Rafael Correa President of the Republic of Ecuador and the current President pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations

Rafael Correa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (Spanish pronunciation: [rafaˈel βiˈsente koˈre.a ðelˈɣaðo]; born April 6, 1963)[1] is the President of the Republic of Ecuador and the current President pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations.

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Background

Correa was born in Guayaquil and earned an Economics degree at the Universidad Catolica in 1987. Following his degree, he worked for one year in a mission at a kindergarten run by the Salesian order in Cotopaxi Province, where he acquired some knowledge of quechua, the language of the majority of the native pre-Columbian population concentrated in the Andes region. In addition to Spanish, he speaks French, Quechua, and English.^[4]
In June 1991, he received a Master of Arts in Economics from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium. He later studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned a Master of Science in Economics in May 1999, and later a PhD in Economics in October 2001. According to The Washington Post, Correa's adviser at the University of Illinois, Werner Baer, supports his former student. "He appreciates the market to a certain point, but he knows that the market left alone concentrates wealth", he said. "He is not going to do anything foolish... because he is a fairly open-minded person."^[5]
In 2005, Correa served as economy and finance minister under President Alfredo Palacio. During his four months in office, he advocated poverty reduction and economic sovereignty. Correa was skeptical of a free-trade deal with the United States, did not take the advice of the International Monetary Fund, and worked to increase Ecuador's cooperation with other Latin American countries. After the World Bank withheld a loan (citing the changes to the oil income stabilization fund), Correa resigned from Palacio's government. Correa had also proposed the issue of government bonds at a lower interest rate than the contemporary one (8.5%); Venezuela was to purchase half of the new bond issue. Correa claimed in his resignation letter that the sale was done with full presidential authorization, but cited lack of support from the president as a factor in his decision to resign.^[6]
When Correa resigned, polls showed he had the highest credibility of any official in the administration at the time, with 57% of Ecuadorians saying that they trusted him.^[7]
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President of Ecuador
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 15, 2007
Vice President Lenín Moreno
Preceded by Alfredo Palacio

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President pro tempore of Unasur
Incumbent
Assumed office
August 10, 2009
Preceded by Lucio Gutiérrez

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Minister of Economy and Finance of Ecuador
In office
April 20, 2005 – August 8, 2005
Preceded by Mauricio Yepez
Succeeded by Magdalena Barreiro

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Leader of PAIS Alliance
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 19, 2006

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Born April 6, 1963 (1963-04-06) (age 47)
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Political party PAIS Alliance
Spouse(s) Anne Malherbe
Alma mater University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Université catholique de Louvain
Universidad Católica de Santiago de GuayaquilReligion Roman CatholicismSignature
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Correa was sworn into the Presidency on 10 August 2009, the same day as Ecuador's bicentennial.[67][68] His speech took place in front of several South American dignitaries, such as President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of Bolivia Evo Morales, President of Cuba Raúl Castro and President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez.[67] Correa used the opportunity to promise a continuation of his “socialist revolution”, his plans to end poverty and to go on “stamping out the structural causes of poverty”.[67] He also said the actions of the media were opposing his government.[68] He claims that the continuation of his "citizens' revolution" policy is intended to ensure all citizens are equal.[66]

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