Lasso assumed the presidency and reinforced the shift towards …

The former banker Guillermo Lasso assumed the presidency of Ecuador in a ceremony held at the Legislative Palace in Quito, with strong criticism of the correísmo and proclaiming the end of the “era of the caudillos”. Lasso will receive the country from his ally, the outgoing Lenín Moreno, in the midst of a serious economic crisis that has spread to the social and health level due to the coronavirus. For his four-year term promises a “government of the meeting” and a promoted “fight against corruption”, premises characteristic of the governments of the right of the region. However, the scenario is not very encouraging: Lasso has already broken the main alliance that brought him to power, Congress is divided and the external debt to be paid between 2021 and 2025 exceeds 40 billion dollars.

The presence of agents in the act of aThis decision was quite austere. Lasso swore before the eyes of the presidents of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro; Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; and Haiti, Jovenel Moise. He was also accompanied by the Vice-President of Paraguay, Hugo Velázquez, and the King of Spain, Felipe VI. Meanwhile, the United States government delegation was led by its Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Colombian presidents, Iván Duque; from Chile, Sebastián Piñera; and Uruguayan Luis Lacalle Pou canceled their trips at the last minute. The Argentine government was represented by a delegation headed by Foreign Minister Felipe Solá. Lasso’s inauguration was also attended by staunch representatives of the Ibero-American right, such as ex-presidents José María Aznar of Spain; Álvaro Uribe from Colombia; and Venezuelan opponent Leopoldo López.

“Our leaders let us down, they betrayed our founding principles,” Lasso said. from the seat of the National Assembly, dressed soberly in a dark suit and a light blue tie. “It all ends on May 24, the era of caudillos is coming to an end “, declared the new president.

In his inauguration speech, Lasso referred to a country “which has dazzled with its inability to cope with the pandemic”, in an unusual criticism of the outgoing president and ally after betraying Correísmo, Lenín Moreno. “We will govern for everyone. It means not to govern in favor of a privileged sector, but not against anyone,” promised who was in charge of the public holiday and the corralito before the dollarization of Ecuador in 1999.

“The main challenges of Ecuador are those that each country has, or rather that each people aspires to.: democracy, peace, social and economic development, work. The question is whether this government with a neoliberal project can meet these aspirations.. I believe that a more serious situation is looming in terms of social crisis for the Ecuadorian people, it was the government of Lenín Moreno consolidated by Lasso, because both ruled ”, he stressed in a dialogue with PageI12 the director of the Andean Center for Strategic Studies, Mario ramos.

“ The neoliberal economic model followed by Lenín Moreno, which came to life because it was in force in the 80s and 90s in Ecuador, not only worsened the living and working conditions of a large population, but also the economy itself because A type of policy that even allows private promotion has not been defined. Money left the country to hide in tax havens and there were no investments in Ecuador“, raised in the same direction the historian Juan Paz and Miño. To ease the country’s economic woes, Moreno resorted to high debt with multilateral organizations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Total liabilities soared to 63% of GDP last December ($ 61.3 billion). In this context Lasso appointed Simón Cueva, economist and former IMF representative in Bolivia, new Minister of Economy and Finance. Quite a declaration of principles. Cueva said a few days ago that anyone who currently earns more than $ 500 in the precarious country of Ecuador is almost conceived of as a millionaire and therefore the tax and tax outlook should be explored. It seems to me that he reproduces the catastrophe of the Colombian demonstrations“, highlighted in this sense Jorge Vicente Paladines, professor at the Central University of Ecuador.

In his long speech, Lasso further mentioned that one of the biggest challenges he will have in the first 100 days of his government will be to vaccinate nine million people against covid-19, although he recognized that this effort will require a significant logistical effort. “We are going to vaccinate without rest because the virus is not resting”the president said and stressed that “the country must mobilize” to achieve the goal. The new Minister of Health, Ximena Garzón, will be in charge of this trip.

“Under what policy will the government of the banker Lasso implement the vaccination plan: a privileged caste policy, as happened under the Lenín Moreno government with the case of VIP vaccines, or a social vision that meets the expectations of groups that are genuinely vulnerable to the pandemic?“, he wonders about it Paladins.

The president-elect also announced that Roberto Salas, a businessman from an agro-industrial and private real estate conglomerate with no experience in the oil sector, will be in charge of the Ministry of Energy and Mines. Oil exports are an essential source of income for a country facing serious liquidity problems. Lasso predicts that his administration will bet on doubling oil production, encourage mining and offer several state zones to private initiative.

Lasso also anticipated this Monday that As soon as possible, Ecuador will try to join the Pacific Alliance, a regional integration initiative formed by Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico. In addition the relationship with your main trading partner, the United States, will be important. To this end, the new president appointed diplomat Mauricio Montalvo as foreign minister, who was in charge of the Ecuadorian embassy in Australia until May 10.

“The government’s foreign policy will be completely abandoned and anti-sovereign.. His first trip abroad, as is common knowledge, was to visit Iván Duque in Colombia. A statement that justified the bombing of Angostura, when Colombians attacked Colombian territory, was astonishing. Then, If a president does not defend the sovereignty of a country, what can we expect from Lasso’s foreign policy?Ramos asked.

Other non-minor challenges facing the right-wing president will be translating his bills into legislative agreements, given his low parliamentary representation of twelve seats. of the 137 that make up the National Assembly, which will force it to negotiate permanently. With the forces dispersed and without absolute majority in Congress, its movement Creando Oportunidades (CREO) had to ally itself with different sectors to achieve a front that took control of the Legislature, excluding correismo.

Last Saturday, after three unsuccessful attempts to elect the new leader of Congress and sever the agreement between CREO and the Social-Christian Party (PSC), an alliance with which Lasso won the presidential waiver barely a month ago, the National Assembly elected the legislator Guadalupe Llori, of Pachakutik (PK), as its new president. “What Yaku Pérez did in the meeting he had with Guillermo Lasso when this possible counting took place in the middle of the electoral process, was a rapprochement between the two that has to do with clear political agendas. Pachakutik is a movement which with its silence ended up supporting Lasso “, raised Paladins in this direction.

We will also have to see what is happening with Correísmo, which, through UNES, is the largest political force in the National Assembly with 49 seats. Although he does not achieve a majority of votes, his place will be decisive in memorable votes. At the moment Ramos it was categorical. “Correísmo must oppose the neoliberal project, and I sometimes have doubts that they will prioritize this objective. As a political movement, the Citizen Revolution must be renewed and reorganized in order to acquire greater political capacities.Said the director of the Andean Center for Strategic Studies.