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.
Ruling party candidate and former vice president Lenín Moreno claimed victory in Ecuador’s presidential vote on Sunday, as supporters of conservative challenger Guillermo Lasso clashed with riot police in major cities, accusing authorities of permitting fraud in the election. With more than 99 percent of votes counted, Moreno had secured 51.2 percent of the votes compared with Lasso’s 48.8 percent, according to the electoral council. Lasso has called for a recount in every province of the nation, but the electoral council’s head, Juan Pablo Pozo, has appealed to the opposition to recognize the results.
En este programa de CNN en Español, Michael Shifter habla sobre las elecciones presidenciales en Ecuador. “Aún si Lenin Moreno gana, las cosas van a cambiar. Es una sociedad muy dividida. La economía está muy mal. Hay muchas acusaciones de corrupción y Correa, el líder carismático, no está. Se tienen que buscar nuevas fórmulas para gobernar.”
Michael Shifter es entrevistado por La Tercera sobre las elecciones en Ecuador: “Si Moreno no gana en primera vuelta, obviamente el correísmo habrá perdido fuerza. Lenín Moreno no es Correa”.
In 2016, the flow of remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean surpassed US $70 billion. In the 20 countries for which there is data available, the flow reached US$69 billion. This increase demonstrates continued growth since the post-recession period. In this article, we find a range of factors shaping this growth,
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.
Lisa Viscidi, Rebecca O’Connor
Reports ˙
˙ Italian Institute for International Political Studies
In its fourth edition, the Remittances Scorecard ranks 30 companies working in 11 Latin American and Caribbean countries. It evaluates them across 12 indicators to assess their performance and competition in the money transfer industry.
Ecuador’s government said Oct. 18 it had partly restricted Internet access for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has lived in asylum in the Andean nation’s London embassy for more than four years. Why has Ecuador, whose leader, Rafael Correa, often locks ideological horns with the United States, taken steps to restrict Assange now?
Michael Shifter fue entrevistado por Gerardo Torres de El Salvador sobre los temas más destacados en la agenda regional. Entre otros asuntos, Shifter habló sobre el futuro de la paz en Colombia, la crisis política y económica en Venezuela, y el impacto de las elecciones de Estados Unidos en la región.
Ecuador has now confirmed that it cut off internet access at their London Embassy for Julian Assange, the leader of the group WikiLeaks, who has been staying at the embassy since 2012. NPR’s Kelly McEvers talks to Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, about what Ecuador’s calculus might be.
Ecuador’s ruling party, the Alianza Pais, selected former Vice President Lenín Moreno as its candidate for the upcoming presidential election in February. Four months ahead of the election, how likely is it that voters will choose another Alianza Pais president, and who are the likeliest opposition figures to face him?
It is estimated that it will cost Ecuador $3 billion to repair the damages to infrastructure caused by the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake on April 16.
As global oil prices collapsed over the last two years, regional governments have started to lose their leverage in the energy industry. To attract international investors, they must offer increasingly favorable terms, which means ceding more of their own control.
