Smile turns to frown

摘要

In the three years since he came to office, Rafael Correa has promised that his "Christian socialism" will provide Ecuadoreans with the good life where "neoliberalism" failed. A big increase in social spending, paid for at first by a high oil price and then by defaulting on debt, brought Mr Correa popular acclaim. He steered through a new constitution and last year had himself re-elected under it. He seemed to be defying his country's recent history, in which the previous three elected presidents had failed to complete their terms.