THE string of victories of the Left in recent years in Latin America has been described as the "Pink Tide", and it is on the verge of sweeping the entire region. Earlier in the year it was Bolivia that witnessed a Left victory. This was followed by the triumph of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Mexico could very well have gone the progressive way but for electoral skulduggery. The other countries already swept by the Pink Tide are Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.
In late November, Ecuador became the latest country in Latin America to elect a left-wing candidate as President. Rafael Correa, a charismatic 43-year-old with a Ph.D in economics from the University of Illinois, is all set to take over in the Andean country, where in the past 10 years three elected Presidents were overthrown by street protests. Correa,recognised as a brilliant mind even by his opponents, is an unabashed admirer of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. After his victory, Correa said that relations with Chavez would get "much, much closer".
Exit polls as well as the initial count have put Correa far ahead of his nearest right-wing rival, Alvaro Noboa. Noboa, Ecuador's richest businessman, said on the campaign trail that if he were elected he would break off the country's diplomatic relations with Cuba and Venezuela. Washington backed his candidature.
Correa, on the other hand, promised that one of the first things he would do was boot the United States out from a military base it occupies in the country. In his typical, no-holds-barred style, he said in mock seriousness that he would only have a rethink on the issue if the U.S. were to give Ecuador a base in Florida. In one of his speeches, he called President George W. Bush "tremendously dim-witted".
Noboa emerged on top in the first round of the elections held in October, while Correa was a close second. Correa alleged massive manipulation in the counting process and warned that his supporters would not tolerate any tampering with the vote in the second round. President Chavez of Venezuela also accused Noboa of fraud in the first round, saying that his vote tally was artificially inflated. Chavez also accused Noboa, known as the "banana king", of exploiting workers and employing child labour. Noboa owns the fourth largest banana-exporting company in the world.
Chavez enjoys huge popular support in Ecuador, especially among the indigenous population. A few weeks before the November 26 election, Correa was actually trailing at the polls, but Chavez's backing eventually helped galvanise left-wing support.
Noboa, while campaigning, doled out high-denomination dollar bills and micro-credits to indigenous people in the countryside. He tried his best to portray himself as the "messiah of the poor" while painting Correa as a "communist dictator" and a supporter of "terrorists" who would turn Ecuador into "another Cuba".
Ecuador, with a population of 13 million, is among the poorest nations in the region. Though an oil and gas exporter, the country is deeply indebted to international financial institutions. Correa said that if he were elected he would renegotiate the country's debt and reduce debt payments to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank by 50 per cent in order to spend more on social programmes. He has said on several occasions that he gives more importance to improving the quality of life of ordinary people than to international debt commitments.
Correa said he would renegotiate contracts with big oil companies. Like the governments in Venezuela and Bolivia, his too can now demand a greater share of the profits. Correa has also promised a constituent assembly to write a new Constitution. This was done in Venezuela after Chavez was first elected and in Bolivia following the election of Evo Morales. Correa told the media in Quito, the capital city, that his victory "is a clear message to our traditional political class of the profound political changes that our citizens want". He said his first act after being sworn in on January 15 would be to call a national referendum to elect the constituent assembly.
Correa, an opponent of the free trade agreement with the U.S., said the way forward is to encourage the setting up of cooperatives in which workers have a stake. Correa says he subscribes to the "Bolivarian" ideology espoused by Chavez and promised a "citizens' revolution" similar to the one transforming Venezuela.
His biggest promise is to tame the scourge of corruption. Ecuador has been rated as among the most corrupt nations in the region. While campaigning, he used to get an emotive response when he said he would use the "correa" (belt in Spanish) to whip the corrupt elite.
John CherianCOMMents
COMMents
SHARE