Editorial Essay on Rafael Correa (President of Ecuador) - 1

Editorial on Rafael Correa (President of Ecuador) - Essay Example Of course, this is not a view that is held by all and a number of organizations and people inside and outside the republic have referred to him as an autocrat and a guile politician. However, the evidence speaks for itself, and it cannot be denied that the nation is doing better place than it was before the Rafael Correa came into power. His achievements cannot be downplayed, and it is doubtful that his rivals would have been able to do the same had they been given the chance to take his position. Rafael Correa is an economist that was educated in three different countries namely his homeland Ecuador, the United States and Belgium (Ghosh, 2012). He has used this education to improve the financial status of his country through a number of economic policies that he has implemented over the years. One of the most controversial moves with regard to these policies has been his declaration of Ecuador’s national debt as illegitimate on the basis that it was contracted by previous regimes that were despotic and corrupt with no regard for the country thus making the debts odious in nature. This move caused waves in the international community as it meant that the country planned to default on over 3 billion dollars worth of debt (Enrico, 2009). The president fought his opposition on this subject in the international courts and eventually managed to reduce the price of the outstanding bonds by over 60%, which was an amazing result (Enrico, 2009). Correa has also managed to win over the hearts of his people through his achievements, and concern for Ecuador’s welfare and as a result has been elected twice into office. One of his main non-political controversies includes his relationship with the media which can be said to be strained at best as a number of critics have accused him of interfering with their independence. Over the past years, he has taken a number of journalists and media