Since taking office in January of 2007 Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has been heavy handed in his dealings with media in addition to aggressively pursuing his progressive policies. As early as May of his first year as President, he audaciously and ironically had his security remove the editor of El Universo newspaper during an interview.…
With the introduction of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, influence from outside powers in Central and South America had been strategically limited to the United States. It is a doctrine that shaped the Cold War, and has served to deter international meddling in Central and South America. Recently, influence is growing from unexpected regions; notably, from…
The Andes mountain range is the world’s longest continental mountain range, and while second in height outside of Asia, the range contains the highest volcanoes in the world. Consensus currently supports the idea that the Andes derive their name from the Quechua word “anti” which can be translated to “high crest.” Running over 4,000 miles…
Due to economic instability, in January of 2000, then Ecuadorian President Jamil Mahuad instituted a policy instating the United States dollar as the official currency of Ecuador. Despite disapproval of the policy by current Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa’s administration, no plans are currently in the works to replace the US dollar as the official currency.…
Despite drastic differences culturally, religiously, and geographically, Venezuela’s Chavez and Iran’s Ahmadinejad seem to be united as enemies of a common enemy. Both countries are fond of railing against the "imperial Yankee," and a planned tour of leftist Latin Amarican states by Ahmadinejad is seen as a demonstration of solidarity against Western powers. Coming on…
Ecuador’s constitution enforces legal recognition of the rights of nature (similar to Bolivia’s constitution). Since 2007, the government of Ecuador has promoted an initiative to prevent the development of nearly 900 million barrels of oil within what is known as the Yasuni National Park which is located on the eastern border of the country and…
Mercosur is a full customs union encompassing Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay y Uruguay. Additionally, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia and Perú are associate members of the union, and as such, participate in the economic union, but not the unified customs system. While Venezuela signed into the union in 2006, their membership has been blocked ever since by…
United States ambassador Heather Hodges was removed by the administration of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa on the 4th of April, 2011. A leak revealed by Wikileaks reportedly revealed that a State Department cable implied that Correa appointed a General, Jaime Hurtado, despite having knowledge that Jaime had “used his positions to extort bribes, facilitate human…
Along with Bolivia, Ecuador is a country which recognizes the right of native ethnic groups to assume affiliations within the formal state. In 2009, Bolivia’s controversial constitution formal bestowed this right to it’s indigenous population. In Ecuador, these countries-within-a-country are represented by criollos, mestizos, and Afro-Ecuadorians across the country. Ecuador officially recognized these groups, and granted them certain rights…
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