Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08QUITO75
2008-01-23 10:35:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Quito
Cable title:  

ECUADOR: CORREA'S TAKE ON TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Tags:  PGOV ECON PREL EC 
pdf how-to read a cable
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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000075 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2018
TAGS: PGOV ECON PREL EC
SUBJECT: ECUADOR: CORREA'S TAKE ON TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
SOCIALISM

REF: 07 QUITO 2237

Classified By: Ambassador Linda Jewell for Reasons 1.4 (b&d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000075

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2018
TAGS: PGOV ECON PREL EC
SUBJECT: ECUADOR: CORREA'S TAKE ON TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
SOCIALISM

REF: 07 QUITO 2237

Classified By: Ambassador Linda Jewell for Reasons 1.4 (b&d).


1. (C) Summary. While Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa
espouses many principles of "21st Century Socialism" and
occasionally uses the term, he has thus far been moderate in
attempting to translate the ideas into concrete reality.
Correa has pursued certain socialist ideas in the areas of
Latin American regionalization, the economy, and politics.
However, there are also significant areas where Correa has
not adopted the new socialist policies of Chavez or
Mexican-based German academic Heinz Dieterich, the
intellectual father of the doctrine. Driven by a strong
sense of nationalism and determination to remain in the
driver,s seat, Correa,s brand of 21st Century Socialism
will likely continue to be a uniquely Ecuadorian hybrid. End
Summary.

In Search of an Ecuador Specific Definition
--------------


2. (C) Although President Correa has joined the regional
bandwagon in using the phrase 21st Century Socialism, he has
denied that his own version directly follows the theories
advanced by Heinz Dieterich, author of "Socialism of the
Twenty-First Century," as applied by Venezuelan President
Chavez. President Correa and key members of his cabinet have
repeatedly affirmed that Ecuador's version of 21st Century
Socialism is unique and specific to Ecuador. For example, on
November 24, Correa emphasized, "We will search for answers
according to our reality, our necessities, and our values",
and that "each country needs to look for its own solutions."
He added that China, Venezuela, Chile, Cuba and Ecuador each
have different realities.


3. (SBU) On other occasions, Correa has defended 21st
Century Socialism. He said, "When you examine successful
societies, you discover that what made them successful was
collective action; and at the social level that comes via the
state, which must have a fundamental role in the economy and
society." Further attempting to define his version of
socialism, Correa has asserted that his political project
intends to "search for the social justice that is so

necessary in the country and reassert the supremacy of human
labor over capital."


4. (C) Dieterich visited Ecuador in late August (a month
before the elections for the Constituent Assembly). Although
accompanied in some instances by senior GOE officials, there
were no photo ops with Correa. During his visit, Dieterich
emphasized several themes that were evidently uncomfortable
for the GOE, such as public ownership of property and prices
based on a worker's time. A few days later, in different
interviews, then Minister of Government (currently
Coordinating Minister for Security, and an intellectual
father of Correa,s PAIS movement) Gustavo Larrea asserted
that the GOE would follow its own policy prescription, not
Dieterich's, saying "We are defining our own policy. The
model we propose is of the 21st century, not of the 19th
century," and he continued to say that in his view
Dieterich's policies are of the 19th century.

Regionalization and Foreign Policy
--------------


5. (SBU) As an intermediate step toward the "New Historical
Project" or the new ultimate socialist model, Dieterich
recommends the formation of a Regional Bloc of Power for
defense and self-help. This regional power bloc would
basically be a system of close alliances among Latin American
states.


6. (C) Correa agrees with Dieterich that regionalization is
essential. He is a strong advocate for the Union of South
American Nations (UNASUR),and recently decided to provide
USD 3.5 million to construct a headquarters for the
organization in Quito. He joined in inaugurating the Banco
del Sur on December 9, 2007. The Correa Administration has
sought to expand political and commercial ties with countries
throughout Latin America.


7. (C) Correa enthusiastically supports "South-South"
partnership, chafes at perceived dependency of any kind, and
tends to believe that the "asymmetries" in power between

developed and developing countries inevitably play out at the
cost of the weaker. But he also pragmatically recognizes the
need for broad international engagement. While expanding
regional ties, the GOE has also sought to build better
relations with Europe and Asia and has worked pragmatically
with the United States in areas like counternarcotics,
development programs, and international exchanges.
Furthermore, Correa has pressed Venezuela to rejoin the
Community of Andean Nations (CAN) in return for Ecuador
joining the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA),
which thus far has served to keep Ecuador out of ALBA.

Economics
--------------


8. (SBU) Dieterich presents 21st Century Socialism as an
alternative to neoliberal global capitalism that provides a
more equal distribution of wealth. His core tenets that
market prices should be replaced by prices derived from the
amount an employee works and that economic decisions be made
by the majority receive no echo in Correa's policies and were
ridiculed by media commentators in Ecuador. His comments
about eventual broad state control over property were
disavowed by Larrea and other PAIS leaders.


9. (C) Some of Dieterich's more specific policy
prescriptions have modest echoes with Correa's public
pronouncements, such as characterizing some external debt as
"illegitimate," seeking equality in international trade,
ending the protectionism of rich countries, and
redistributing wealth. In practical terms, Correa's
implementation of these ideas has been limited, non-existent,
or mixed. For example, he continues to honor Ecuador's
external debt, and disavowed a free trade agreement with the
U.S. based on the current model but is pursing trade talks
with the European Union and Canada. He doubled income
transfers to the poor and implemented a modestly more
progressive tax regime, but has made no moves to widen state
control or ownership beyond "strategic sectors" such as
energy.

Politics
--------------


10. (SBU) Some of Dieterich,s fundamental political
assumptions include: society can only proceed with New
Socialism through democracy; change is both a moral
imperative and historically inevitable; and the State is
equivalent to society under participatory democracy.


11. (C) As part of what he considers a "moral imperative,"
Correa has strongly attacked what he regards as "corrupt"
institutions of "bourgeois political control." He sees much
of the root of political degradation in the established
political parties and the entrenched economic elites they
have traditionally served. Believing that his leadership of
the State is "equivalent with society," or at least with the
will of the people as exemplified in elections, Correa
diminished the role of Congress by ruling through emergency
decrees and then pushing successfully for the Constituent
Assembly to recess Congress indefinitely in late November.
He frequently refers to his government as a "citizen
revolution."

Comment
--------------


12. (C) What is less clear than Correa,s interpretation of
21st Century Socialism is how his vision can be codified in
the new constitution, how far he may ultimately seek to push
change in any radical directions, and to what extent it will
be accepted by the Ecuadorian people over the long term.
Polls show that Ecuadorians are identifying less and less
with traditional political labels of "right" and "left."
Beyond rhetoric, Correa needs to show results to retain his
popularity over the medium term. Given his fervent
nationalism and head-strong nature, the only certainty is
that whatever emerges will be a uniquely Ecuadorian model.
JEWELL