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On February 12, the Inter-American Dialogue hosted César Montúfar for an open discussion, moderated by Michael Shifter, about Ecuador’s current political climate. Montúfar is an academic, former member of Congress, a prominent political analyst, and the primary accuser in a recent trial against former vice-president Jorge Glas.
Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno has maneuvered to break with his predecessor, Rafael Correa, and a legacy tinged with authoritarianism and corruption.
Uno de los aspectos menos estudiados del ascenso de las opciones políticas de izquierda en América Latina durante la última década y media –hoy más bien en retirada—tiene que ver con la curiosa simbiosis discursiva que precedió a su llegada al poder.
It is still too early to predict how Moreno will fare and whether his economic and anti-corruption approaches will ultimately succeed. But he has already defied predictions that he would act as Correa’s puppet.
Hay una tentación populista permanente nacida de injusticias acumuladas, crónicas debilidades institucionales y canonjías nacidas al amparo del poder.
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Lisa Viscidi, Director of the Energy, Climate Change and Extractive Industries Program, testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on the subject of “Energy Opportunities in Latin America.”
While many talk about the return of the right in Latin America, Rafael Correa’s “citizen revolution” won another term in office: former vice president Lenín Moreno will rule until 2021 after defeating former banker Guillermo Lasso in a close second round vote. Although the opposition candidate denounced electoral fraud, other Latin American governments, as well as the observation mission of the Organization of American States (OAS), have recognized the results. On May 24, then, Correa will hand his chosen successor the presidency and a series of challenges: economic decline, social polarization and (less urgent) a foreign policy in need of some adjustments.
Across Latin America, the sustained decline in global oil prices has had a profound impact on economic growth, political stability and the viability of resource nationalism – when governments assert more control over the nation’s natural resources.
