GUTIERREZ from office
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional (100 seats;
members are popularly elected by province to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20 October 2002 (next to be held October 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
PSC 25, PRE 15, ID 16, PRIAN 10, PSP 9, Pachakutik Movement 6, MPD
5, DP 4, PS-FA 3, independents 7; note - defections by members of
National Congress are commonplace, resulting in frequent changes in
the numbers of seats held by the various parties
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (according to the Constitution, new
justices are elected by the full Supreme Court; in December 2004,
however, Congress successfully replaced the entire court via a
simple-majority resolution)
Political parties and leaders:
Concentration of Popular Forces or CFP [Averroes BUCARAM];
Democratic Left or ID [Guillermo LANDAZURI]; National Action
Institutional Renewal Party or PRIAN [Alvaro NOBOA]; Pachakutik
Movement [Gilberto TALAHUA]; Patriotic Society Party or PSP [Lucio
GUTIERREZ Borbua]; Popular Democracy or DP [Dr. Juan Manuel
FUERTES]; Popular Democratic Movement or MPD [Gustavo TERAN Acosta];
Radical Alfarista Front or FRA [Fabian ALARCON, director]; Roldosist
Party or PRE [Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz, director]; Social Christian
Party or PSC [Leon FEBRES CORDERO]; Socialist Party - Broad Front or
PS-FA [Victor GRANDA]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador or CONAIE
[Luis MACAS, president]; Coordinator of Social Movements or CMS [F.
Napoleon SANTOS]; Federation of Indigenous Evangelists of Ecuador or
FEINE [Marco MURILLO, president]; National Federation of Indigenous
Afro-Ecuatorianos and Peasants or FENOCIN [Pedro DE LA CRUZ,
president]; Popular Front or FP [Luis VILLACIS]
International organization participation:
CAN, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU,
ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM,
ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, NAM,
OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL,
UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
chancery: 2535 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 234–7200
FAX: [1] (202) 667–3482
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Jersey City (New Jersey),
Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Kristie Anne KENNEY
embassy: Avenida 12 de Octubre y Avenida Patria, Quito
mailing address: APO AA 34039
telephone: [593] (2) 256–2890
FAX: [593] (2) 250–2052
consulate(s) general: Guayaquil
Flag description:
three horizontal bands of yellow (top, double width), blue, and red
with the coat of arms superimposed at the center of the flag;
similar to the flag of Colombia, which is shorter and does not bear
a coat of arms
Economy Ecuador
Economy - overview:
Ecuador has substantial petroleum resources, which have accounted
for 40% of the country's export earnings and one-fourth of central
government budget revenues in recent years. Consequently,
fluctuations in world market prices can have a substantial domestic
impact. In the late 1990s, Ecuador suffered its worst economic
crisis, with natural disasters and sharp declines in world petroleum
prices driving Ecuador's economy into free fall in 1999. Real GDP
contracted by more than 6%, with poverty worsening significantly.
The banking system also collapsed, and Ecuador defaulted on its
external debt later that year. The currency depreciated by some 70%
in 1999, and, on the brink of hyperinflation, the MAHAUD government
announced it would dollarize the economy. A coup, however, ousted
MAHAUD from office in January 2000, and after a short-lived junta
failed to garner military support, Vice President Gustavo NOBOA took
over the presidency. In March 2000, Congress approved a series of
structural reforms that also provided the framework for the adoption
of the US dollar as legal tender. Dollarization stabilized the
economy, and growth returned to its pre-crisis levels in the years
that followed. Under the administration of Lucio GUTIERREZ - January
2003 to April 2005 - Ecuador benefited from higher world petroleum
prices, but the government has made little progress on economic
reforms necessary to reduce Ecuador's vulnerability
