Over a year after the approval of Ecuador’s new constitution, the president of Ecuador’s National Assembly Fernando Cordero described a “citizen’s revolution” taking place within the country, calling it “a process that we are living, right now.” Cordero made his remarks during a conversation at the Inter-American Dialogue on July 16 about Ecuador’s evolving political and institutional landscape. Cordero was formerly the president of the Constituent Assembly that originally drafted Ecuador’s new constitution in 2006. In his current position as president of Ecuador’s legislature, Cordero is aligned with President Rafael Correa’s Alianza PAIS party.
Cordero opened the discussion by detailing the roots of President Correa’s current legislative agenda of “change” in politically turbulent Ecuador. “As mayor of Cuenca for ten years, I shared my term with seven presidents,” Cordero quipped, in reference to the chronically shifting leadership that defined Ecuador before Correa arrived on the national stage with his win in the 2006 presidential election. Upon election, Correa immediately dissolved the National Congress on charges of corruption and formed the Constituent Assembly to “re-found Ecuador and renovate a seat of government that had deteriorated.” The Constitution, approved in a September 2009 referendum, established justice and equality among the country’s diverse social and ethnic groups, gave the country’s Diaspora a voice in national elections, conferred full legislative powers to the Assembly, institutionalized the idea of political decentralization and formed a new Court to interpret the Constitution.
Almost one year after the Constitution’s approval, Alianza PAIS has embarked upon an ambitious, and often controversial, legislative agenda to implement a variety of changes. Under Cordero’s leadership, the Assembly plans to pass nineteen laws before the end of the year on topics as diverse as education, culture, and communication. All these laws, said Cordero, are intended to provide “Ecuadorian solutions to Ecuadorian problems.”
The content of these new laws were the primary focus of a spirited question-answer session. Cordero was questioned about a proposed communication law, which has been criticized for its potentially detrimental effects on freedom of speech. Cordero insisted that it would not be used to suppress speech, and defended the law by saying it was intended to regulate freedom of expression and prevent libel. He further asserted that those criticizing the law were confusing Ecuador with Venezuela, and pledged that the law’s implementation would be open to debate and questioning by the Ecuadorian public.
Cordero also defended a proposed Water Law, which has been strongly protested by indigenous communities who see it as an affront to their right to natural resources. Cordero asserted that, while Ecuador is an “intercultural and multiethnic” state, there are no “states within the state” and indigenous communities should work through established democratic channels to air their grievances about the law.
Responding to a question from Dialogue president Michael Shifter, who moderated the event, Cordero proclaimed an era of new opportunities for US-Ecuadorian relations. As president of the National Assembly, Cordero spoke of the role of legislators in making personal connections with their counterparts in other countries. He concluded by saying he looked forward to a relationship with the US based upon mutual respect for sovereignty and renewed closeness and exchange.
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