The balance of Ecuador’s President Moreno is after almost two years of mixed. Although he sets in contrast to the predecessor Correa on dialogue instead of confrontation, but a prescription for the economic crisis is missing.
“Dear compatriots, I wish you wonderful holidays and the carnival. Fun, have the free days to enjoy with family and traveling around the country, to learn our traditions.” With this message, President Moreno turned in front of the carnival to the people of Ecuador. 10,000 employees in the public sector remained in greeting a short time later stuck in the throat. They received, some even after 17 hours on the day before the first day of your holiday, your cancellation from the fun of the carnival might be for you.
The government, therefore, meets the requirement of the International monetary Fund to trim the of the previous government’s bloated state apparatus. But the price for the President is high: Of the consent rates of 70 percent at the beginning of his term of office, Lenín Moreno is miles away, in the meantime, these are only the half of it. And its credibility has plunged according to surveys, even among the 30 percent mark.
With the IMF and the world Bank out of the debt trap?
4.2 billion U.S. dollars of credit from Washington stopper, with the Ecuador its the hole in the budget, and its foreign debt will reduce. A further six billion US dollars from the world Bank, the inter-American development Bank and the development Bank for Latin America. The fourth poorest country in South America after Guyana, Bolivia and Paraguay is in an economic crisis and has, in the last two years, more debt than in the ten previous years.
The world Bank in Washington: The former President, Rafael Correa, had just finished working with her in 2007
Today, Ecuador plagues almost $ 60 billion in liabilities, and Moreno desperately seeks a way out of the debt trap. This way, is calculated with the help of the International monetary Fund found, awakens many of the Ecuadorians, however, unpleasant memories of the inglorious role of the IMF in the sovereign default in Argentina nearly 20 years ago.
A foreign policy pivot to the right
Staff reductions in the state apparatus, a more business-friendly policies and laws, the easier it is to leave capital in tax havens drain – Moreno is economically pivots on a neoliberal course. And also in terms of foreign policy, nothing is more reminiscent of the predecessor, Correa promoted the left-wing “Bourgeois Revolution”: withdrawal from the Bolivarian Alliance ALBA, a distancing from the South American States UNASUR for active participation in the Maduro-critical Lima group. Many Moreno celebrated for the Bolivarian axis of Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia to leave, but slowly, the critical voices are increasing.
GIZ development workers Ralf Oetzel
“Lenín Moreno has adapted to the conservative Mainstream in the Region completely,” complained the German development worker Ralf Oetzel, living since 20 years in Ecuador and works. Colombia, Brazil and Argentina now have right-wing governments, the shift to the left in Latin America is history. The pivot of Moreno to the right, however, is all the more remarkable, as he was from 2007 to 2013, as Vice President, Rafael Correa, is part of the left-wing government and also as the candidate of the left-wing party “Alianza País”, the presidential elections on may 2.April 2017 won. “The Backwardness of the government, irritated,” says Oetzel, referring to the attempt by Moreno to delete the ten years under Rafael Correa and the former division of the country out of the memory of Ecuador.
Correa, 2007 to 2017 – was there something?
“Currently, it reminds very strongly of a witch hunt: All the followers Correas, even if they are outstanding professionals, to be dismissed.” The development assistant is disappointed: “Ecuador under Moreno no compass as to where actually want to go, let alone a Vision or a strategy for the future.”
Mitter while best of enemies: Ex-President Rafael Correa and his successor, Lenín Moreno
An example of this is Moreno’s handling of Venezuelan refugees. Over 200,000 now live in Ecuador, thousands are coming to stay, or to Peru or Argentina. After a Venezuelan man stabbed his pregnant Ecuadorian partner in the provincial capital of Ibarra on the open road, fueled Moreno xenophobic resentment: “We have opened the doors, but we will not sacrifice our safety!”
Uncertain future: In the Ecuadorian rumichaca it many refugees from Venezuela to come
Dozens of Venezuelans have been attacked physically, many left Ibarra, out of fear of further violence. To de-escalate, instead, intensified Moreno, the entry requirements and demanded that the Venezuelan refugees, a notarized certificate of good conduct to give criminal history information for many of the refugees impossible. “The integrity of our mothers, daughters, and mates is a top priority for me,” counters Moreno allegations that he bar for racism.
Fear of the Job more than gained the freedom of the press
“If you ask the people on the road to your future, then you hear a lot of pessimism, especially the fear of not finding a Job or lose it,” says Gustavo Endara of the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in Quito. This is also the success of Lenín Moreno: the active dialogue with social groups that can make the end of the polarisation and confrontational government style of Rafael Correa, and the Opposition, non-governmental organizations and the media, just their work, without the government constantly harassed overshadowed.
Gustavo Endara of the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in Quito
“The journalists are left by Moreno is definitely out of the rest,” says Endara – no comparison to the constant verbal attacks Correas against unwelcome journalists, the millions of lawsuits against opposition stations, and the closure of radio stations, whose coverage the government didn’t fit. But what the newfound freedom of the press if the Job is missing? Even greater, Endara, was in Ecuador, but the fear of a widening of the conflict in Venezuela: “This is a national theme for all here is very worrying, because a war in Venezuela would have a huge impact on the Region. Both socially and economically.”