Abstract, Left Populism, State Building, Class Compromise, and Social Conflict in Ecuador’s Citizens’ Revolution

:::::: Abstract ::::::

Left Populism, State Building, Class Compromise, and Social Conflict in Ecuador’s Citizens’ Revolution

by Patrick Clark and Jacobo García

After Rafael Correa’s 2006 presidential election in Ecuador the governing party of Correa’s Citizens’ Revolution, Alianza PAIS, consolidated political power by undertaking an unprecedented process of state building in the country’s chronically fragmented polity. An analysis of the political and economic strategies it employed emphasizes their mutually reinforcing dynamic. The Alianza PAIS was a “big-tent” party with a vanguard of figures from the traditional political left that relied on brokerage with traditional political bosses at the regional and local levels to achieve political party nationalization. The Correa government was able to consolidate political power because it upheld its initial electoral commitment to abandon orthodox neoliberalism, rebuild the state, and advance social citizenship. The division between Correa and Lenín Moreno after the April 2017 elections and the subsequent implosion of Alianza PAIS put the legacy of the Citizens’ Revolution at risk.

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Political Report # 1318 Western Media Hail Ecuador's Cynical President Moreno

By Joe Emersberger FAIR

In an article for the British Guardian (2/2/18), Dan Collyns wrote: But since taking office, Moreno-the world's only wheelchair-using head of state-has made good on his pledge to be his own man. What Lenín Moreno actually pledged during his election campaign several months ago was to continue the "Citizens Revolution" of Rafael Correa, whose left-wing government Moreno was part of for 10 years. Moreno called Correa the greatest president Ecuador ever had during the campaign. And here is a video of Moreno leading a crowd in cheers of "Rafael! Rafael!" at a campaign rally. Moreno is now, through a referendum that he never proposed on the campaign trail-it was actually proposed by his right-wing opponent-asking voters to  (retroactively) re-impose term limits, handpick a body with "transitional" powers to fire 150 authorities (judges, prosecutors, regulators etc....) and drastically reduce taxes on wealthy land-speculators. Moreno did not campaign for any of those things. He is now also talking about a "free trade" deal with the United States-another policy he would never have dared to propose while he needed Correa's support to get elected. Further, Moreno has given Ecuador's private banks exclusive control over electronic money-which he never would have proposed while he needed Correa.  In 1999, the private banks, after years of corruption and deregulation, totally crashed Ecuador's economy.  Reining them in, including their media power, was key to the economic success Ecuador had under Correa. In short, as many Latin American politicians did during the neoliberal '80s and '90s, Moreno campaigned left then governed from the right.  Wasn't Moreno perfectly free to "be his own man" as a presidential candidate, by resigning from Correa's government and running as the right-wing politician that he became after the votes were counted?

Exclusive, Has Ecuador stemmed South America’s receding pink tide?

:::::::::: Exclusive ::::::::::

Has Ecuador stemmed South America’s receding pink tide?

by Marc Becker

In a nail-biting finish, it appears that Lenín Moreno has fallen just short of a first-round triumph in Sunday’s presidential election in Ecuador.

In order to avoid a runoff election, a candidate must either win a majority of the vote or 40 percent with a 10-point margin over the nearest contender.

Preliminary electoral results show Moreno ahead of his nearest rival Guillermo Lasso by about 10 points, but just shy of the required 40 percent of the total vote.

Moreno is the candidate for Alianza Pais (AP) of outgoing president Rafael Correa. After ten years in office, term limits prevented Correa from running again. The conservative banker and former finance minister Lasso ran as the candidate for an alliance between two rightwing parties, Creating Opportunities (CREO) and United Society More Action (SUMA).

Moreno finished stronger than many pre-election polls had indicated, with some showing him in the mid 30s. Recent polling, not only in Ecuador but across the hemisphere, has been notoriously unreliable.

A total of eight candidates were on Sunday’s ballot. Before Correa’s ascent to power in 2007, multi-party races meant that it was rare for the eventually winner to poll more than about a quarter of the vote in the first round. Correa won outright in his 2009 reelection campaign—the first time a candidate had achieved that feat since Ecuador’s return to civilian rule in 1979.

An open question now is what will happen in Ecuador’s April 2 runoff election.

Abstract, State, Illegality, and Territorial Control: Colombian Armed Groups in Ecuador under the Correa Government by Jorge Enrique Forero

:::::: Abstract ::::::

State, Illegality, and Territorial Control: Colombian Armed Groups in Ecuador under the Correa Government 
by Jorge Enrique Forero

The inevitable incursion of Colombian armed groups into Ecuador remained at low levels for decades, but in the late 1990s the United States increased its level of engagement in the conflict and the Colombian government permitted the expansion of paramilitaries into the South of the country. While Rafael Correa’s Plan Ecuador privileged economic development in the border region as a way of promoting peace there, the massacre by the Colombian military in Angostura (Sucumbíos) in March 2008 led to an increase in military spending and increasing violations of the human rights of the region’s people. Socioeconomic conditions remain favorable to the expansion of the paramilitary organizations, linked to drug trafficking, gasoline smuggling, and other illegal activities. Without the resurrection of Plan Ecuador, their presence will continue to threaten the sovereignty of the state and the consolidation of its progressive national project.

Abstract, A Case of Diversified Dependency: Macrostructural Change and Policy Alternatives in Ecuador by Jonas Gamso

:::::: Abstract ::::::

A Case of Diversified Dependency: Macrostructural Change and Policy Alternatives in Ecuador 
by Jonas Gamso

After decades of being primarily dependent upon the United States, Ecuador appears to be experiencing a diversification of dependency as alternative sources for trade and investment have emerged to challenge Washington. This diversification is in turn increasing Ecuador’s political autonomy, as demonstrated by the Correa administration’s policy shift away from the Washington Consensus. Diversified dependency is framing Ecuador’s policy options and may frame those of other peripheral states in the context of an increasingly multipolar global economy. Peripheral states will find themselves under pressure from multiple, often competing core states to enact certain policies; at the same time, diversification should provide them leverage in bilateral relations with each of the core states upon which they depend.

Abstract, The Correa Coup by Marc Becker

:::::: Abstract ::::::

The Correa Coup 
by Marc Becker

On September 30, 2010, discontented police officers and military troops plunged Ecuador into a political crisis as they took President Rafael Correa hostage, seized airports, and stormed the National Assembly building. In response, Correa declared a state of emergency and denounced what he termed a coup attempt. To outside observers, what appeared to be in process was yet another potentially extraconstitutional transfer of power in Ecuador’s tumultuous political history, with some pointing to the presence of the heavy imperial hand of the United States. Some grassroots activists, however, cast the political disruptions as little more than a labor dispute that Correa manipulated to entrench his increasingly authoritarian control over the country. At play in these competing narratives were debates over what political and economic direction Ecuador should take and whose interests those developments would benefit. Furthermore, the September 30 protests raise questions of how various domestic and international actors opportunistically exploit political developments to advance their own competing interests. Analyzing these events leads to a deeper understanding and appreciation for the compromises local social movements make, as well as the difficulties inherent in building transnational solidarity networks.

Abstract, Counterhegemony in the Media under Rafael Correa’s Citizens’ Revolution by Philip Kitzberger

:::::: Abstract ::::::

Counterhegemony in the Media under Rafael Correa’s Citizens’ Revolution 
by Philip Kitzberger

The Citizens’ Revolution, the political process initiated in Ecuador with the presidential inauguration of Rafael Correa in 2007, initiated a radical transformation in the media comparable to other progressive governmental experiments in the region. The political process led by Correa has pursued a change in power relations and ownership, the introduction of regulation, the demystification of the established media discourse, and an abandonment of the market as a guiding principle in the media. From the perspective of the equitable redistribution of media power, however, it is still an open process whose outcome is uncertain.

Abstract, State, Illegality, and Territorial Control: Colombian Armed Groups in Ecuador under the Correa Government by Jorge Enrique Forero

:::::: Abstract ::::::

State, Illegality, and Territorial Control: Colombian Armed Groups in Ecuador under the Correa Government 
by Jorge Enrique Forero

The inevitable incursion of Colombian armed groups into Ecuador remained at low levels for decades, but in the late 1990s the United States increased its level of engagement in the conflict and the Colombian government permitted the expansion of paramilitaries into the South of the country. While Rafael Correa’s Plan Ecuador privileged economic development in the border region as a way of promoting peace there, the massacre by the Colombian military in Angostura (Sucumbíos) in March 2008 led to an increase in military spending and increasing violations of the human rights of the region’s people. Socioeconomic conditions remain favorable to the expansion of the paramilitary organizations, linked to drug trafficking, gasoline smuggling, and other illegal activities. Without the resurrection of Plan Ecuador, their presence will continue to threaten the sovereignty of the state and the consolidation of its progressive national project.

Abstract, A Case of Diversified Dependency: Macrostructural Change and Policy Alternatives in Ecuador by Jonas Gamso

:::::: Abstract ::::::

A Case of Diversified Dependency: Macrostructural Change and Policy Alternatives in Ecuador 
by Jonas Gamso

After decades of being primarily dependent upon the United States, Ecuador appears to be experiencing a diversification of dependency as alternative sources for trade and investment have emerged to challenge Washington. This diversification is in turn increasing Ecuador’s political autonomy, as demonstrated by the Correa administration’s policy shift away from the Washington Consensus. Diversified dependency is framing Ecuador’s policy options and may frame those of other peripheral states in the context of an increasingly multipolar global economy. Peripheral states will find themselves under pressure from multiple, often competing core states to enact certain policies; at the same time, diversification should provide them leverage in bilateral relations with each of the core states upon which they depend.

Abstract, The Correa Coup by Marc Becker

:::::: Abstract ::::::

The Correa Coup 
by Marc Becker

On September 30, 2010, discontented police officers and military troops plunged Ecuador into a political crisis as they took President Rafael Correa hostage, seized airports, and stormed the National Assembly building. In response, Correa declared a state of emergency and denounced what he termed a coup attempt. To outside observers, what appeared to be in process was yet another potentially extraconstitutional transfer of power in Ecuador’s tumultuous political history, with some pointing to the presence of the heavy imperial hand of the United States. Some grassroots activists, however, cast the political disruptions as little more than a labor dispute that Correa manipulated to entrench his increasingly authoritarian control over the country. At play in these competing narratives were debates over what political and economic direction Ecuador should take and whose interests those developments would benefit. Furthermore, the September 30 protests raise questions of how various domestic and international actors opportunistically exploit political developments to advance their own competing interests. Analyzing these events leads to a deeper understanding and appreciation for the compromises local social movements make, as well as the difficulties inherent in building transnational solidarity networks.

Abstract, Counterhegemony in the Media under Rafael Correa’s Citizens’ Revolution by Philip Kitzberger

:::::: Abstract ::::::

Counterhegemony in the Media under Rafael Correa’s Citizens’ Revolution 
by Philip Kitzberger

The Citizens’ Revolution, the political process initiated in Ecuador with the presidential inauguration of Rafael Correa in 2007, initiated a radical transformation in the media comparable to other progressive governmental experiments in the region. The political process led by Correa has pursued a change in power relations and ownership, the introduction of regulation, the demystification of the established media discourse, and an abandonment of the market as a guiding principle in the media. From the perspective of the equitable redistribution of media power, however, it is still an open process whose outcome is uncertain.

Book, "Pachakutik: Indigenous Movements and Electoral Politics in Ecuador" By Marc Becker

Pachakutik:  Indigenous Movements and Electoral Politics in Ecuador 
By Marc Becker

This authoritative book provides a deeply informed overview of one of the most dynamic social movements in Latin America. Focusing on contemporary Indigenous movements in Ecuador, leading scholar Marc Becker traces the growing influence of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), which in 1990 led a powerful uprising that dramatically placed a struggle for Indigenous rights at the center of public consciousness. Activists began to refer to this uprising as a "pachakutik," a Kichwa word that means change, rebirth, and transformation, both in the sense of a return in time and the coming of a new era. Five years later, proponents launched a new political movement called Pachakutik to compete for elected office. In 2006, Ecuadorians elected Rafael Correa, who many saw as emblematic of the new Latin American left, to the presidency of the country. Even though CONAIE, Pachakutik, and Correa shared similar concerns for social justice, they soon came into conflict with each other.