Rafael Correa.

• Author: Goodman, Amy
• Position: THE PROGRESSIVE INTERVIEW - Ecuadorian president - Interview

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa is an economist by training. He is a fierce critic of international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The former finance minister of Ecuador was elected president in 2006, then reelected to a second term earlier this year.

In June, President Correa was in New York attending the United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development. Correa was one of the few world leaders to attend the conference.

I interviewed President Correa in the Ecuadorian mission in New York during his visit. It was before the coup in Honduras.

In a wide-ranging interview, I spoke with him about global capitalism, his decision not to renew the license for the U.S. military base in Manta, the lawsuit against Chevron brought by Amazon residents for toxic oil pollution, Ecuador's relationship with Colombia, and his advice to President Obama. Part of that advice was: "To learn more and come to better understand the region, and to not let himself be taken along by the power of certain media outlets that are compromised with certain ideological beliefs, and to realize that the heroes aren't necessarily heroes, and the villains aren't necessarily villains."

Q: So many heads of state did not attend the U.N. Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development. According to press reports, Western diplomats said the conference was just a platform to attack capitalism. What's your response?

Rafael Correa: Well, if this is an attack on capitalism, I think it's well deserved. Look at the problem it's got us into. I don't understand those who say they're not here because it might descend into an attack on capitalism. They must have a strong ideological bias, because if they thought maybe there would be an attack on socialism, they would have been delighted to have come.

Q: Talk about why you think at this point capitalism should be criticized.

Correa: What we've undergone in recent decades worldwide has been totally insane, and all of this is a result of capitalism. The workforce in Latin America was treated as a vulgar instrument for capital accumulation. Mechanisms of exploitation were imposed, such as outsourcing, labor mediation, and the like. Efforts were made to destroy nation-states, or at least to minimize nation-states, especially in key areas such as the economy, on grounds that were closer to religion than to...