The government of Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa released a somewhat Orwellian video last month that tries to turn the concept of dictatorship on its head. The soundtrack of the video, which touts the administration’s various achievements, is a schmaltzy pop song that goes: “If this is a dictatorship, then we’ve been had. Until recently I thought dictator meant a tyrant… If this is a dictatorship, then let’s applaud the dictating heart.” Read more>>
The government of Ecuador organized protests that took place outside the building where a legal dispute between the South American nation and oil giant Chevron was being hashed out, documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon reveal. Read more>>
On Saturday, June 13, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa hosted his weekly TV show from a different set: the Ice Palace in Milan, Italy, surrounded by South American immigrants. But not everyone in attendance was there to show support. A video which surfaced on social media shows Correa’s security detail confronting a group of dissident Ecuadorian immigrants as they held up protest banners, with messages such as “I declare myself in rebellion.” Read more>>
Ecuador is currently facing a wave of demonstrations throughout the country’s main cities, with both opposition activists and go. Some of the demonstrations have ended in opposition led violence. Wednesday night was particularly heated, as protesters encircled government supporters and began throwing bottles into the crowd, striking several people including a former government minister. In a separate incident, opposition militants broke into the headquarters of the governing party PAIS Alliance offices and assaulted staff. But who are behind these protests and what is their goal? Read more>>
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa appears to have spotted a potential source of revenue in the real estate market. On Monday, June 8, he proposed a new tax that would allow the government to keep 75 percent of “windfall profits” coming from property sales. Read more>>
Rival protesters in Ecuador took to the street for the third night running to demonstrate over President Rafael Correa and a “redistribution of wealth” plan that would increase inheritance taxes. Read more>>
The government of Ecuador has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to an American public relations firm run by a former high-level government official, public records show. Read more>>
A proposed wealth redistribution law that would radically tax inheritances in Ecuador has sparked angry protests against the government of President Rafael Correa. Hundreds took to the streets in the capital of Quito and in the city of Guayaquil on Monday night to protest the measure. Protesters gathered outside the headquarters of Correa’s party, the PAIS Alliance, AFP reported. Read more>>
A new twist has emerged in the years-long legal battle between Ecuador and Chevron over pollution in the environs of the Lago Agrio oil field. The oil giant has alleged that a ruling which ordered it to pay US$9.5 billion in compensation was not written by presiding Judge Nicolás Zambrano, but instead by a legal team allied with President Rafael Correa. Read more>>
For Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, inherited property is a “fundamental factor in inequality.” As a result, he thinks it is necessary to modify the tax on inheritances worth more than a hundred basic salary units: that is, those over US$35,400. Read more>>