Ecuador, will the good times last?

aljazeera.com/Harris Whitbeck –

The money fuelling Rafael Correa’s popular presidency might be running out as oil prices show no signs of recovering.

The first time I returned to Ecuador after several years, I was impressed by the astonishing rate of public investment that was clearly everywhere.

A gleaming new airport has replaced the drab 1960s air terminal that used to sit in the middle of Quito, the country’s capital. A new four-lane highway circles the capital, and construction crews are evident anywhere you look. At first glance, Ecuador is booming. Streets are bustling, malls and shopping plazas buzz with activity. Life is good. Until you speak to economists and political analysts who are afraid the good times could soon come to a screeching halt. When President Rafael Correa took office in 2007, he quickly embarked upon an ambitious public-spending programme that was mostly fuelled by high oil prices.

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The jobs he created, social programmes he enacted for the poor, and new legislation aimed at making the country a more equitable place to live made him both popular and controversial.Read Article