jakefabianmagellan2018-blog

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Day 20: August 13th

Yesterday was my interview with Ñaño Pepe, a.k.a. Jose Viteri. Unlike Anibal, Pepe had no problem with having all of his thoughts recorded, so I don’t have much to blog about here. To summarize, we discussed Pepe’s career in the private and public sectors, his roles in the ministries of Health and Petroleum and as adviser to Alfredo Palacio (Ecuador’s vice president from 2003-2005 and president from 2005-2007), and his opinions on the recent policies of Correa and Moreno. 

Pepe worked primarily in securing contracts for the government, which is often where corruption takes place. His perspective differed greatly from Anibal’s, and, personally, I feel that Pepe may have provided a more accurate look into the political climate of Ecuador.

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Days 18 & 19: August 11th & 12th

Saturday was another laundry/just hang out kind of day, so I didn’t bother to blog about that.

Yesterday, however, was a day long trip to Mindo kind of day. Mindo is a town in Ecuador surrounded by mountainous cloud forests and known for its chocolate production, butterflies, and zip-lining.

I wasn’t very interested in the butterfly farms though, so I went to one of the local travel agencies looking for a chocolate factory tour, zip-lining, and horseback riding. Pro tip: going through travel agencies in Ecuador is a great way to get discounts on package deals. Even though they look like sketchy tourist traps, they have heavy competitive pressure with each other for business. This drives prices well below what activities would cost to do them on your own.

Horseback riding and zip-lining were fun, but it was the chocolate tour that I’ll remember most. The tour guide had a thick accent that was not of Ecuador. It turns out that he is one of many recent immigrants from Venezuela. Venezuela’s ongoing economic crisis has driven many out of the country, and Ecuador makes for an attractive destination (at least, compared to other countries in the region like Columbia and Brazil). I did not push him for much further information about his journey from Venezuela to Ecuador, since the subject at hand was chocolate, not the collapse of a socialist economy.

I can only assume then that he is just one of the millions of Venezuelans who have fled the Chavez/Maduro regime. Here I have seen Venezuelans who have become pan-handlers on the street, fast food workers, and housekeepers/domestic servants, among other things. They have come to Ecuador to escape food shortages and the economic hardship induced by the fleeing of the educated and wealthy from the economic redistribution instituted by Chavez.

I feel that a less extreme version of this diaspora has taken place here in Ecuador. Though the same redistribution rhetoric is not common here, one of the big takeaways from my conversation with Anibal Soto was that there is not much intellectual capital in Ecuador. That manufacturing, medicine, etc are not as advanced here because there is simply not enough people who know how to do these things. And he’s probably right. Worse, there’s not much financial incentive for engineers, doctors, physicists, etc to stay in Ecuador. The median salary for a doctor in Quito is less than a quarter of what it is in a small American city like Omaha, Nebraska.

Today I’ll be talking with Nano Pepe again to get more of his perspective on political matters here in Ecuador.

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Day 17: August 10th

Today I had a special opportunity to connect with Anibal Soto Casares, an Ecuadorian diplomat and ambassador. Anibal, or Papito Anibal as he was introduced to me, led delegations to numerous conferences on free trade early in his career from 1959 to the mid 1960s, and later in his career Anibal focused on information systems and the distribution of technology into disadvantaged countries as a leader in an organization called IBI.

I will have to upload the two hours of recorded conversation between me, Anibal, his wife Joaquina, their son Joaquin, Rodney Sinclair, and Frances Sinclair (since Anibal did not speak much english, Frances and Joaquin served as translators for me).

The full conversation lasted a full three and a half hours, however I was only able to record about one hour and fifty minutes of it. The subjects covered in the recorded section include: Anibal’s work history and descriptions of several photos that he brought out to show us, thoughts on free trade, economic regulation, tariffs, and fair trade, the progress that Ecuador has made in terms of its domestic industry, investments that Ecuador is making in itself, why foreign companies don’t commonly outsource to Ecuador, and much more. I will eventually post the recorded conversation here.

While it is awesome to have so much useful and firsthand experience on the record, what was said off the record was of greatest interest to me. Towards the end of the recorded conversation I ask about what Anibal thinks about the recent governments of Correa, Moreno, and La Alianza Pais (their political party). It was at this point that he asked me to stop recording the conversation, and joked about his head getting cut off if he said the wrong things.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Anibal was someone who actually supported Correa. He said that Correa had a great vision for the future and was a very capable speaker. Correa made many positive reforms in Ecuador, and had been internationally recognized for his service in improving the quality of life for many people. The economy greatly improved. Education was reformed and regulated so that universities would have to meet uniform guidelines to validate their diplomas. Programs were started to encourage technical training and investment in manufacturing. Homelessness plummeted. Roads greatly improved, and public transportation was made more reliable.

Anibal said that Correa was like a dictator in his leadership style, but things were good under Correa, at least for him. The press was restricted by Correa because they sought to slander and attack him for political differences. Correa passed laws against printing lies about him or his government. This brought him much criticism, protest, and further attacks from his critics. Anibal didn’t describe the process by which Correa’s government discerned truth from lies, but I would wager that it was arbitrated by what Correa did or didn’t want to hear being said about him.

Corruption during Correa’s administration, Anibal explained, ruined his reputation. Correa’s weakness was that he did not pay attention to his subordinates as well as he should have. Consequently, this allowed bribery to become widespread, particularly with construction of buildings and roads. Contractors would bribe officials in order to guarantee that they would receive contracts to complete public works projects, often costing the state thousands of dollars more than if officials had chosen the most cost effective group. All this took place without the knowledge of Correa, and now that he is out of the presidency, he has no power to defend himself. Many officials from his administration have been imprisoned, and, according to Anibal, it is the carrying out of vengeance by those who Correa made his enemies.

The present administration, led by Presidente Lenin Moreno, has been seeking charges against Correa and his officials for corruption and theft of millions of dollars from the Ecuadorian people. Moreno made a name for himself internationally by advocating for the disabled in Ecuador and across the globe, but as president he doesn’t have the interest or knowledge to handle much else. He relies on his advisers very heavily, and they are all enemies of Correa. This is creating a divide in the Alianza Pais, which is currently the largest of Ecuador’s many political parties.

Much of Anibal’s commentary seemed naive to me, but given his age and firsthand experience working in the Ecuadorian bureaucracy, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I find it difficult to believe that Correa knew nothing of the bribery and corruption in his government, or that his reforms came without substantial financial cost, or that his restrictions on the press weren’t designed to repress negative opinions of his work.

We also discussed briefly the Mision Casa Para Todos. Anibal and I agreed here that it was a fool’s errand. The progress so far is insufficient, and the money is not likely to be available. He said that it is more like “Mision casa para los amigos de Moreno” - since it would likely be his political allies, the disabled who he has championed, and other politically loyal groups that receive the majority of housing. I disagree, however, that this political discrimination and arbitrary assignment of benefits did not occur under Correa; it seems to be a non-partisan constant in Ecuadorian politics that corruption will always rear its ugly head eventually.

Overall though, Anibal offered a different perspective on a man who previously had been painted to me as the devil in human form. It is clear that much progress was made during Correa’s presidency. The quality of life in Eucador improved drastically from 2006-2016. But whether it was because of Correa, or in spite of him - that is a question to research before I return to the U.S.

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Days 13-16: August 6-9

Sorry for the delay in updating my blog; I took a trip to Baños de Agua Santa to do some hiking and natural exploration. I was staying in a hostel dormitory, so I didn’t bring my laptop for fear of it being stolen. While there were lockers to safeguard one’s possessions, the key that locked them could access all of the lockers. That kind of rendered them a moot point.

Unfortunately, rain hampered my efforts to do much exploring. I took a tour of the Ruta de las Cascadas (Route of the Waterfalls), and I saw many beautiful falls and rock formations. The centerpiece of this tour was the Pailon del Diablo (Devil’s Cauldron). This waterfall plummets 80m, about 260′, and is viewable from above and below via scenic hiking trails.

Also while in Baños I tried out the widely recommended geothermal baths, which were therapeutic and very relaxing. They are believed to have magical healing properties by the indigenous peoples of the region, though it remains to be seen if I have collected any such benefits.

Overall, it was nice to have a chance to take a vacation away from my vacation and to explore some of the natural landscape, rather than the political landscape, of Ecuador.

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Days 10, 11, & 12: August 3-5

As promised, I’ve decided to dig a little deeper into the issue of housing in Ecuador while I took the last few days off from running around the city.

It turns out that I was misinformed; it was current president Lenin Moreno who promised “housing for all”, not former president Rafael Correa. This was a promise Moreno ran on in the 2017 general election. To accomplish this, the government aims to build 325,000 homes over the course of Moreno’s 4 year term.

So far, some work has been started on this project. Moreno built 27 homes in the city of Manta through the government’s Reconstruction Committee for earthquake victims with disabilities. The second stage of this project was recently completed, as a further 20 homes were built. Plans are in place to build 175 houses in total in Manta, along with plans for 300 homes in Portoviejo.

Over a full year into his presidency, the Mision Casa Para Todos (House for All Mission), is nowhere near on pace to accomplish its goal of 325,000 homes. I’ve found records for the completion of those 47 homes in Manta and 576 that have been completed in the neighborhoods of Mount Sinai, and definite plans for the aforementioned 475 houses in Manta and Portoviejo, as well as 1,000 land grants that have been adjudicated for the project. If you generously assume a pace of 2,098 homes a year (sum of all completed, planned, and adjudicated projects), Moreno will build just 8,392 of the 325,000 homes he promised. Of course, the pace at which the homes are built is subject to change, and progress could certainly accelerate in the near future, but this falls well short of the goal of “housing for all”

Progress on the actual homes notwithstanding, the process of distributing the homes is not especially sound either. The Mision Casa Para Todos intends to distribute 191,000 of the 325,000 homes at zero cost to people in poverty. This is a charitable plan, but there is no stated stream of funding on the government websites for the project. In a shaky economy that is just coming out of a recession, the government shouldn’t risk a high budget deficit. While an increase in government spending is known to stimulate a struggling economy, deficit spending in excess pressures a government to increase their revenues to decrease the deficit. This leaves a government with two options: increase taxes, or print more money. Both options are harmful to economic growth, but choosing neither can force a government to default on its debts. This is not a safe path for the Ecuadorian government to tread, especially coming out of a recession.

The promise of “housing for all” in Ecuador is not a feasible one, and particularly not when more than half of the intended projects are meant to be given out for free. While it is doubtless a well-intentioned initiative, I anticipate that the Mision Casa Para Todos will result in a recession and further political unrest at worst, and a slight increase in available housing with economic stagnation at best.

Speaking of political unrest, it seems curious to me that there is so much apparent animosity toward the government despite the fact that Ecuador is a democracy. It begs the question: how did the Alianza Pais (the political party of presidents Correa and Moreno) come to power? And how does it maintain power? My next research topic will be the partisan system of Ecuador and its electoral history and process. When I will have time to get to this topic, I do not know. Tomorrow I will be heading to Baños, a city known for its hiking, rock climbing, and other adventure activities, so that should be an awesome time!

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Day 9: August 2nd

Yesterday was my trip to Cotopaxi; the driver I used was willing to charge almost 60 dollars less than the next most cheapest, so it was a worthy bargain.

Cotopaxi is one of the highest elevation active volcanoes in the world. Its peak stands at 19,347′ above sea level. Of course, the peak is not accessible by vehicle, so I was only able to make it to the parking lot below the base camp. The parking lot stood at a meager elevation of 14,765′, which in a North American context would be one of the top 25 highest mountains on the continent, and the highest in the contiguous 48 United States. I hiked up a brief amount above the parking lot, which was possibly another 100-200 feet of elevation considering its steepness, just to go higher in elevation than I’d ever been before (and likely than I will ever be in the near future).

Today has been a day for rest and I don’t have anything planned for tomorrow either, so I will likely research the housing promises of former president Correa and the international pact against corruption which current president Moreno has recently made.

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Day 8: August 1st

Yesterday wasn’t a particularly busy day; I did bunch of laundry and cleaned my bathroom.

The only excursion I went on was to the Teleferico at Rucu Pichincha (a cable car ride up part of the volcano overlooking the city of Quito). It was nice to get a view of the city from about 13,000′ above sea level.  It was very refreshing to remember what that elevation feels like. The highest above sea level that I have ever been was the top of Pike’s Peak, at 14,165′.

Today I am heading for Cotopaxi, unfortunately not to its 19,350′ peak, but to the base camp museum at about 15,000′. The air will be very thin and cold, so I’m sure I’ll have fun. I wish I could come back sometime to scale the volcanoes of the Andes Range. They’re some of the tallest in the world.

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Day 7: July 31st

Yesterday I was scrambling to distribute my fraternity’s alumni newsletter before I would have had to change it from the “July 2018″ edition to the “August 2018″ edition. Fortunately, I got that done, and I got to do some sight seeing as well.

Patricia mentioned some food trucks that were in a certain area of Quito, so I decided to give them a try yesterday. But, the taxi driver I found seemed to have other plans. See, I had been warned that some drivers will take tourists on very roundabout routes in order to charge a larger fee, so I have made a habit of tracking my routes beforehand on my phone’s GPS to make sure the taxi is going a way that makes sense. While not all of the drivers have taken me on the most direct routes, they generally get from A to B efficiently. This guy, however, blatantly pretended he didn’t know where the street was, despite it being a major thoroughfare. He became super apologetic when it was pointed out that he was going the wrong direction, so to me it was pretty clear that his getting “lost” was just a ploy for a bigger fee.

Once at the food trucks, I was surprised to find that they were not really trucks but permanently parked food stalls. They were once trucks, but due to the traffic they caused, the city of Quito set aside a lot where they could sell their food without gridlock. There was a wide variety of food available - Venezuelan cuisine, Mexican cuisine, and classic Ecuadorian foods like fritada (fried pork and corn) and seco de chivo (stewed goat), but I had a craving for some comfort food, so I went to a stall labeled “Inka Burger” and ordered the “Inka Taito”. It was a burger with four beef patties (weight unknown, probably 1/4 pound though), and layers of bacon, mushrooms, onion between each one. Definitely not the healthiest option, but it sure hit the spot. I also tried a Venezuelan dessert made with a corn tortilla, mozzarella cheese, plantains, and a sweet sauce. It was also very good.

Afterwards, I went to el Museo Numismatico (a museum dedicated to the history of Ecuadorian currency) located in the central plaza near the presidential palace. The building was previously the site of the Banco Central de Ecuador (Ecuadorian Central Bank). I was curious to visit here particularly to research Dolarizacion, the adoption of the U.S. Dollar as Ecuador’s official currency.

During the year 2000, Ecuador was experiencing a severe economic recession which was made worse by the instability of their currency, the Sucre. At that time, the Sucre was very weak, and it was not uncommon to see notes of 5, 10, and even 20,000 sucres being issued. Consequently, the government saw dolarizacion as a solution to their problems; the U.S. dollar was strong and stable, and the Sucre was practically worthless. For a more in depth explanation of dolarizacion, click here.

And lastly, I visited El Panascillo, a large hill overlooking the northern part of Quito. Unfortunately, I arrived too late to tour the statue of La Virgen de Quito, which closed at 5 o’clock, and it began to rain after just a few minutes. So that was probably the most disappointing thing that’s happened so far, which is a major positive, all things considered.

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Day 6: July 30th

https://vimeo.com/287891076

The big event for yesterday was El Cambio de la Guardia (Changing of the Guard) at the Presidential Palace. I took a video of the entire spectacle, which lasted around a half hour. The only thing I didn’t catch on video was the part where the guards actually changed places, which was entirely anticlimactic and felt like it was just kinda added in at the end.

The ceremony itself was lacking the crowd participation it was designed to incur. Multiple times there were breaks/cues for the crowd to shout “Viva!”, but there was relatively little enthusiasm; the plaza in front of the palace was relatively packed, but the responses reflected participation from only a fraction of those present. There was also very low participation in the singing of the national anthem. And this was confusing to me, as many of the people present wore shirts with the hashtag “#ElPaisContigoLenin” - “The Country is with you Lenin [Moreno, the president]”. There was also a group in front of the crowd wearing red berets and carrying flags in support of military veterans. I am not entirely sure what their group represented, but google searches for red berets in Ecuador indicate that they may have been paratroopers or special ops soldiers. Regardless of their station, they seemed to be the most enthusiastic and participatory out of the whole crowd.

The video does it more justice. I don’t have much of anything planned for today, so I’ll probably work on getting that video and the pictures I have so far up on here.

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Day 5: July 29th

I’m lagging a day behind still, though this may become my regular posting schedule. Oh well.

Yesterday I visited the Mitadad del Mundo equatorial monument in Quito. The monument itself is a few hundred meters off from the actual equatorial line, so I visited the Intiñan museum where the true equator runs through (at least, per GPS). There were a lot of gimmicky “equator science” tricks done there, but it was entertaining and the tour was in English which made it easier for me.

I also noticed at both equatorial sites that there were globes oriented to the east, just as had been advocated for at the Quitsato Sundial site. I decided to research this issue a little further.

Historically, maps tend to be oriented based on the preference of whoever made them. The top of a map is almost always seen as the most important, thus egocentrism defined much of early cartography. Many Arab maps are oriented to the south, as most Arab cultures were north of Mecca and wanted to be looking up toward Mecca. Medieval Christian European maps are oriented towards Jerusalem, to the East. And during the Age of Exploration, European explorers began to orient their maps to the north due to the fact that there was more land being explored and more people in the north.

As for the Quitsato guide’s alleged superiority of an east-up orientation, I found no evidence to support this claim. And further, most cartographers seem to believe, as previously mentioned, that map orientation is rather arbitrary. For navigation purposes, an east-oriented map serves only to complicate affairs. The only times the sun rises due east and sets due west are on the spring and fall equinoxes; every other time there is variance depending on how far from those dates you are when trying to navigate and how far north or south you are. And if you don’t wake up in time for sunrise, you must either wait until midday, at which point you can plant a stick in the ground and find north/south based on its shadow, or you must interpolate north and south  by marking the stick’s shadow once, waiting, and then marking it again, to estimate the curvature of the sun in the sky and get an idea of where it will be at midday. While solar navigation is not impossible, it is a task forces you to account for many variables and is overly complicated. It is completely obsolete in an era where compasses exist.

Compasses point to magnetic north pretty reliably. Unless distracted by a source of nearby metal or magnetism, the needle of a compass can always be used to lead you north. Now, can a compass be used with an east-oriented map? Sure, you’ll just have to turn it sideways first to line up north on the compass with north on the map. This is no grave inconvenience, but it is by no means better than having a map that is already oriented to the north.

So ultimately while I appreciated the sundial and the connections it had to surrounding archaeological sites and the connections the Quitsato organization was making between different latitudes etc. etc., I cannot accept the claim that an east-up orientation is any better than north-up. 

If I have time tonight I think I will research the housing issue that I mentioned last time. This has been a very thought-provoking experience so far!

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Day 4: July 28th

Finally getting caught up on my blog entries!

Yesterday I went on a trip to the market in Otavalo, which is predominantly run by the indigenous peoples of the area. It was an interesting experience to have to barter with each stall owner, since that isn’t very common in the states. It was an experience made more interesting by my limited Spanish-speaking ability and obviously foreign appearance. I felt that perhaps I may have been taken advantage of for that, but I didn’t care all that much as the prices that were offered to me were still lower than in the States.

On the way, I saw more political graffiti. There were instances of President Moreno’s campaign ads being vandalized with the phrases “traidor” and “judas”, both of which mean “traitor”. Another instance utilized a play on words to attack the government’s referenda, which some believe to be rigged in favor of certain government policies, making them harmful to Ecuadorian democracy.

I also noticed some walls were topped with broken glass and beer bottles. This, I was told, was barbed wire for those who could not afford actual barbed wire. The high crime rate in Ecuador necessitates this kind of D.I.Y. security.

Perhaps the most curious observation I made on the trip was the number of unfinished homes and buildings on the way. I asked Patricia about it, and she said that under the Correa administration, a promise had been made that all people would have homes. However this never happened. Many people build homes for themselves one section at a time or as they can afford it. This results in barren, concrete skeletons and improvised shelters. I will probably look further into this situation tonight if I have time/energy tonight to do so. 

Yesterday on the way to Otavalo the driver insisted on stopping at the Quitsato sundial, which is one of many equatorial sites around Quito. It was an interesting experience; Quitsato is an organization interested in orienting maps to the East, rather than the North. The guide at the sundial insisted that this was the best way to orient maps; I would have to do more research on my own to be sure, but I am initially rather convinced that navigation would be far more difficult oriented to the sun rather than to the magnetic poles of the north. There are no simple instruments for calculating due east or west based on the position of the sun, unless one is perfectly centered on the equator. At least, there are none I know of (thus, the aforementioned need for research).

I really should upload the pictures from my phone soon. Words alone don’t really do justice to what I’ve seen so far.

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Day 3: July 27th (continued)

So, anyway, about the whole induction stoves thing. 

This type of stove saves energy (as it inducts heat magnetically into the cookware, so very little heat is lost to the surrounding air), is less of a fire and safety hazard, and is easy to clean because the cook top itself does not get very hot. Additionally, studies specific to Ecuadorian cuisine have found that induction stoves provide lower CO2 emissions, shorter cook times, better taste, and better vitamin preservation, among other benefits. 

The stated objectives of this initiative, which began in 2015 under President Correa, were to decrease energy waste, protect the environment, and decrease gas-related cooking accidents. This seems to me a legitimate effort by the Ecuadorian government to improve the quality of life for its people. Even the fact that induction stoves are being subsidized by the government doesn’t strike me as a negative aspect. Previously, liquid propane had received a similar subsidy, which has since ended, and now a 100% tax has been enacted on gas stoves to prevent further purchase of them and to fund subsidies on the induction stoves. 

I am left wondering how this move in particular could be perceived as corrupt by those with whom I’ve spoken (though this is not to deny the well documented corruption of Ecuador’s recent government). I have a few theories, though. First, there is the idea that there were individuals within the Ecuadorian government whose stock portfolios stood to gain from the coercion of consumers to buy induction stoves. While of course possible, I could not find any hard documentation that this took place, and this occurs in many governments anyway, so it isn’t really an outstanding example of corruption. Another theory is that individuals in the government stood to benefit similarly from trade with the Chinese induction stove manufacturers, whose products were much cheaper than domestic ones. While again possible, there is again no hard record of this. More probable is my theory that people have become so sick of corruption within the government that they are simply skeptical of everything and anything it does, and that the possibility of officials receiving and acting on bribes is never out of the realm of possibility. Lastly, I have considered that the people I have met and talked to so far are generally upper/upper-middle class by Ecuadorian standards, and consequently their personal politics may oppose the idea of the government telling people what stoves they can use in their own homes.

The last two of these theories strike me as equally likely, and more likely than the first two. But, I remain open in my quest to find out what has undermined the general rule of law in Ecuador.

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Days 2 & 3: July 26th & 27th

It’s now the morning of the 28th, and I haven’t posted anything in the past few days, so here’s what I’ve been up to:

Two days ago was mostly spent recovering from travel. My first day was relatively busy and on day two the lack of sleep finally caught up with me. I tried some delicious (and cheap!) baked goods from the Ambato bakery down the street. Typical meals here consist of lots of bread, dairy, and peel-able fruits (bananas, melons, anything that has a protective inedible skin). Much of the produce is not safe to eat, even if it is washed, since the tap water itself is not very safe either.

Yesterday, I visited the “Old Town” - the historic, cultural center of Quito. One striking difference between the U.S. and Ecuador so far is the tone of graffiti and street art. (Photos will be added later, since they are all on my phone and this blog is on my laptop). There is much more political innuendo behind the graffiti here - people use vandalism to take shots at President Moreno and the government as a whole, as well as to make general political statements. I have also noted through interaction with my sponsor, Patricia, and her contacts that there is a lot of political cynicism in Ecuador. For example, I pointed out that it seems like most, if not all, stoves here are induction stoves. I had not seen one in the States, so naturally it seemed curious to me that they would be so commonplace here. When asked about it, Patricia explained to me that the previous president, Rafael Correa, had made a major push for induction cooking nationwide. And when I wondered aloud why he would want induction stoves to become more common, she rolled her eyes and said, “We know why,” and made a gesture to indicate that money was involved.

I looked a little further into this issue. For those who, like me, may be unfamiliar with induction cooking, induction cooking relies on magnetic induction (rather than conduction, the energy transfer that occurs on gas or electric stove tops). Induction works exclusively with cookware that is magnetic, limiting usable cookware to cast iron and some stainless steels. I am running low on time for this post though so for more info go here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_cooking.

Thats all for now, stay tuned for the continued explanation of induction cooking in Ecuador!

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Day 1: July 25th

Survived my flights! From Pittsburgh to Chicago, Chicago to Panama City, and Panama City to Quito - I finally made it to Ecuador. I have realized that I may be in over my head when it comes to communication (as my Spanish could have used more practice for sure). In spite of this, I was able to take a taxi to my Air BnB. On arrival, I was in contact with my sponsor, Patricia Sinclair, who arranged for me to meet her uncle, a former bureaucrat in the Ecuadorian Oil Ministry. 

The ensuing discussion (mostly in English) centered around the current affairs of Ecuador and President Lenin Moreno, and the apparent corruption in his administration despite his promises to decrease that very issue. The most interesting takeaway from this discussion for me was that rule of law is something that Ecuador, not unlike many of its neighboring states, struggles to maintain. 

Why is this? Well, as I discussed with Naño Pepe (as he was introduced to me), he felt that mid-20th century South American leftist movements were chasing the ideals of Fidel Castro, but were trying to implement them in less radical fashion (i.e. without armed revolution), as Hugo Chavez did in Venezuela. But, any system of government, be it socialist, republican, democratic, or any other, can quickly become arbitrary and authoritarian without a strong belief in the rule of law to unite them (see Maximilian Robespierre’s reign of terror after the first French Revolution). Rule of law can be established via a well written constitution, as the United States produced in its early years. Ecuador has a constitution of its own, but Pepe explained that it has been too susceptible to change over the years, making it subject to whatever benefits the parties in charge.

This was a great note to start my study on. I will look further into the differences in the constitutions of Ecuador and the U.S., as well as the allegations of corruption within the Ecuadorian government, as a part of my study here in Quito.