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Ecuador |
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Country information
ECUADOR TODAY
Country Facts
Full country name: Republic of Ecuador
Area: 283,560 sq km (109,000 sq miles) including the Galapagos Islands
Population: 13.2 million (2005 - WHO)
Capital City: Quito (population: 1.8 million)
People: Mestizo (60%), Indigenous (20%), Caucasian (15%), Black (5%)
Language(s): Spanish (official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua)
Religion(s): Roman Catholic (95%)
Currency: US Dollar (since early 2000)
Major political parties: Alianza País (Government Party), Partido Sociedad Patriótica (PSP), PRIAN, Movimiento Popular Democrático (MPD), Partido Social Cristiano (PSC)
Government: The 2008 constitution provides for a presidential system of democracy with presidential elections held every 4 years and an executive and a legislature consisting of a unicameral National Assembly.
Head of State: Rafael Correa Delgado
Vice-President: Lenin Moreno Garcés
Foreign Minister: Fander Falconí Benítez
Membership of international groupings/organisations: The UN; WTO; G-11; G77; Organisation of American States (OAS); Andean Community (CAN); Latin American Integration Association (ALADI); Rio Group; Inter-American Developmental Bank (IADB), OLADE. On the Human Rights Committee of the UN. Associate member of Mercosur.
DID YOU KNOW?
- The Galapagos Islands, famous for their connection with Charles Darwin and his work on the “Origin of the Species” are part of Ecuador. Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited the islands in March 2009.
- Yasuni National Park, located in Ecuador's Amazon region, is the most biologically diverse forest on earth. UNESCO named Yasuni a biosphere reserve in 1989. A small part of the park, known as Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha (ITT), is home to at least two indigenous tribes, the Tagaeri and Taromenane, who maintain their traditional lifestyles in voluntary isolation.
- ITT also contains about 850 million barrels of unexploited oil, about 20% of Ecuador's total oil reserves. The Ecuadorian government is looking to issue Yasuni Guarantee Certificates along the lines of carbon bonds to compensate Ecuador for keeping this oil in the ground, thereby protecting the uniqueness of the diversity and contributing to global initiatives on climate change.
HEALTH
Ecuador's population growth rate is around 2.1%, with a birth rate of 25.99 births and death rate of 5.44 per 1,000. It has an infant mortality rate of 34.08 deaths for every 1,000 live births. The total fertility average rate is 3.12 children born per female with a total overall life expectancy of 71.33 years (68.52 for males and 74.28 for females).
The prevalence of HIV in adults aged 15 and over is 246 per 100,000 (2005). Most cases are concentrated in the coastal region. Dengue fever, tuberculosis and malaria are present in certain parts of the country. Pollution in the capital, Quito, is above desirable levels (for more details see www.paho.org).
ENVIRONMENT
Ecuador has supported the Kyoto Protocol andother environmental forums. For its size Ecuador has one of the highest concentrations of diversity in the world, though this is threatened by destruction of natural ecosystems. According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ecuador has one of the highest deforestation rates in South America despite government efforts to slow the damage.
The Galapagos Islands and surrounding waters are both World Heritage Sites and have been recognised as of vital ecological importance. These too have come under threat, prompting UNESCO in June 2007 to include the Galapagos in the list of World Heritage Sites at risk. The government has undertaken to address problems caused by immigration, excess fishing, invasive species and increased tourism. In July 2007, the President signed a decree legalising incidental shark fishing, generating criticism particularly from environmentalists. Shark finning (removing the fin and throwing the carcass overboard) is still illegal but continues because of weak enforcement and a strong demand, particularly from Asia. According to experts, the practice has proved harmful to the marine ecosystem in the Galapagos and mainland coastal waters.
Podacarpus in the south of the country and the Yasuni national park in Ecuador’s Amazon region are also important for their biodiversity. A relatively new and substantial oil field has been discovered in Yasuni, and the government is looking for international support to raise funds in compensation for voluntarily refraining from exploiting the oil as a means of conserving the environment and combating climate change. The government is lobbying for international support for an innovative proposal that would allow Yasuni Guarantee Certificates to be traded along the lines of the global carbon bond market. So far, several European countries and the UN have expressed interest in the initiative.
The UK’s environmental objective in Ecuador is to support efforts at a local level to tackle environmental problems. In 2005 the UK financed two projects worth over £300,000 under the Darwin Initiative (www.darwin.gov.uk) to protect the Galapagos coral reefs and associated biodiversity, and to develop a sustainable conservation network for primates in the north west of Ecuador. Two further Darwin Initiative projects worth £360,000 started in 2006 and 2007. One will contribute to the conservation of the critically endangered Mangrove Finch on the Galapagos Islands. The other will create an orchid seed bank and establish Ecuador as a regional centre for scientific research and training. In March 2009 Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall paid a brief visit to the Galapagos Islands to witness first hand the challenges faced in preserving the islands’ unique biodiversity.
The British Embassy in Quito has in the past supported various environmental education projects in communities located in sensitive areas. In forthcoming years, the Embassy will focus some of its reducing resources on issues around climate change, including raising awareness specifically over how it could affect Ecuador and the Andean region.
ECONOMY
Basic Economic Facts
GDP: $48.5 billion (2008 forecast)
GDP (official exchange rate): $32.73 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 1.8% in 2007 (IMF)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $3,514 (2008 estimate)*
Inflation rate: 8.83% (2008)
* Banco Central de Ecuador
Major Industries: Oil, bananas, fishing, fresh cut flowers, shrimp farming, timber.Major trading partners: United States, Latin American countries, European Union, Japan, Korea.
Ecuador is the world’s leading exporter of bananas and a major producer of agricultural commodities and shrimp, in addition to coffee, cocoa and tuna fish. Non-traditional agricultural products such as flowers and winter vegetables are also important.
The economy is largely dependent on oil export revenues, followed by remittances from Ecuadorians overseas, and exports. It is therefore highly vulnerable to external shocks. The aftermath of the weather phenomenon El Niño and the depressed oil market of 1997-98 contributed to half of Ecuador’s banks collapsing overnight in 1999. The failure led to an unprecedented default on external loans, ignited hyperinflation, and caused a 70% depreciation of then currency, the Sucre. The economic breakdown set off massive migration principally to the US and Europe, but also to other Latin American countries. The economy only started to stabilise after the country took the highly controversial decision to adopt the US Dollar as its currency in 2000.
Dollarisation dampened inflation until 2006 when it began to pick up again, accelerating in 2008 to just under 9%. Inflation has since slowed as a result of the global economic slowdown, but so have oil revenues, remittances and export earnings, giving rise to predictions that the government could experience financing difficulties in 2009 if the oil price remains depressed and Correa maintains the extraordinarily high rate of public spending. The situation has been complicated by continued uncertainty over employment following the passage of a labour law by the constituent assembly in April 2008. This put widespread restrictions on outsourcing and prohibited intermediation. Experts foresee a rise in unemployment in 2009 as exports fall.
Correa’s response to the global financial crisis has included an assertion that if the need arose he would suspend payments on the foreign debt in order to continue high levels of social spending. Such news has propelled Ecuador’s risk rating upward. In November 2008 a government-appointed commission tasked with examining the country’s external debt issued its report, which condemned much of the debt as illegal and illegitimate. Since the report, the government has sent mixed messages to the market, declaring a moratorium on some of the debt and servicing other parts. This has restricted Ecuador’s access to international credit, although some multilaterals have tacitly approved Ecuador's handling of debt issues, including its repurchase of Global 2012 and 2030 bonds, by continuing to lend. In 2009 the government introduced import restrictions in an effort to reduce a widening trade balance. It has said that it will review these measures at a later date.
Ecuador had been negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US, Ecuador’s biggest export market. Since taking office President Correa halted the talks on the grounds that they are not in Ecuador’s national interest. Ecuadorian exporters will continue to benefit from tariff free trade with US for certain goods, under the Andean Trade Partnership and Drug Eradication Agreement (ATPDEA) until December 2009, with a six-monthly review at the half way point. To reduce economic dependence on the US the government is seeking new trading partners, particularly in Asia and the Middle East. As a member of the Andean Community, Ecuador has participated, along with Peru and Colombia (but not Bolivia) in talks aimed at achieving an Association Agreement between the Andean Community and the EU, in which trade will be an important pillar. As of September 2009 Ecuador has suspended its participation in negotiations with the EU.
Ecuador continues to be affected by drug trafficking activities in neighbouring countries. Chronic corruption in all sectors of Ecuadorian society continues. Whilst Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index (CPI), continues to classify Ecuador as one of the most corrupt countries in Latin America, it also acknowledges that public opinion in Ecuador recognises the government’s efforts to combat corruption are having an effect.
HISTORY
Advanced indigenous cultures flourished prior to the arrival of the Incas in the 15th century and subsequent conquest by the Spanish in 1534. After some 300 years of Spanish domination, forces under Antonio José de Sucre defeated the Spanish in 1822 at the battle of Pichincha, just outside Quito. Ecuador then joined Simon Bolivar’s Republic of Gran Colombia, but left to become a separate Republic in 1830.
Political instability and rivalry between the coast and highlands heavily influenced the post-independence period. Growth of the banking sector and a rapid expansion in cocoa production created a wealthy coastal middle class whose increasing political power provided the basis for a liberal revolution in 1895, which led to capitalist development over the next 30 years.
External shocks, including a collapse in the cocoa market in the 1920s and the Great Depression in the 1930s, deepened instability between 1931 and 1948. Between 1948 and 1960 Ecuador enjoyed 12 years of relatively stable civilian rule. Increasing banana exports helped to finance development policies. But social unrest resurfaced in the 1960s, giving rise to an anti-Communist military government between 1963 and 1966. Soon thereafter, Ecuador underwent an economic boom with the discovery of extensive oil reserves, which prompted the government to borrow heavily internationally in order to finance state-led industrialisation.
In 1978 a referendum approved a new constitution that formed the basis for a return to democratic elections and civilian rule in 1979. Ecuador's previous constitution dates from 1998 and was rewritten by a constitutional assembly which concluded in July 2008. The new constitution, Ecuador's twentieth since independence, was accepted in a national referendum that took place on 28 September 2008, and it came into force on 20 October 2008.
BBC News Country Timeline: Ecuador
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Relations with Neighbours
Ecuador has in the past had serious tensions with Peru over territorial disputes, which last erupted into open conflict on the border in 1995. In 1998 both countries initialled an agreement in Rio de Janeiro which provided a framework to resolve major outstanding issues. On October 26, 1998 Presidents Fujimori and Mahuad signed a comprehensive settlement in Brazil. Relations with Peru have since remained stable.
Ecuador has been, and continues to be, affected by the conflict in Colombia, in terms of drugs, illegal and terrorist Colombian armed groups on both sides of the border, trafficking of small arms and the steady flow of Colombian refugees fleeing the conflict. Ecuador is promoting Plan Ecuador to co-ordinate a response to the northern border issues, including raising international financial support for projects in the area.
Relations between President Correa and Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe remain tense. Ecuador has declined to classify the major guerrilla groups in Colombia as terrorists, and insists that Colombia’s civil strife is an internal problem. Ecuador has consistently protested against Colombian aerial spraying of coca cultivation in the border region alleging that Ecuadorians living in the area are suffering from crop failure and health problems caused by the chemicals which drift across the border. Ecuador has now taken its case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. In early March 2008, diplomatic relations were severed by Ecuador in response to a military incursion by Colombian troops into Ecuadorian territory, which led to the death of a member of the FARC secretariat encamped on Ecuadorian soil. Despite various attempts to resolve the situation diplomatic relations have not yet been restored.
Relations with the UK
Historical links go back to the first attempt to gain independence from the Spanish in Quito on 10 August 1809 chronicled by William Bennet Stevenson, an Englishman acting as Secretary to Count Ruiz de Castilla, the leader of the Revolt.
Cultural Relations with the UK
There is no formal cultural programme. The British Embassy administers one Chevening scholarship and potentially several fellowships.
The British Embassy has used visual and plastic art resources to promote children's rights and the conservation of the environment, including the Magic Pencil Exhibition, which has been shown in four cities, and the Green Grass Can Grow In Quito project in 2006.
Recent Outward Visits
Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited Ecuador in March 2009 in part to celebrate the anniversaries surrounding Charles Darwin. They visited Quito where the Vice President received them, and the Galapagos Islands where they saw first hand the efforts being made to preserve the unique biodiversity of the islands. The British Embassy also sponsored visits by 2 members of the House of Lords, Lord Brennan QC and Baroness Hooper in 2005.GEOGRAPHY
Ecuador straddles the equator in the north-western part of South America. The country is bordered by Colombia to the north, Peru to the south and east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The Galapagos archipelago, famous for its connection with Charles Darwin, is part of Ecuador and is set in the Pacific Ocean some 960km off the Ecuadorian coast. Ecuador has a tropical climate in coastal regions, but gets cooler as you move inland. The terrain consists of coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and a flat, rolling jungle in the east (oriente). Elevation varies from sea level to 6,310m. Guayaquil, on the coast, is Ecuador’s largest city. At an altitude of 2,850m above sea level the capital Quito is set in a hollow at the foot of Rucu Pinchincha (4,794m). It is the second highest capital in Latin America after La Paz. Guagua Pichincha, an active volcano, overlooks the city 12km away.
TRADE AND INVESTMENT
Trade and Investment with the UK
Trade between the two countries is small. The UK’s main exports are pharmaceuticals, transport equipment, chemical materials/products, and beverages (mainly whisky). In 2005, UK exports to Ecuador totalled £21 million and imports amounted to £42 million (mainly shrimp and tropical fruits).
A Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) was signed in 1994. President Correa has said that he wants agreements such as this to be renegotiated. A few UK companies, including Unilever and Lloyds TSB, are still active in Ecuador. Lloyds TSB Bank is one of just two international banks in the market. The Anglo-Ecuadorian Chamber of Commerce promotes links between Ecuador and Britain.
UK Trade & Investment Country Profile: Ecuador
UK Bilateral Development Assistance
The UK has provided assistance worth over £2.4 million over the period 2000 - 2007, covering human rights, environmental protection (including assistance to the oil spill from the ship 'Jessica' in January 2001), street children, women and good governance issues. For 2009, the Embassy has about £60,000 for bilateral projects, and expect this lower level of commitment to continue over the coming years.
POLITICS
Several main traditional political parties dominated politics since Ecuador’s return to civilian rule. This period has been characterised by both political and institutional instability. During the 1980s and early 1990s two major political parties had the most influence - the right wing PSC (Partido Social Cristiano), with its traditional leader León Febres Cordero (President 1984-88), and the left wing ID (Izquierda Democrática), led by Rodrigo Borja (President 1988-92). For many years, the PSC controlled the main state institutions, including Congress. In the early nineties the credibility of the traditional parties began to decline and many populist movements began to gain favour.
Abdalá Bucaram (President August 1996 to February 1997) and his party PRE (Partido Roldosista Ecuatoriano) had much influence in the late 1990s, but lost favour after Bucaram’s controversial administration, which resulted in his premature removal from office. The DP (Democracia Popular) was also a key player during this period, led by Jamil Mahuad (President August 1998 to January 2000). The economic crisis, culminating in the banking crisis of 1999, in which half of Ecuador’s banks collapsed, led Mahuad to adopt the US Dollar as the national currency, amid much opposition. Although the economy stabilised quickly as a result of dollarisation, Mahuad was forced to leave office prematurely. The DP was recently re-founded as UDC (Unión Demócrata Cristiana), but as a centre-right wing party it has failed to attract popular support.
Lucio Gutierrez (President January 2000 to April 2003, when he was forced from office) and his party PSP (Partido Sociedad Patriótica) heavily influenced the administration of government in more recent years. But the PSP has been unable to regain its previously powerful position, reflected in the election results for the Constituent Assembly (see below). The Movimiento Popular Democratico (MPD), which represents the education union, has been a political force in recent Ecuadorian politics, but its influence has waned with many of its traditional voters now supporting President Correa’s movement.
Many other smaller political and minority parties have also taken part in Ecuadorian politics and the voting system had been designed to give emphasis to minorities. In the past this has produced a large number of political organisations, weakening the influence of government and leading to increasingly polarised political opinion.
President Rafael Correa (Alianza País), who took office in January 2007, has pledged to redistribute the country’s wealth through radical political and social reform, including greater State participation in the economy. He has promoted a Constituent Assembly, tasked with re-writing the Constitution, Ecuador’s twentieth since independence. Over 3,200 candidates competed for the 130-seat Constituent Assembly in elections on 30 September 2007. The EU, the OAS and the Carter Foundation monitored the election process. The final results gave President Correa’s movement 80 seats, giving it an outright majority in the assembly. Since the assembly began work on 29 November, Congress has gone into recess. The assembly concluded its work on a new Constitution on 25 July and this was accepted in a national referendum that took place on 28 September. The new constitution came into force on 20 October 2008. General elections were held on 26 April and President Correa was elected in the first round. The final results of other elections have still to be announced.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Ecuador is a signatory of the 6 major Human Rights instruments, has a National Human Rights Plan and a Constitution that is one of the most advanced in terms of human rights principles in Latin America.
Ecuador's Human Rights record does not attract regular criticism from Human Rights organisations. Amnesty International has in the past urged the Ecuadorean Government to show its commitment in practice to the respect of human rights, and has called upon the authorities to carry out independent and impartial investigations to bring perpetrators of human rights abuse to justice. Murder rates in Quito and Guayaquil have risen in recent years and kidnappings have also increased.
The UK has funded a number of small projects on human rights such as promoting the National Human Rights Plan in Ecuador's regions, training youth promoters of human rights, support for the victims of domestic and sexual violence and a training programme for journalists reporting on corruption cases. Most recently, with funding from the Global Conflict Prevention Fund, we supported a project aimed at raising awareness amongst stakeholders on the border with Colombia on refugee's rights, women's rights, conflict resolution and conflict management. The UK has also funded projects related to prison reform.
Financed by DFID’s Civil Society Challenge Fund, a 3-year project worth £273,000 began in 2007. The project, which is administered by local partners, focuses on the rights of children from impoverished areas of Guayaquil to access and complete primary education.
