Changes in Ecuador
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When Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso promised to ensure that 9m people – half of the population – had been vaccinated in just 100 days in office, it sounded like a promise of mass competition that was about to break.
On the day of his inauguration, May 24, Ecuador had just received a dose of 2m and received a vaccination of 3 percent of its citizens, one of the lowest in the region.
But in three months, Lasso has fulfilled his promise. The country has donated about 20m doses and vaccinated more than 9m – 52% of the population, According to Johns Hopkins University.
The country has dropped the lowest vaccination rate in Latin America for the third time, leaving only Chile and Uruguay as well as the most remote countries in the region.
“The best thing to do is to do a lot of things,” said Sebastián Hurtado, chief of political advisers at Prófitas.
“First: the vaccine discussion. Lasso has reached out to everyone from the Chinese, Russians and Western medical companies no matter what their opinion. Second: he appointed the Minister of Health. Third: they are working for the government to help with the supply, supply of vaccines and equipment to doctors. ”
The self-defense system is not the only feather in the Lasso cup. On Wednesday, his government said it had set up a loan program with the IMF. Assuming that the plan is approved by the fund, Ecuador will receive $ 1.5bn in debt this year and another $ 3bn in 2022 as it tries to raise its investment.
On Lasso’s watch, Ecuador re-entered the World Bank at the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) 12 years later, an idea that should boost foreign exchange.
In August, the President traveled to Mexico to discuss free trade agreements, which is important if Ecuador joins the Pacific Alliance, which now includes its Colombian and Peruvian neighbors, as well as Chile and Mexico.
Researchers say that Lasso expressed a willingness to give up the idea to sit down with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a leader who is not really like him. “They are ruling without doctrine. They have shown a willingness to listen and to form alliances, “said Gabriela Larreátegui, a former Ecuadorean party member.
This is just the beginning of the man who is not expected to succeed election in April. After failing in his last two presidential elections, he ran for a second term this year minimum limit before venting his fury in the run-up to the race.
He won prizes on voting, giving him 64% and 74% voting. However, some say its popularity has grown since the peak in July, perhaps a further sign hard days to come.
What he has done so far has not had to be approved by parliament, but in the coming months, the government wants to force the transfer of money through the convention. That’s when Lasso can get up.
There are five major parties at the 137-seat conference in Ecuador, the smallest of which is Lasso’s Creative Opportunities (CREO) party with only 12 seats. They can rely on about a dozen independent people but are still a minority in a room dominated by the remaining parties and the traditional party in Pakutakutik. The president has tried to form alliances with other parties but to no avail.
“Lasso’s holiday is over,” said Johanna Andrango, a political analyst at Quito. “His first success was the 9m vaccine in 100 days, but people are now asking what they have done to end the economic crisis and crime, and its biggest obstacle, no doubt, is congress.”
The president said the change was necessary to revive the economy, which had reached 8% last year. Debt rose to about 65% of household income and inflation grew. As the only dollar-generated economy in South America, Ecuador has limits on what it can do to meet its accounts.
If Congress approves Lasso’s reshuffle he is said to have tried to bypass parliament by holding a referendum.
Ecuador has a history of taking the road. Former members of Lasso, Rafael Correa and Lenín Moreno, both called plebiscites in their early years of domination, exploited the masculine popularity through transformation.
“If there is no legislative resolution in the National Assembly (congress), we will ask the people directly and let them decide their future,” Lasso told local television this week.