About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (September 15, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govemvy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service ~ Inferming Ih legislative d ba e sin e 1914 Ecuador: Country Overview and U.S. Relations Ecuador is a small, ethnically and geographically diverse country of 18.3 million inhabitants located in South America between Colombia and Peru (see map, Figure 1). Members of Congress have expressed an interest in a broad range of issues related to Ecuador, including strengthening bilateral trade relations, combatting crime and drug trafficking, limiting Chinese influence, and protecting Ecuador's Amazon and Indigenous communities. Snap Electons and Current Conditions Conservative President Guillermo Lasso took office for a four-year term in May 2021. He sought to build on the market-friendly political and economic reforms of his predecessor, Lenin Moreno (2017-2021), who pursued closer ties with the United States. Lasso encountered strong resistance, including from the country's powerful Indigenous movements and a divided legislature. On May 17, 2023, facing an imminent impeachment vote, President Lasso invoked constitutional article 148, the so- called cross death decree, dissolving the National Assembly (Ecuador's unicameral legislature) and requiring snap general elections to elect a president and all 137 members of the Assembly to serve out remaining terms of office to 2025. Lasso did not seek reelection. The snap election was held on August 20, 2023. A new National Assembly is scheduled to be seated on December 8, 2023, and a new President is scheduled to take office December 11, 2023. The presidential candidate from former leftist populist President Rafael Correa's Citizens' Revolution (RC by its Spanish acronym) party, Luisa Gonzalez, came in first place in the eight-candidate field with 33.6% of the vote but fell short of the margin needed to avoid a runoff. Daniel Noboa of the pro-business National Democratic Action (ADN by its Spanish acronym) alliance placed second, with 23% of the vote, and will face Gonzilez in a second-round runoff election scheduled for October 15, 2023. According to preliminary legislative election results, the RC gained the largest slate with 48 National Assembly seats. The Build Ecuador Movement, allied with assassinated anti-corruption presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, won 28 seats, followed by the Social Christian Party and the ADN with 14 seats and 13 seats, respectively. About 30% of the prior National Assembly Members were returned to office, and Indigenous representation dropped significantly. Most analysts forecast a fragmented legislature. Ecuadorians also voted by large margins in national and regional referendums to halt oil and minerals extraction in two ecologically sensitive regions of the country, an outcome that could disrupt Ecuador's economic development model. The election was marred by the assassinations of Villavicencio and at least two other Updated September 15, 2023 political figures, killings allegedly carried out by organized crime groups. Figure I. Ecuador at a Glance Sources: World Factbook (CIA), International Monetary Fund (IMF); Ecuador's National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (NISC); Trade Data Monitor (TDM). Ecuador has seen a sharp rise in violence in the past three years attributed primarily to illicit drug trafficking and turf disputes between organized crime groups. Ecuador's neighbors, Colombia and Peru, are the world's two largest cocaine-producing countries. The homicide rate rose to nearly 26 per 100,000 persons in 2022, almost double the prior year and comparable to the homicide rates in Mexico and Colombia. High-fatality prison riots prompted the Lasso government to address poor conditions and gang rivalries in prisons. In April 2023, the Lasso government declared some Ecuadorian gangs to be terrorist organizations, allowing further military support for law enforcement efforts. Drug gangs are suspected of having assassinated the mayor of Manta, Ecuador's fourth-largest city, in July. In August 2023, following the Villavicencio assassination, President Lasso declared a national state of emergency. Insecurity is a top concern for Ecuador's electorate, according to most polls. Politica and Econo ic Background During a decade in power (2007-2017), populist President Correa brought some stability to Ecuador's tumultuous political scene. He presided over a public investment-driven economic expansion, with growth averaging 5% annually between 2010 and 2014. Correa used that economic growth to increase social expenditures and reduce poverty. However, his policies left Ecuador with significant debt to China and more dependent on revenue from petroleum extraction. Correa also governed in an increasingly authoritarian manner, limiting civic freedoms and restricting judicial independence. In September 2020,

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most