Latin America

From the Ecuadorians I've talked to, Correa is widely regarded as have presided over an immensely corrupt government that while responsible for the construction of numerous infrastructure projects was also guilty of massive theft in the form of bribes and cooking the books, with huge construction cost overruns. All the principals of his government as of a couple of years ago were either in jail or had left the county to places conveniently without extradition treaties.

Correa's legacy is one of great betrayal, as he based much of his appeal on his indigenous heritage, but was then seen to have abandoned that in favor of power and money after he got into office.

It seems to me that this will be a lot for Luisa González to overcome. That she's that close says a lot about Naboa's inability to improve things in the country in the last couple of years.

People should understand that the average income in Ecuador is only about $20/day. While the county has significant national income from oil, its economy was hammered by Covid. Tourism plummeted and as far as I know hasn't come anywhere close to recovering.

The advent of drug cartel activities (predominantly in the port city of Guyaquil,
centered around transhipment of cocaine from Columbia to Europe) is largely responsible for the increase in violent crime. However, being a poor country, there are places in every city where one should not go at night.

I hope the Gonzáles wins, as I think she will be better than the son of a pineapple magnet at caring about normal Ecuadorians.

The country has socialized medicine, but it struggles under the weight of need, as do most socialized or not.

It is beautiful country with a large indigenous population and the people there tend to very friendly and outgoing, speaking a fairly easily comprehensible version of Spanish. Food and accommodations are quite affordable for Americans. I paid more to park my car in a lot outside the airport in Boston for 10 days than for the places I stayed in Ecuador during that time (so, I now take the bus and leave my car at home).