Yearbook 2008
Ecuador. At the end of September, a majority of the
voting Ecuadorians voted yes to the country's new
constitution. The draft proposal had been drafted by a
Constituent Assembly dominated by the ruling party Alianza
País (AP) and considered tailor-made for President Rafael
Correa to be re-elected at the next presidential election.
The opposition to the new constitution, called by Correa a
"citizen revolution" to break up old corrupt political
structures, was greatest in the provinces of Guayaquil and
Napo, where Correa's most powerful political rivals, Jaime
Nebot and former President Lucio Gutiérrez Borbúa, have
their bases. Nebot even threatened to ignore the
constitution when it came into force on October 13, and
President Correa accused him of separatism.
According to
Countryaah reports, the National Electoral Authority set the date for
presidential, congressional and municipal elections until
April 26, 2009. President Correa is considered most likely
to win the presidential post again, and his AP to gain a
majority in the new congress. The biggest threat comes from
a defender from AP, Monica Chuji, who along with Martha
Roldós formed her own opposition movement shortly after the
referendum and who collaborated with Ecuador's important
Indian movement Conaie.
An attack by the Colombian military a few kilometers into
Ecuadorian territory in March, in which one of the Colombian
guerrilla movement FARC's senior leaders was killed, led to
a serious diplomatic crisis between the countries. President
Correa declared that Ecuador's territory had been violated
and sent troops to the border and expelled Colombia's
ambassador. However, he also explained that the FARC, which
has long operated in Ecuadorian territory, was as unwelcome
as Colombia's army.
In January 1999, Mahuad announced new cuts, wage cuts and
a postponement of non-priority public works. Inflation
reached 60% and Sucre's national currency was devalued by
200%. By the end of the year, the political opposition and
almost all of civil society demanded that the president
resign.
On January 5, 2000, the President put the country in an
emergency state to counter the mobilization of the National
Organization (Frente Unitario de Trabajadores, FUT), which,
by demonstrations and blocking roads, demanded his
departure. On the same day, Sucre dropped to a new bottom
record of 26,000. US $. In a situation of demonstrations
throughout the country and an imminent uprising on the part
of the Native American organization CONAIE, the President
conducted a dollarization of the economy the following
Sunday.
However, the decision accelerated CONAIE's uprising. The
organization blocked roads throughout the country, entered
the capital of Quito, invaded Parliament and the government
building - with the support of the companies of soldiers
posted to prevent them from access. The government no longer
existed de facto, and without firing a single shot, a
provisional government junta consisting of representatives
of the military, the judiciary, the indigenous population
and the trade union movement was deployed, and this junta
gained support in the population.
After pressure from abroad - especially from the United
States - the rebel soldiers were arrested and Mahuad
formally resigned to be replaced by Vice President Gustavo
Noboa. At his deployment on January 22, he declared that he
would continue his predecessor's economic policy. After the
provisional junta was dissolved, the Indians withdrew from
Quito, however, stating that they would continue to closely
monitor the new government's policies.
CONAIE made demands on the Paris Club that future loans
to the country be made dependent on their being used
productively, in the health sector or in the education
system, and that there was popular and local democratic
participation in this process. However, the Paris Club
refused to recognize CONAIE as a party to the country's loan
negotiations.
In 2000, the government signed an agreement with UNICEF
to reduce the number of teens who were the highest in Latin
America. Among teenagers in rural areas, pregnancy was
considered a beneficial way to receive US $ 10 monthly,
which the government gave to young single mothers. 49% of
women who had abortions in 1999 had not undergone medical
treatment.
CONAIE's former chairman, Luis Maldonado, was appointed
Minister of Social Welfare in 2001. He was thus the first
native to be appointed to a government post that lay below
the area, the indigenous peoples.
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