Ecuador: Political and Economic Situation and U.S. Relations

In January 2003, Lucio Gutierrez of the Patriotic Society Party (PSP), a former army Colonel who was part of the junta that toppled the government of Jamil Mahuad in January 2000, became the country’s sixth president in seven years. Early in his presidency, President Gutierrez abandoned his populist rhetoric and adopted some market-friendly economic reforms in order to secure support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). His power was severely limited, however, by opposition parties that dominated the Congress, indigenous protests, and allegations of corruption