One of the More Positive Leaders: Rafael Correa - Case Study Example

Rafael Correa                 Rafael Correa is the president of the Republic of Ecuador and can be termed as one of the more positive leaders to take the reigns of power in the history of this South American country (Romero, 2009). In the period he has served, he has brought about change that has for the most part left the country in a better place than before he was elected and such an act should be recommended. Despite the various controversies that have emerged from time to time during his period in office, it should be noted that most of the actions that this president has taken has been in a bid to improve the status of Ecuador and its people (Ghosh, 2012).

Of course, this is not a view that is held by all and a number of organizations and people inside and outside the republic have referred to him as an autocrat and a guile politician. However, the evidence speaks for itself, and it cannot be denied that the nation is doing better place than it was before the Rafael Correa came into power. His achievements cannot be downplayed, and it is doubtful that his rivals would have been able to do the same had they been given the chance to take his position.

Rafael Correa is an economist that was educated in three different countries namely his homeland Ecuador, the United States and Belgium (Ghosh, 2012). He has used this education to improve the financial status of his country through a number of economic policies that he has implemented over the years. One of the most controversial moves with regard to these policies has been his declaration of Ecuador’s national debt as illegitimate on the basis that it was contracted by previous regimes that were despotic and corrupt with no regard for the country thus making the debts odious in nature.

This move caused waves in the international community as it meant that the country planned to default on over 3 billion dollars worth of debt (Enrico, 2009). The president fought his opposition on this subject in the international courts and eventually managed to reduce the price of the outstanding bonds by over 60%, which was an amazing result (Enrico, 2009). Correa has also managed to win over the hearts of his people through his achievements, and concern for Ecuador’s welfare and as a result has been elected twice into office.

One of his main non-political controversies includes his relationship with the media which can be said to be strained at best as a number of critics have accused him of interfering with their independence. Over the past years, he has taken a number of journalists and media companies to court over negative claims and won a major law suit over the newspaper El Universo that resulted in four of its employees receiving a 3 year jail term (Enrico, 2009).  However, Correa waived the damages that had amounted up to 40 million dollars and pardoned the said employees.

Despite these various controversies, one thing cannot be denied, and that is that Rafael Correa has definitely done more good than bad for his country.                     References Enrico, T. (April 30th 2009). Revolution on March as Correa Makes History. Tribune Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.tribunemagazine.co.uk/2009/04/30/revolution-on-march-as-correa-makes-history 5th March 2013 Ghosh, J. (January 19th 2012). Could Ecuador be the most radical and exciting place on Earth?. The Guardian (London).

Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/19/ecuador-radica-exciting-place 5th March 2013 Romero, S. (April 27th 2009). Ecuador Re-elects President, Preliminary Results Show. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/world/americas/27ecuador.html 5th March 2013