More Problems Between US/Ecuador Government

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BobH Serial expat

Member since 07 June 2011

BobHSerial expat16 December 2013 04:31:20

841

This ties in somewhat with a discussion that occurred on another thread: It is an unquestionably political topic, and yet it is one that might have a big effect on expats (US expats especially, but also others who might be mistaken for Americans).

From the Chicago Tribune:

QUITO (Reuters) - The United States has canceled aid to Ecuador worth $32 million over the coming years after long-running disputes with the government of socialist President Rafael Correa, according to U.S. officials.

Correa, a U.S.-trained economist, has often been at odds with Washington since winning power in 2007. He accuses the U.S. government of trying to undermine him and this year Ecuador renounced U.S. trade benefits dating from the early 1990s.

According to a U.S. State Department spokesperson, Ecuador recently informed the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) it could not undertake new activities or extend existing ones without an accord governing bilateral assistance. This led to the U.S. decision to cancel the aid.

"Our planned $32 million in assistance programs for the coming years would have allowed us to partner with Ecuadoreans to achieve their own development goals in critical areas," said a letter dated December 12 from USAID to Ecuador seen by Reuters.

Ecuadorean government officials had no immediate comment.

The USAID letter said that in 60 years of working together, more than $800 million in development aid had helped hundreds of thousands of Ecuadoreans.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Quito said two years of negotiations failed to reach a new agreement.

"USAID had begun incurring significant costs for four recently launched projects (focused on environmental protection and civil society strengthening) which have been unable to proceed," the embassy spokesperson said.

"Their cancellation was the only fiscally prudent option."

Correa, a vocal member of a bloc of left-wing Latin American leaders, won re-election in a landslide early this year after generous state spending on infrastructure and health services.

He has irked investors with his anti-capitalist rhetoric, and this year he passed a controversial law creating a state media watchdog that critics denounced as a blow to free speech. Correa says it enshrines principles of balance.

In 2011, Ecuador expelled the U.S. ambassador to Quito after American diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks alleged that Correa's government had turned a blind eye to police corruption.

Last year, he threatened to expel USAID from the country, alleging that it was funding local groups that he said sought to undermine the region's "progressive" governments.

In May, Bolivia's socialist President Evo Morales expelled USAID in protest after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry referred to Latin America as Washington's "backyard."

Ties between Washington and Ecuador were strained again this year after Correa said he would consider offering asylum to the fugitive former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

Last year, Correa granted asylum to WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, saying they were both victims of persecution. Assange is holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London.

The amount of money involved is meaningless in governmental terms, but the rancor involved may spill over on expats.

j600rr Serial expat

Member since 14 July 2013

j600rrSerial expat16 December 2013 05:31:01

579

Sounds like U.S. is trying to save face more than anything. Don't have the exact figures at moment, but China has loaned think at least 8 billion over last few years, and 1-2 billion rather recently if recall correctly. At this point seriously doubt the Ecuadorian Government or people care about 32 million when the gravy train China is sending them billions. Granted that's a loan from China, but as long as things are good in Ecuador at current time then who cares? Plus how much of that 32 million do you think was actually even going to where it was supposed to? Probably only a few cents on every dollar.

gardener1 Serial expat

Member since 08 May 2013

gardener1Serial expat16 December 2013 06:45:07

675

Vladimir Putin got there first.

He threw out USAID years ago.

timo31750 Contributor

Member since 07 August 2013

timo31750Contributor16 December 2013 15:11:29

127

Pretty simple, if you're that concerned stay home.

EdGarT Active member

Member since 15 December 2013

EdGarTActive member16 December 2013 16:09:01

I agree with j600rr. The Ecuadorian government is playing one giant against the other. What they lose from the US, they more than make up with assistance from China. It's a world economy and Ecuador is looking to the world rather than big brother to the north.

mugtech ViP

Member since 08 September 2012

mugtechViP17 December 2013 19:46:52

4561

It's when the assistance is really economic hit men coming in to get the country to borrow money to pay the "experts" to help them develop the country based on unrealistic economic forecasts. USA was good at this before, but a good example today would be China trying to get to build a canal across Nicaragua to compete with the Panama Canal. Not needed, but China gonna make big bucks fooling the locals. Interesting to watch to see if there are similar overtures to Ecuador.

j600rr Serial expat

Member since 14 July 2013

j600rrSerial expat18 December 2013 02:17:25

579

mugtech wrote:
It's when the assistance is really economic hit men coming in to get the country to borrow money to pay the "experts" to help them develop the country based on unrealistic economic forecasts. USA was good at this before, but a good example today would be China trying to get to build a canal across Nicaragua to compete with the Panama Canal. Not needed, but China gonna make big bucks fooling the locals. Interesting to watch to see if there are similar overtures to Ecuador.

Agree 100%

As for Bob's question, don't personally believe there is, or will be any problems to be concerned about.

From a big picture perspective I find it odd that Ecuador bashes the U.S., and other Imperialist Nations for every problem in the world, yet they are taking loans which there is almost no possible way they can repay to China. and giving them carte blanche (hope spelled correctly) to do pretty much anything they want. China is a serious player, and pretty safe bet that the economic hit man for the 21st century will be China. You'd have to be pretty naive to think everything China is doing is out of the goodness of their hearts. There will be a price for Ecuador to pay to China. Just have no idea when that time will be.

BobH Serial expat

Member since 07 June 2011

BobHSerial expat18 December 2013 03:44:14

841

j600rr wrote:
As for Bob's question, don't personally believe there is, or will be any problems to be concerned about.

Actually, I'm not all that concerned. I'm coming anyway, and if this (or something else) turns out to be a problem, then I'll reassess at that point. I brought the point up because I think it's an example of the sort of political issue that should not be verboten here -- because it might very well affect expats.

j600rr wrote:
From a big picture perspective I find it odd that Ecuador bashes the U.S., and other Imperialist Nations for every problem in the world, yet they are taking loans which there is almost no possible way they can repay to China.

I have had similar thoughts -- Correa complains about imperialism even as he is mortgaging Ecuador's entire oil output (their major source of export earnings) to China. Does he honestly think that China is any less imperialistic than the US or UK or any other country?

gardener1 Serial expat

Member since 08 May 2013

gardener1Serial expat18 December 2013 07:56:01

675

@BobH

I read an article recently about the US and its love affair of waging wars of ideology which, even if won, would provide the US with no real tangible rewards. It went on to list Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc. etc. etc.

Perhaps China is different? Perhaps they don't have an ideology war they wish to win?

China just needs everybody else's resources, and doesn't give a damn which side of ideology they're on.

And at this point, the Chinese have no need to wage wars of any kind anyway (which is destructive of resources) they'll just buy up what whatever resources they need, extract those resources, and leave when the resources have been depleted.

So which is worse?

I think most of us would prefer to skip the war part. Perhaps the Chinese are on to something?

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