The left-ward swing that Latin American politics experienced in the 2000’s began with the election of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in 1999. During his presidency, Chavez implemented a number of highly popular social policies that would become defining traits of almost all leftist Latin American governments. The election of Rafael Correa as Ecuador’s first leftist president in recent history saw the country’s quick adoption of many of these social policies. Wealth distribution policies were introduced in order to spread the vast wealth of the country out to those who had produced it, instead of focusing it within the already wealthy upper classes. Correa also placed a great importance on the involvement of everyday citizens in the government, leading to the democratization of many aspects of his administration and policy-making procedures. In addition to these specific changes that Correa implemented, the adoption of more common reforms was widespread as well. This included increased spending on education, medicine, housing, and other aspects of society that would improve the general quality of life for many of Ecuador’s citizens. These vast reforms were accomplished through an increase in exports, mainly to China and the United States, in order to further spread Ecuador’s wealth and fund many of the country’s social programs (Petras, September 5, 2007 + Workman, March 18, 2019). Under the Correa administration, the power of the Ecuadorian state increased significantly. This increase in power was due to the rise in social spending, which greatly improved the budgets of many of the government’s ministries and grew support among its citizens, and the country’s attempts to become more independent from the influence of the United States. As a result of this growing strength, the state began to fill the roles in society that the now weakened Eco-Dependent NGOs had previously filled. The international funders and other Eco-Imperialists that had operated with these NGOs were also severely restricted or expelled from the country as it began to assert its independence from foreign influencers. The NGOs that remained in operation during Correa’s term also found that they were now competing for funding with the Ecuadorian government, forcing them to work closer with the state in order to secure their financial futures. This resulted in many of the once single-minded NGOs to begin to account for human well-being in their projects, such as with Conservation Internationals Forest Partner program which protected thousands of acres of land and provided communities with income and better resources. Not even Eco-entrepreneurs remained untouched from the state’s growing influence, as some of the few entrepreneurs in operation in Ecuador found themselves absorbed into existing government organizations. In contrast to the other categories, the Eco-Resistors stood to benefit the most from Correa’s presidency, as his administration championed many of the causes and policies that they had been fighting for. The ideals of the Eco-Resisters became one of the central components of Ecuador’s 2008 Constitution. With this new constitution, Ecuador became one of the few countries in the world to give undeniable rights to nature itself. Complimenting this historic move, President Correa also established the National Secretary for Planning and Development in order to promote the philosophy of, “buen vivir”. As explained in my Chapter 1 review, buen vivir focuses on society coexisting with nature and promoting environmentally sustainable forms of development and living, similar to ecological synthesis. The Yusani-ITT Incentive was put forth as a way for Ecuador to move towards its goals of ecological synthesis and continue to fund the expansive social programs that Correa had established. However, the Yusani-ITT Incentive failed to achieve its stated financial goals and the increased expenses that the country’s social programs were accruing continued to grow. This has resulted in Correa’s government ramping up resource extraction within many of Ecuador’s environmentally and socially sensitive areas in order to meet demands. The sudden shift away from sustainable development and ecological synthesis has put the various ministries present within the government at odds with each, particularly between the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Energy and Mines. Eco-Resisters were still fiercely opposed to any efforts to increases mining operations within Ecuador, resulting in a widescale crackdown on protests and anti-mining activism. This has taken the form of paramilitary action against protest movements, the unjust imprisonment of activist leaders, and even the shutting down of influential organizations like AE for as long as public pressure will allow. While Correa’s initial policy goals and actions promised a rejection of the old systems of development, his current path has cemented aspects of neoliberal development philosophies within Ecuador for the foreseeable future (Sherwood, August 26, 2015). When I first began reading this book, I was excited to see that Ecuador had finally elected a president who put the welfare of his constituents and the environment above national profits. The actions of Correa’s early administration strengthened Ecuador’s environmental protections significantly and finally began placing the needs of Ecuador’s citizens above international interests. I was highly dismayed upon reading that Correa had seemingly embraced the neoliberal development patterns that had been fought against by Ecuador’s Eco-Resisters for so long. This was compounded by the fact that these same groups who represented the interests of Ecuador’s citizens were now being brushed away in the pursuit of profits and growing the popularity of Correa’s government. The change in policy that Correa has exhibited made me realize that while international NGOs may not fully represent the desires of the average Ecuadorian, they are instrumental in maintaining the momentum of the country’s environmental movement when the smaller Eco-Resisters are being suppressed.
Petras, J. (2007, September 5). Social Democracy in Latin America. Retrieved September 29, 2019, from https://nacla.org/article/social-democracy-latin-america.
Sherwood, H. (2015, August 26). Human rights groups face global crackdown not seen in a generation. Retrieved September 29, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/aug/26/ngos-face-restrictions-laws-human-rights-generation.
Workman, D. (2019, March 18). Ecuadors Top Trading Partners. Retrieved September 29, 2019, from http://www.worldstopexports.com/ecuadors-top-15-import-partners/.