is meant to mark the end of his
are “imbeciles”. One of his rivals in the
would default on $3.4 billion of its national
Spanish, French, English and Quechua.
re-election campaign. In fact, the president
election, Ecuador’s richest man isa “big-
debt, claiming it had been contracted
Before being elected.president, his only
of Ecuador is already celebrating. He starts
bellied oligarch.” The press are “part of the
“illegally and illegitimately” by past
political experience was a few months as
off with some group karaoke - one number
about Che Guevara, another proclaiming
that "the people united will never be
defeated” and finally, “Tropical Banana,” a
bizarre song about Ecuador’s role as a
commodities exporter. C
Only when the-president starts to speak
does something resembling decorum set in.
“We've kept our word!” he bellows at the
ecstatic crowd. “The citizens’ revolution is
happening and nothing can stop it!” Next to
me, a star-struck old man chokes, “a great
president, a great president.”
Around us, hundreds of supporters wave
lime-green flags bearing prints of Correa’s
face, the striking image he first used in 20Q6
as an affront to the traditional political
colors and,mug shots. It was Barack Obama-
style advertising, before Obama entered our
consciousness. Four days after the rally,
Correa’s celebrations were proven right.
He was re-elected on April 26 in the first
■'■Fot md -of voting -'•th e 'firs t “ time1 m^t hre g’
decades a candidate has won without having
to go to a second round - in an
unprecedented feat of popularity in Ecuador.
Ecuador is a dreamy world of turtles,
jungles, beer for
breakfast, and
H e earn ed a m aster's d eg ree
indigenous women
carrying babies
in B elg iu m , an ec o n o m ic s
across their backs -
doctorate in Illin o is , an d
’ as any bus-beaten
sp e a k s S p an ish , F rench,
backpackers will tell
E n g lish an d Q uech ua. H is
you.
However, it is also
o n ly p o litic a l exp erien ce
a political volcano.
w as a few m on th s a s fin a n ce
Since 1997,
P H O T O B Y R E U T E R S /G U IL L E R M O G R A N J A
m inister; oth erw ise, h e w as
economic crisis and
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa addresses a n enthusiastic crowd a t the end o f his re-election cam paign. He was
massive corruption |
a u n iv ersity professor an d
re-elected A pril 2 6 in the first round o f voting, the fir st tim e in three decades a president has won with such support.
have led to three
c o n su lta n t. T h is is the
presidents being
in te llig e n t fa ce o f" 2 1 st
ousted from office:
structure of
finance minister; otherwise, he was a
governments. Last week he said Ecuador
cen tu ry so cia lism ."
The first victim, now
corruption and
university professor and consultant. This is
would in fact repay it, but at a 70 per cent
exiled in Panama,
_____ __________
accomplices of
the intelligent face of “21st century
discount Nonetheless, the government
won the nickname
the national
socialism.”
claims that for the first time Ecuador is
“El Loco” when as
• disaster.”
Correa’s first move as president was. to
spending more on social services than debt
president he released an album titled “El
But insults are not a bad* tactic* in a
declare the need for a blank slate, a new set
repayments. Correa still lacks the money for
Loco que Ama” (The Madman who Loves)
country fed up with its politics. Then there’s of politicians to allow real change. Like
Chavez-style missions, but his supporters
So, in a country where the tourists
Rafael Correa’saffinity with Hugo Chavez.
Chavez, he introduced a new national
attribute virtual miracles to the new social
sometimes stay longer than the presidents,
Gordon Brown et al may have declared the
constitution and then won a healthy majority programs. .
what makes Correa different? “There’s a
Washington consensus dead, but the two
in the resulting Assembly.
“Before, there were three social classes:
yearning for change and Correa has
Bolivarians (supporters of a political
However, while Chavez now launches
upper, middle and lower. Now there are just
ideology named after Simon Bolivar, the j
presented himself as someone who is
wave after wave of nationalization,' Correa ;
sincere, whatever mistakes he may make,”
19th century general and liberator of much
has steered a moderate economic course.
See LATINO OBAMA page 11
says the pollster Santiago Perez. “His best
He has cracked down on big companies,
of South America) have been dancing on its
S T R E E T 'N E W S S E R V IC E
_____
I
Tune in to -
We The People
on
KBOO, 90.7 fm
6-7 p.m.
the fourth
When it comes to your civil liberties,
you should hear what you're missing; Thursday of
every month
Linda Olson-Osterlund and Patrik Angstrom
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