The Difference Between Yesterday and Today in Ecuador

Yesterday was a rather important day here, but the explanation should probably begin in January. Very, very shortly before we arrived here a presidential election (I don't know exactly what they call it here) took place, in which, amongst an absolute pack of candidates, one Rafael Correa won, by apparently a surprising margin. He was the most left-wing candidate who wasn't completely loco, and very shortly after we arrived held a meeting with a number of well-known national leaders, pointedly leaving Mr Blair and President Bush, amongst other rather prominent and, afterwards, somewhat disgruntled high-profile politicians off his guest list. Of those who attended were representatives from China, Cuba, and a number of smaller Latin American countries, making a very Bolivarian statement. Since then he has been making loud complaints about the political system and highly developed, intricate, networked layers of bureaucracy that he has inherited.

This President, although Mestizo (dual Spanish and Indiginous heritage, and natively Spanish-speaking) spent a year doing volunteer work in a tiny indiginous village in the Páramo in Ecuador, learning Quechua while he did it. This background of concern into what is by far the poorest sector of Ecuadorian culture was a major part of his election campaign, and he has carried on emphasising his commitment to the Quechua people through the past 4 months. This is all fairly normal from an Ecuadorian President (except actually speaking Quechua), and their history of corrupt Presidents can testify to that.

The usual course of action is to complain that a corrupt system has been in place, and that the new government should be left alone and trusted to put past damage to right. By and by declarations of horror at the past government's incompetence/corruption/inherent evil will become less and less frequent, and the new government's innovations will become less and less frequent, and nothing will change.

Correa, however, recently announced that the present congress was corrupt to its roots, and that it needed to go, and that the old Constitution of Ecuador was rubbish and needed to go too. He proposed a national referrendum to abolish the congress, institute a National Assembly, and promised to resign if the country voted against it. The vote took place yesterday, a compulsary vote which followed three days of a nation-wide ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol, and in which every citizen above voting age had to return to their home town. Yesterday was not a day to be travelling.

The vote turned out with 78% voting for Correa's proposal. Congress will shortly be disbanded, the Constitution rewritten, and a 'Peoples' Assembly' instituted.

Chavez, Venuezuelen President, who also attended Correa's meeting in January, has already welcomed the outcome: "That is how Latin America is moving forward, from victory to victory, from triumph to triumph". Correa also announced, welcoming the result, that the country has paid its final debt to the IMF, saying "we don't want to hear anything more from that international bureaucracy" and threatening to expell the World Bank's representative from Ecuador if his government felt "pressured" by the organisation.

Many people have claimed that the entire thing is an attempt to give Correa himself more power, and that the Assembly will be either selected or ignored, and that the new Constitution will be nothing but a power cheque to the President. Signs of a tragic tendency towards those time-honoured Latin American political traditions (objectors thrown out of office, riot police being used to subdue demonstrations etc) have been shown, but in bid to quell the incredulous Correa has declared a second referendum to take place in 6 months' time to approve of the new Constitution, and the Assembly will be selected by popular vote again.

What seems definate is that IMF, World Bank and the Tratada de Libre Comercio (USA backed/pushed Free Trade Treaty, or TLC, as it's graffiti'd all over the walls in Quito, always as "NO TLC") influence has been firmly expelled, to the general understanding that a massive load of international corruption has been lifted from Ecuador. Whether this is to be replaced with national corruption in the form of a dictatorship is yet to be seen, but popular opinion seems to be that the greater evil has been cast off with the international influences.

What precisely awaits Ecuador is uncertain, but it is likely that much will unfold in the next 7 weeks while I'm still here, and it promises to be and exciting time.