Correismo's foreign policy

Correismo has been very close to the "axis of evil" presided over by Russia, and to the Chavistas in Latin America

A few weeks ago, CNN en Español journalist Fernando del Rincón, asked repeatedly Correismo’s candidate Luisa González if she considered Nicolás Maduro to be a dictator, if he violated human rights and if he had committed electoral fraud. Luisa beat around the bush, and finally refused to describe the Venezuelan dictator.

Several high-ranking members of Correismo, including the “Blue League” counselor in the CPCCS Eduardo Franco Loor, were in Caracas for the inauguration of the dictator Maduro. Rafael Correa said "Why wouldn’t we recognize him?", and added that the opposition should "prove with the minutes" the fraud; in effect, the opposition delivered the minutes of 85 % of the ballot boxes, in which a wide 2 to 1 victory of the opposition candidate Edmundo González was clearly shown.

Rafael Correa and his movement have been very attached to the "New axis of evil", led by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and also made up of dictatorial countries such as Belarus, North Korea and Iran. Correa maintains a program on the Russian propaganda channel "Russia Today" (RT), in which he interviews the authoritarian leaders of the tendency (Maduro, Evo Morales, Luis Arce, Delcy Rodríguez, among others). He also interviews pro-Putin propagandists, such as George Galloway and Karin Kneissl.

The countries of the axis of evil have voted against the United Nations resolutions condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine (in the last vote, shamefully, the Trump administration joined this execrable position).

Curiously, in 2016 Rafael Correa made a confusing statement, in which he stated that "for the progressive tendency in Latin America, it would be positive" for the far-right Trump to win. Recall that Correa and Trump are both close to Putin.

During the Correista decade, there was a very close alignment with China, which included massive debt to finance projects built by China itself (tied loans, which OECD countries now avoid). Ecuador received 24 loans from China, amounting to $18 billion, and among other projects, seven hydroelectric dams were financed. There were also several "oil pre-sale" loans, which were illegal.

With Russia there were also some projects, including the emblematic Toachi-Pilatón hydroelectric project, which only now (14 years after obtaining a Russian loan) is starting to generate electricity. A loan was also obtained for the construction of a thermoelectric plant in Machala. Correa opened an embassy in Belarus, despite the fact that there were few commercial activities with that country (and also despite the conflict with Ukraine, which began in 2014).

But without a doubt the bloc closest to Correismo has been that of the "socialism of the 21st century" countries, which have also called themselves "Bolivarian" (despite the fact that Bolívar himself was conservative, and was reviled by Karl Marx as a "Bonapartist").

Correa and Correismo were reportedly financed by Chávez and by his allies (like the FARC), and Correa remained very close to Chávez and Maduro, despite their growing international isolation. Together with Chavismo, they promoted the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA), a kind of "response" to the proposal to form a Free Trade Agreement for the Western Hemisphere. Within ALBA, they promoted the Unitary Regional Compensation System (SUCRE), which was supposed to be a compensation mechanism to promote trade integration.

In practice, SUCRE served as a money laundering mechanism, through fictitious exports. The preliminary investigation opened by the Prosecutor's Office for the SUCRE case included former President Rafael Correa. The investigation is related to an alleged scam plot for fictitious exports to Venezuela in 2009, through the SUCRE system.

This corruption scheme in Ecuador had access to almost $2,700 million, according to investigators. "Two companies linked to Saab and his partner Álvaro Pulido – who is also wanted by the U.S. justice system – ended up obtaining juicy contracts for the export from Ecuador of prefabricated homes financed by SUCRE, explained Assemblyman Fernando Villavicencio, who chairs the congressional commission."

But the SUCRE case is only one of many obscure cases in the relationship between Ecuador and Venezuela, to which can be added the non-existent "Pacific Refinery" and other cases linked to the oil sector (PDVSA and Petroecuador).

It is also worth mentioning that several officials convicted in Ecuador have taken refuge in Venezuela (among them, the brothers Vinicio and Fernando Alvarado); and others are in Mexico. Several former Correa officials have been advising Maduro's government.

Perhaps the most regrettable thing about Correa's policy was when Rafael Correa called on Mexico, the European Union, MERCOSUR, and other countries to "take concrete actions" against Ecuador (for the capture of former vice president and convicted criminal Jorge Glas in the Mexican Embassy).

Correa called for the European Union to suspend the free trade agreement he had signed, then said that Mexico and Latin American countries must "take concrete action." It is a despicable case of treason, which has not been questioned or denounced by Luisa González or the other Correista candidates.

In short, perhaps foreign policy is not the most important factor when voting; but a victory by Luisa González would put Ecuador squarely back as allies of the "axis of evil".