by How do I cancel my account

Created on: July 18, 2008

Time for the U.S to Set Its Eyes on Ecuador

Most American citizens will have very little knowledge or opinion on Ecuador and its Socialist President Rafael Correa. Correa has mostly lurched in the dark as a silent bystander in comparison to Hugo Chavez and even Evo Morales in terms of media attention in the U.S. Morales has his sweater and Chavez has the oil. Chavez constantly makes headlines with his less than eloquent speeches and comments. However, it is time for the U.S to pay attention to the situation in Ecuador while it still has a chance to do something about it.

The U.S was not able to overthrow or kill Fidel Castro. They have very little power over Hugo Chavez (who has power thanks to the oil from Venezuela), and it could not care much about a puppet like Evo Morales, especially when he is popular in his own country. But when it comes to Ecuador and Rafael Correa, something has to be done.

Situations in Latin America are always unstable, but the situation in Ecuador will grow into a big problem unless some resources are diverted to prevent it while the situation is still relatively small. With already three major opponents to capitalism and socialism continuing to grow in Latin America (and not by truly righteous means) the U.S has to take more notice. It is obvious that Chavez has control over Correa and Morales and helps them through monetary means, but something can still be done in Ecuador.

Here are the facts:
Rafael Correa is already setting the stage for his reelection.
He has become unpopular with the people and is not ready to give up power.
In order to appear to help the country and try to win popularity, he has used the government to take over hundreds of privately owned businesses unjustly and without any chance at a fair trial in order to stop this pillage.
He will use the money from these businesses to bribe and pay his way onto power once again.
He has taken control of the media and will suppress information that does not help his campaign.
He has signed a joint oil refinery venture with Chavez to further strengthen their relationship.
He has met with an Iranian delegate to talk about strengthening Ecuador's relationship with Iran.

What has to be done is simple. The U.S has to hit this forming unjust, illegal, unfair, and how Chavez would phrase it, evil alliance while it is still young. And what better way to do this than by cutting off the weakest link: Rafael Correa. By doing this, the U.S would show it still has influence in Latin America, it is still a power that can affect change (at least in the good way for once), it would give Colombia's president Alvaro Uribe some breathing room, it would stop the Iranian government from gaining support around the world, and it would set back Chavez's evil plan quite far.

And the best part of all these positive outcomes is that it would not require too much effort to accomplish this for the U.S, unlike other decisions they have made. The rewards are great, but the negative outcomes in the future of not doing anything now will be terrible.

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