The Foreign Policy of the Citizens’ Revolution: Public Opinion and Attitudes

Following the signing of a definitive peace agreement by representatives of Ecuador and Peru in Brasilia in 1998, Ecuador’s foreign policy was left disoriented and ill equipped to address the challenges of the new millennium. The situation was turned around with the election of Rafael Correa as president in 2007. Up until then, the course of Ecuador’s foreign policy had been determined by bilateral relations with the United States, Colombia and Peru (in that order of importance), but Correa’s government came up with an alternative based on seven guiding principles: defense of national sovereignty, active multi lateralism, Latin American integration, the diversification of international markets and South-South cooperation, environmental protection, protection of the rights of Ecuadorian migrants abroad, the free movement of people and global citizenship. These principles underscore a series of official documents, including the 2009-2013 National Development Plan and the 2008 Constitution of Ecuador. Four years since the beginning of the so-called Citizens’ Revolution, the question remains as to what extent Ecuadorians have been receptive to the new direction taken by their country’s foreign policy and whether or not the general public shares the foreign policy goals of President Correa’s government. Drawing on the results of the Ecuador, the Americas and the World 2010 opinion poll, Beatriz Zepeda and María Gabriela Egas attempt to answer these questions. Their core argument is that Ecuadorians tend to take a more conservative attitude to foreign policy, which stands in stark contrast to the revisionist bent of the current administration’s brand of diplomacy. Nonetheless, as the authors conclude, this has not translated into low levels of acceptance; on the contrary, Ecuadorians claim to be highly satisfied with the way foreign policy is being handled, even though it does not necessarily coincide with their preferences.