Recent political turmoil in Ecuador and Peru brought journalists calling on Javier Corrales, Dwight W. Morrow 1895 professor of Political Science, for insights into the dynamics behind the machinations.
Reporting on Ecuador, where President Lenín Moreno recently moved his government out of the capital in the face of a growing protest movement against austerity measures, The Washington Post quoted Corrales on how the Ecuador situation, where Moreno has withdrawn a fuel subsidy and increased taxes on large businesses, mirrors a pattern seen in other countries in Latin America.
“States pursue expansionary policies that are unsustainable but which consumers like,” he said. “And eventually they’re followed by restrictive policies that are inevitable but which consumers dislike.”
Meanwhile, in Peru, President Martin Vizcarra recently dissolved Congress and called for fresh elections. Bloomberg News reported that Peru’s Congress responded by dissolving Vizcarra’s presidency and making a failed attempt to install a new president: “Now one of Latin America’s most prosperous nations has a legislature in limbo, its leader behind guarded palace doors, and Peruvians in the streets celebrating a revolt with no endgame.”
Corrales spoke about how this seems to be a variation on a familiar scenario, usually involving a rogue executive branch trying to pack the courts.
“We know it’s a red flag when a president tries to control the judiciary,” he said. “But now we have a case of a legislature misbehaving. It would be nice if we could say that too is undemocratic. We’re not used to calling for holding Congress in check.”