Rafael Correa

Biography

Rafael Correa studied economics in Ecuador, Belgium and the United States and taught at a university in Quito. He served briefly as finance minister in 2005.

He won the presidency in 2006 at the head of a new left-wing movement, PAIS Alliance, and took office in 2007. A new constitution was approved in 2008, and he was re-elected in 2009 and 2013. His government defaulted on part of the foreign debt, raised social spending and expanded state control over oil revenue. He also clashed with the press and survived a police revolt in 2010.

He left office in 2017. His chosen successor, Lenín Moreno, turned against him, and in 2020 Correa was convicted in absentia of corruption while living in Belgium, a verdict he called political.