Freedom in the World 2001 - Ecuador

2001 Scores

Status: Partly Free
Freedom Rating: 3.0
Civil Liberties: 3
Political Rights: 3

Ratings Change

Ecuador's political rights rating changed from 2 to 3, and its status from Free to Partly Free, due to a partially successful military coup in January 2000 that succeeded in overthrowing the elected president, who then was replaced by the country's vice president .

Overview

In January 2000, a cadre of young military officers supported by several indigenous groups, forced ailing President Jamil Mahuad from power and proclaimed a "parliament of the people" to fight corruption and poverty, before being forced to cede control to Gustavo Noboa, Mahuad's elected vice president. The return to civilian rule came after the armed forces chief, who initially supported the rebels and became a member of a transitory civilian-military junta, backed down in the face of strong condemnation of the "proto-coup" from the U.S. State Department and at least 20 regional commanders under his command. In February, Noboa, Ecuador's fifth president in three years, decorated the putschist general, Carlos Mendoza, for "professional excellence," in an apparent attempt to heal the schisms opened within the armed forces by the partially successful action against civilian rule. Throughout 2000, the alleged causes of the rebellion, carried out during the worst economic crisis in seven decades, continued to be fiercely debated by contending political and social forces, while fears rose about the spillover effects of violence in neighboring Colombia. Noboa's economic program largely mirrored that of his predecessor, Mahuad, including a plan to phase out the local currency and replace it with the U.S. dollar by the end of 2000.

Established in 1830 after achieving independence from Spain in 1822, the Republic of Ecuador has endured many interrupted presidencies and military governments. The last military regime gave way to civilian rule when a new constitution was approved by referendum in 1978.

The constitution provides for a president elected for four years, with a runoff between two front-runners if no candidate wins a majority in the first round. The 77-member unicameral National Chamber of Deputies is composed of 65 members elected on a provincial basis every two years and 12 elected nationally every four years.

The 1992 national elections were won overwhelming by Sixto Durán Ballen, whose Republican Union Party nonetheless garnered only 13 of 77 legislative seats. Durán Ballen's term was marked by general strikes against his economic austerity measures, allegations of corruption, indigenous protests against business-backed land reform, and the impeachment of cabinet ministers by an opposition-controlled congress.

In 1996 elections, Abdala Bucarám Ortiz, the flamboyant former mayor of Guayaquil known as "El Loco" (the Crazy Man), won 54 percent of the vote in runoff elections, carrying 20 of Ecuador's 21 provinces. Once in office, Bucarám, who had previously fled the country twice under threat of prosecution for corruption, applied a stringent, market-oriented austerity program. The authoritarian flavor and frenetic corruption of his government sparked mass protests.

In February 1997, a 48-hour general strike led by Indians and students prompted congress to depose Bucarám on grounds of "mental incapacity." Congressional speaker Fabian Alarcón was selected as his replacement after the military high command jettisoned its support for Bucarám's vice president and constitutionally mandated successor, Rosalía Arteaga.

In July 1997 Alarcón, himself accused of employing more than 1,000 no-show employees while speaker, dismissed the supreme court, ostensibly to carry out the "depoliticization" of the justice system mandated by the referendum, but in effect removing the chief judge, who was pressing to have the interim president investigated. Despite Alarcón's efforts to be allowed to finish out Bucarám's four-year-term, he was met by strong political and civic opposition.

In May 1998, Jamil Mahuad, the mayor of Quito, posted a first-place finish in presidential elections in which the runner-up was Alvaro Noboa, who, despite being the candidate of Bucarám's Partido Roldosista Ecuatoriano (PRE), promised that neither the party nor the former president would play any part in his campaign. Mahuad, a Harvard-educated lawyer, bested Noboa, a banana tycoon, 51 to 49 percent in the July 12 runoff election.

In 1999, the economic challenges facing Mahuad appeared daunting, as the country faced its worst crisis in decades. The government was torn by savage infighting and fallout from regional tensions, and often faced violent protests from students, transport workers, and rural Indians. After partially defaulting on its foreign debt in September, the government sought to restructure its external and internal debt through talks with creditors. In November the army high command denounced what it called irresponsible conduct by "certain leaders" that, it said, was threatening the existence of the country's democratic institutions. Citing jurisdictional issues, Mahuad refused to testify on charges he and various aides kept $3.1 million in campaign contributions for themselves.

Young military officers, many of Native American ancestry, concerned that Mahuad's government was spending ever more money bailing out local banks while it reduced the armed forces budget, made common cause with indigenous leaders representing as many as four million of some of the country's poorest inhabitants in the effort to overthrow Mahuad. Political divisions continued for most of 2000 even after the hapless president was forcibly removed from office. For most of August, the Ecuadoran congress split into two separate entities in a dispute over the privatization of 18 electricity companies and the state-owned oil company. The adoption of the U.S. dollar as the local currency, which was officially declared in April, was the object of continued protests by Indian and leftist-led labor unions throughout 2000, who say it will hurt the poor by causing prices to rise to international levels, while eliminating critical subsidies for basic food and services. Proponents of the plan say the currency change will help eliminate Latin America's highest inflation rate, stabilize the economy, and promote business investment. In September 2000 Transparency International ranked Ecuador as Latin America's most corrupt nation. In late 2000, the Ecuadoran government sought to cope with tens of thousands of Colombian refugees seeking refuge from escalating warfare between guerrilla, paramilitary, and army forces in their own country.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Citizens can change their government through elections, although the January 2000 coup attempt represented a clear reversal of democratic trends in Ecuador. The 1998 campaign had seemed to mark a return to electoral means as a way of resolving political differences. Mahuad's victory came after Alvaro Noboa ran what is believed to be the most expensive national campaign in Ecuadoran history. In 1998, the national constituent assembly decided to retain Ecuador's presidential system. It also mandated that in the year 2002, a presidential candidate will need to win 40 percent of valid votes in first-round balloting and exceed by 10 percent those received by the nearest rival in order to avoid a runoff.

Constitutional guarantees regarding freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and the right to organize political parties are generally respected. However, for several years Ecuador appeared to be virtually ungovernable as a result of near-constant gridlock among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, particularly through the use, by congress, of easy and sometimes frivolous votes of censure and impeachment in order to block executive initiatives.

The judiciary, generally undermined by the corruption afflicting the entire political system, is headed by a supreme court that, until 1997, was appointed by the legislature and thus subject to political influence. In reforms approved by referendum in May 1997, power to appoint judges was given over to the supreme court, with congress given a final chance to choose that 31-member body based on recommendations made by a special selection commission.

Evidence suggests that drug traffickers have penetrated the political system through campaign financing, and sectors of the police and military through bribery. Ecuador is a transshipment point for cocaine passing from neighboring Colombia to the United States and a money-laundering haven. In 1999, incursions from both Colombian guerrilla groups and their paramilitary enemies into Ecuadoran territory added to regional concern about the extent to which the neighboring country's civil war would affect public safety and the survival of democratic institutions. The 1999 murder of Jaime Hurtado González, a congressman and former presidential candidate, at the hands of right-wing paramilitaries in broad daylight in downtown Quito sent shock waves through Ecuador's political establishment.

Violent crime has undermined public faith in the police to maintain order. In 1999 a sharp increase was reported in the number of handgun licenses issued by the military. Ecuador has numerous human rights organizations, and despite occasional acts of intimidation, they report on arbitrary arrests and instances of police brutality. The military is responsible for a significant percentage of abuses, particularly when deployed in states of emergency. Abuses, including torture, are committed with relative impunity, with police and military personnel tried in military rather than civilian courts.

Indians, who make up between a third and nearly half of the country's population and who have been in the forefront of protests against the country's endemic poverty and political corruption, are the frequent victims of abuse by military officers working in league with large landowners during disputes over land. A consequence of the continuing lack of access of Native Americans to effective systems of justice emerged in 1998, when Ecuadoran Indians held several U.S. oil company employees against their will, in support of a demand that the firm pay royalties to, and contribute to health care, education, and housing for, Indians. Vigilante acts committed in Native American communities also appear to be on the upswing in recent years.

The media are mostly private and outspoken. The government controls radio frequencies. Labor unions are well organized and have the right to strike, although the labor code limits public sector strikes. Workers in the country's booming flower industry are routinely exposed to harmful pesticides.

Violence against women is common in Ecuador, and frequently occurs on holidays in which alcohol is consumed in quantities. The problem is particularly acute in Indian areas, where women frequently do not report abuse to the authorities in part because they are afraid of harming their community's reputation. Homosexuals are also often the victims of police brutality and harassment.