Eight years of progressive politics in Ecuador
Eight years of progressive politics in Ecuador
Jan 2015 Friday 30th
Eight years ago President Rafael Correa was elected in Ecuador and, as in many Latin American countries in recent years, there’s been a tremendous shift in the country.
Today, at a time when we are constantly told about the inevitability of cuts and austerity, spending in Ecuador on healthcare and education has doubled.
On Correa’s election the rich were forced to pay their taxes for the first time in the country’s history, and as a result government investment has led to economic growth of 4 per cent year by year.
Additionally, for the first time in Ecuador’s history, extreme poverty is in single figures.
It is now less than 8 per cent, compared with 16.5 per cent previously.
Ecuador also has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the continent, with the figures for 2014 closing at only 3.8 per cent.
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Yet prior to Correa’s election — as part what has been termed the “pink tide” in Latin America — Ecuador was a very unstable country, perhaps one of the most unstable in the region throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
It had seven presidents in 10 years, accompanied by a series of aggressive neoliberal economic packages, with a resulting sharp increase in inequality.
More:
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-e42b-Eight-years-of-progressive-politics-in-Ecuador#.VMvtxmc5Cwk