The transcendence of an event that took place in 2008 has not had the broadcasting it deserves: Ecuador’s Constitution, which was approved this year, established—specifically, in article 71—Nature’s Rights. The first paragraph of the Article establishes: “Nature or Pacha Mama, where life is reproduced and realized, has the right to have integrally respected its existence and the maintenance and regeneration of its vital cycles, structure, functions, and evolutionary processes.
Still, experts and environmental groups from this country state that the Ecuadorian legislation has omissions and legal loopholes that must be corrected; and that action against the environment has not diminished substantively. Nonetheless, the fact that there is a constitutional text in the world, where human beings’ rights—the anthropocentric vision—are interrelated with the sustainable existence of nature, is a qualitative leap of immense importance, which should at least engender consideration and debate among the legislators of all countries.
The Ecuadorian Republic—in addition to extending almost 284 thousand square kilometers and having a little over 17 million of inhabitants—is the country with both the highest concentration of rivers per square kilometer and, by association, one of the highest biodiversity rates in the planet. Furthermore, just by thinking about the country we are reminded of the Equator—the imaginary line that divides Earth into two hemispheres, North and South, and crosses the territory from East to West. Similarly, that Galapagos Islands of splendid nature are just a thousand kilometers from the country’s shore, in the Pacific Ocean. Between September 15 and October 20, 1835, Charles Darwin traveled the islands sailing the brig HMS Beagle as part of the investigation that would give foundation to The Origin of the Species, probably one of the most influential texts in the history of science.
Between August 1996 and January 15, 2007, Ecuador had eight presidents. It was a period of recurring instability, challenges and political violence. This period was followed by the so-called “Correa Decade,” between January 2007 and May 2017, which marked an important path for Ecuadorian politics. During those years, because of an increase in oil prices, public spending and public debt soared. For one, the increase in public spending bumped Ecuador up from a low-middle income country to a medium-high one, according to the World Bank; and it helped reduce extreme poverty by about 50 percent. According to expert economists, the foundations were laid down during this period so that, on average, the family income would be enough to cover the basic food basket—an achievement in Latin America. Yet, this came at a cost: between 2009 and 2017, the public debt almost tripled, jumping from 16 percent of the GDP to 44.6.
This policy, labeled populist, brought along other consequences: decrease in private investment and overall investments, waste of opportunities to incentivize production, and promotion of a culture of spending and consumption. In the words of Alberto Dahik Gargozi, director of the Center for Economic and Social Studies for Development (CESDE), “an addiction to public spending” was created. That is to say, the both deceitful and ultimately harmful practice to live above the means was established.
When Lenín Moreno announced his presidential candidacy, promoted by Rafael Correa and his Alianza País party, voters, media, and analysts all agreed Moreno had been designated to continue the practices of “correismo”. This assessment was grounded in the fact that Moreno had been vice president of Rafael Correa’s cabinet from 2007 to 2013. Moreno would become the continuity of the “citizen’s revolution”.
Eclipsed by Correa’s histrionics, Lenín Moreno’s story is worthy of a movie. He was born in Nuevo Rocafuerte, a border town of a thousand inhabitants, located on the east side of the Napo River, on the border with Peru. He studied business administration, taught secondary school, and was a small businessman in the tourism sector. Later, he became the executive director of the National Federation of Tourism Chambers of Ecuador; and, between the years 2001 and 2004, he was National Director of Disabilities, an entity of the Ministry of Health.
On the afternoon of January 3, 1998, Moreno’s life changed. On his way home, two robbers stopped him and, despite Moreno not resisting, one of the delinquents shot him at point-blank. Moreno survived the incident, but lost mobility in the legs. In an effort to reinvent himself, he became a professional motivator. The thesis of many of the books he wrote (“Theory and practice of humor”, “Being nice is easy, fun, and productive”, “The world’s greatest jokes”, “Laugh, don’t be sick”, among others) is that humor is a multi-use tool to face any obstacle. He traveled, gave lectures and workshops, participated in forums, and interviewed with dozens of media outlets. Soon he became very popular in his country for his initiatives in favor of people with disabilities.
That was the way things were when Correa called Moreno to join his ticket as Vice President. Moreno accepted and served in that role between January 2007 and May 2013. The difference between the Correa’s aggressive tone and Moreno’s conciliating one was always striking. When he was invited to participate as a candidate for reelection, Moreno left the government. Six months later, in December 2013, he was appointed Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility for the United Nations and moved to Geneva. He remained there until October 2016, when he returned to his country and announced his candidacy.
Moreno marked a distance with his predecessor in a firm and gradual way. He removed the most Correa aficionados from his Cabinet. He took control of the Alianza País party. He completely turned around his country’s foreign policy. When the time came, he did not hesitate to join the corruption allegations against Correa. In addition, he broke ties with Nicolás Maduro’s regime—and recognized that of Juan Guaidó—, signed a loan for 4,200 million dollars from the International Monetary Fund, and, more recently, cancelled the political asylum granted to Julian Assange at the Embassy of Ecuador in London. A government management, in a way, opposed to the previous one.
Moreno called for a referendum on February 2018 to ask the electorate seven questions. These, revealing a way of forming the State and exercising the public sector, alluded to matters such as the fight against corruption, cancellation of indefinite re-election, fight against pedophilia, restrictions on mining, annulment of the Goodwill Law, reduction of oil operations in the Yasuní Natural Park, and repeal of the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control. According to analysts, the favorable vote of the electors laid the foundations of political and operational legitimacy that would allow Lenín Moreno to govern in stable conditions, despite the opposition of Correa and his followers.
Oil production in Ecuador decreased 3 percent in 2018 with respect to the previous year—when production was on average 517 thousand barrels a day—, meaning 14 thousand less barrels a day. According to a statement by the Minister of Hydrocarbons, Carlos Pérez García, the government has a program to raise production to 700 thousand barrels a day before this administration ends its period in 2021. This increase would allow it to answer to part of the deficit inherited from the Correa administration: debts and liabilities for almost 50 billion dollars.
Fiscal adjustment or consolidation measures have produced a slowdown in the economy. In 2018, growth was around 1.1 percent, due to the contraction in public spending, the aforementioned decrease in oil production, and the decrease in non-oil exports. Ecuador is the world’s leading exporter of bananas, as well as an important competitor in other products, such as cocoa, flowers, and various sea species, especially shrimp. Another important source of income is tourism, which made a notable jump in 2018 with a growth of more than 50 percent in the number of visitors, exceeding 1.3 million. However, it should be noted that these statistics are subject for debate. Some presume the high number of Venezuelan migrants who have entered the country as tourists have distorted tourism statistics.
According to current forecasts, Ecuador should grow at an approximate rate of 2 percent over the next few years, with inflation around 1 percent. It is a small growth. This is the main challenge for both Lenín Moreno’s government and the productive sectors. Although the objective of cleaning up the economy is more than reasonable, the cost, especially for young people, can be problematic: unemployment in Ecuador, which ranges between 4 and 5 percent, triples between the ages of 18 and 25, reaching an average of 14 percent.
While working towards the goal to alleviate the debt, the Ecuadorian leadership is faced with the challenge of increasing the production of all items, stimulating private investment, persisting in adjusting the dimensions of the state apparatus, and reducing the cost of national budget subsidies, especially those granted to the internal consumption of fuels. If these objectives are achieved, in the midst of a more efficient State, less threatened by corruption, it is very likely that Ecuador will raise the quality of life of its citizens. Better yet, it would not be abruptly and dependent on the price of oil, but on a sustained basis, based on the paradigms of diversification of the economy, high productivity, and respect for nature, which has been generous with this beautiful South American country.