No, sadly, we didn’t have that privilege (though I did once have a private meeting in the presidential palace with a former president… but that’s another story). Yesterday, PBS aired a 15 minute interview with Rafael Correa, in English. It’s very rare to hear Mr. Correa respond to a journalist in English – and I thought it would be interesting to those of you who may have a wider interest over things Ecuadorean. Mr. Correa did his Ph.D. in the USA – though his English remains heavily accented. I have seen him perform in Spanish and tongue tied he is not! It must be frustrating for someone so loquacious in his native tongue to have to interview in a 2nd language. It’s worth the 15 minutes to watch this PBS interview – if only to get a better idea on what’s going on at the national government level in Ecuador. Mr. Correa is very much a populist. Every Saturday morning, he hosts a 2-3 hour television show in a different city or town (the “sabatinas”), further cementing his connections to the people. He has huge support in the country, but also a large opposition. You can’t please everybody all of the time it seems. Click here to see the video.
