"Panetta listed Argentina, Venezuela and Ecuador on Wednesday as countries in dire economic straits that could be destabilized"
Interesting given the near quiet coup attempt in Venezuela (going badly, of course) as well as other events in the region and something smells suspicious:
"In Ecuador, study in contradictions" by Nick Miroff | Washington Post March 30, 2014
QUITO, Ecuador — In Latin America’s current era of big-personality politics, there may be no other leader who embodies as many apparent contradictions as Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s president.
Although he proudly identifies as a leftist, Correa is staunchly opposed to abortion, even in cases of rape, and has called gay marriage a ‘‘barbarity.’’
Okay.
He relishes confrontation with Washington, despite the fact that the United States is Ecuador’s top trading partner and a major source of foreign tourists — as well as the place Correa earned his doctorate in economics.
And for nearly two years, Correa has sheltered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at Ecuador’s Embassy in London while he curbs press freedoms at home, even cracking down on political cartoonists.
Analysts in the region wonder whether Correa represents a new model of Latin American leadership: economically populist, socially conservative, quasi-authoritarian — and seemingly unbeatable at election time. Polls consistently put his approval rating between 60 and 85 percent, making him one of the region’s most popular leaders.
Obummer must be envious.
Correa, who was reelected to a third term by a huge margin last March, may have one more twist to add.
After spending the past seven years concentrating power in the executive, he says he will not run for reelection when his current term ends in 2017, telling the government newspaper El Telegrafo: ‘‘It’s very damaging when one person becomes indispensable.’’
It was a surprising observation from a leader who has remade Ecuador to revolve almost entirely around his rule. Correa dominates the country’s Legislature through the party he founded, Alianza-PAIS, and has stacked the judiciary with his former cabinet members, removing obstacles to his agenda.
Walking away after his current term would also be a notable break with Correa’s leftist allies in the region, such as Bolivia’s Evo Morales, Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, and the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, who used the ballot box to weaken or eliminate term limits.
That's a signal!
Correa’s detractors don’t believe the 50-year-old president has any interest in an early retirement.
They see his brand of ‘‘21st-century socialism’’ as little more than contemporary Latin American caudillismo — a media-savvy version of old-fashioned strongman rule.
Unlike Chávez and his epic battles with Venezuela’s private sector, Correa maintains generally strong ties with Ecuador’s business community and has presided over a sustained period of economic growth and low unemployment.
I'm jealou$.
He has kept the US dollar as Ecuador’s currency.
As long as he does that he is $afe!
Felipe Burbano, a political analyst in Quito, said Correa is a master of ‘‘state activism,’’ projecting his presidency — and government spending — into every corner of the country of 15 million by reaching out to rural voters, slum residents, and others who were often ignored in the past.
Correa has plowed the OPEC country’s oil revenue into new schools, health clinics, and infrastructure projects, especially new highways, while cutting the poverty rate from 37 percent to 27 percent from 2007 to 2012, according to official data.
Now wonder he's not a favorite.
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