Ecuador is a happening place right now
I’m beginning to realize how active Ecuador is right now:
The final run up for the national and presidential elections is at hand with candidates from a score of parties all calling each other liars and thieves. Their supporters are busy painting walls and marching in the streets.
The volcano near Baños is belching out ash and lava at irregular intervals.
The federal government in Quito is wrestling with what to do with Bloque 15. This is the oil field Ecuador seized from Occidental Oil. The government is walking a tight-rope, they want to appear strong for Ecuadorian special interest groups in an election year, and they want the money the oil field generates. But they’ve found that the national oil company, Petroecuador, does not have the technicians, engineers and geologists needed to properly run the field, since Occidental took all of the old executives and engineers home. So now oil production is slipping. They also don’t want to appear too nationalistic because that will scare off foreign investment afraid of their businesses getting seized.
But the government can do only so much as make promises, because there is no way the current President, Palacio, is going to retain his job. So the next administration is as likely to reverse everything he does as a matter of policy.
The next three months in Ecuador should be fun.
As the ancient Chinese curse says: “May you live in interesting times.”
The final run up for the national and presidential elections is at hand with candidates from a score of parties all calling each other liars and thieves. Their supporters are busy painting walls and marching in the streets.
The volcano near Baños is belching out ash and lava at irregular intervals.
The federal government in Quito is wrestling with what to do with Bloque 15. This is the oil field Ecuador seized from Occidental Oil. The government is walking a tight-rope, they want to appear strong for Ecuadorian special interest groups in an election year, and they want the money the oil field generates. But they’ve found that the national oil company, Petroecuador, does not have the technicians, engineers and geologists needed to properly run the field, since Occidental took all of the old executives and engineers home. So now oil production is slipping. They also don’t want to appear too nationalistic because that will scare off foreign investment afraid of their businesses getting seized.
But the government can do only so much as make promises, because there is no way the current President, Palacio, is going to retain his job. So the next administration is as likely to reverse everything he does as a matter of policy.
The next three months in Ecuador should be fun.
As the ancient Chinese curse says: “May you live in interesting times.”
posted by Unknown at 5:51 PM
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