Political Encounters

I spent the whole day reading political news from the online archives of the major Ecuadorian newspaper El Comercio. I have to summarize the political developments of August and September for NDI’s monthly political reports. As exhausting as it was, I have fewer questions to ask my coworkers. Things are starting to make sense.

I finally met someone who is not going to vote pro-government in the upcoming election. He was my taxi driver on the way home. It was nice to hear a different perspective but I felt a little uneasy with his ideas. He lamented that the majority of Ecuadorians are lazy and prefer free promises. According to him, Correa has done nothing since he took office in January except hand out housing bonds and subsidies. My driver did agree, however, with Correa´s proposal for free education but under strict conditions. He said that only those students who work hard deserve free tuition. I found a parallel thought with affirmative action and programs that aid students from low-income families. I have my reservations. I mean it’s great that there are so many opportunities for minorities but not everyone deserves free resources. Especially when it goes to waste. I´ll end here.