President Rafael Correa

I want to include some comments about the country's President before we leave Ecuador today.  We have had the opportunity to talk to a few locals about how they feel about President Rafael Correa.  Correa was elected, and assumed the office of President in 2007 and, due to some changes in the Constitution, does not stand for reelection until next year.  Reactions to his leadership from our unscientific, limited discussions are mixed although it appears a majority support him, and there is apparently no strong alternative for the upcoming elections.

Both those for and against agree that he has made real improvements in roads, highways, and public works in general, promoted improvements in health options for citizens, improved the status of the indigenous and other poor, and improved the system of basic education, requiring children in school until age 15, longer hours for students and educators, and higher pay for educators (who used to work several jobs to make ends meet).

On the left, a billboard explains the uses for exercise equipment in a Quito park.  On the right, a billboard highlights work, and expenditures, on the restoration of La Parque de la Madre in Cuenca.

As part of advanced educational reform he has closed universities with D and E ratings, leaving open only those rated A, B, or C ratings (in Cuenca there were 7 universities, 3 have been closed) and he  wants university professors to have advanced degrees, preferably a Phd.  Apparently most university professors currently have only a bachelor's degree, with only a small percentage having advanced degrees.  And while we hear there is a program to assist teachers in getting an advanced degree over a 5 year period, as you can imagine, these changes are problematic for a large number of prior teachers who are now either immediately out of a job or face the complicated task of going back to school at an older age with families and other responsibilities in order to keep their jobs.  Many of those affected are not happy with these reforms.  But change often does have problematic short term consequences.

A program of professional testing has been instituted for many, many jobs, from educators, to health care workers, to cab drivers.  Entrance requirements for universities have also been tightened, with passing exam scores required to establish eligibility.  We have heard that the entrance exams are pretty rigorous and only a small percentage of colegio (high school) graduates qualify, causing some problems with unemployed ex-students who didn't pass their exam and who now have a lot of time on their hands.  Below a picture of a frequently seen sign promoting a review course for the entrance exams.

Correa has also forced the rich to pay taxes; something most people we've talked to here at least feel the well-healed avoided in the past.  And he is requiring employers of household workers (usually indigenous and/or poor) to pay employment/social security type taxes on these workers, give them paid vacations, and pay minimum wage.  We were told that employers are required to give household employees an extra week's pay just before school starts and just before Christmas -- times of higher financial need for minimum wage workers.

Finally, at least one person we talked to judged Correa negatively because of the company he keeps.  Correa considers Hugo Chavez a personal friend and is closest to other left leaning Latin American presidents such as Castro and Evo Morales, and decidedly unfriendly to Calderon of Columbia while continuing historically difficult relations with Peru.

 Correa plus CNE (Consejo Nacional Electoral - National Electoral Council) equals fraud.  Some apparently question the independence of the CNE.

We fight for socialism.

A poster for indigenous rights to education, water rights, and respect for their traditions - seen at an indigenous rally in Calderon Park, the central plaza in Cuenca.

 

The Citizen, the government paper of the "citizens revolution."