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1 (May 21, 2008)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthabcfk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21687 Updated May 21, 2008 SCRS Report for Congress Ecuador: Political and Economic Situation and U.S. Relations Clare Ribando Seelke Analyst in Latin American Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Summary Ecuador, a small, oil-producing country in the Andean region of South America, has experienced ten years of political and economic instability. On January 15, 2007, Rafael Correa, a left-leaning, U.S.-trained economist, was inaugurated to a four-year presidential term, becoming the country's eighth president in ten years. President Correa has fulfilled his campaign pledge to call a constituent assembly to reform the country's constitution. The assembly, which is controlled by representatives from Correa's party, has until the end of July 2008 to draft a new constitution. Many Ecuadorians approved of Correa's condemnation of Colombia's unauthorized March 2008 raid of a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) camp in Ecuador. They also support his decision not to renew the current U.S. lease on the air force base at Manta when it expires in 2009, a decision which has strained U.S.-Ecuadorian relations. U.S. officials have expressed concerns about President Correa's ties with Hugo Chdivez of Venezuela and his stated polices on trade and energy matters. Despite those concerns, Congress enacted legislation in February 2008 to extend U.S. trade preferences for Ecuador through December 2008. For more information, see CRS Report RS22548, ATPA Renewal. Background and Issues. This report will be updated. Background Slightly smaller than Nevada, Ecuador has a population of 13.8 million people. Since independence from Spain in 1830, Ecuador has lost 61% of its total land area as a result of border conflicts with Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. Despite its small size, Ecuador's location on the Pacific Coast between two major drug- producing countries (Colombia and Peru) increases its strategic importance to the United States. Ecuador is both geographically and ethnically diverse, and has a relatively long, albeit unstable, experience with democratic rule. Some 40% of Ecuadorians live in poverty and another 13% live in extreme poverty.' United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Social Panorama (continued...) Congressional Research Service - The Library of Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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