Introduction - Adventure Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - page 15

and social inequality gap widened drastically during this period, in-
flation skyrocketed and the foreign debt mounted. Corruption and a
bloody coup eventually forced enough pressure that the military al-
lowed for a transition of power to a democratically elected govern-
ment, a first in Latin America. Unfortunately, the 1980s began with
party conflict, a speculative presidential death, drop in oil prices, the
resultant debt crisis frommassive loans during the oil boom, and a re-
kindled border dispute with Peru. And to top it off, the 1982/83 El
Niñowreaked havoc onEcuador's economy, infrastructure and on hu-
man life in the country. Ecuador spiraled downward with the rest of
Latin America.
Ecuador was forced to depend on international lending institutions -
such as the United States, the World Bank, and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) - for debt-rescheduling based on policy-
adjustment programs. Measures to appease the IMF's credit rating,
such as eliminating subsidies on basic necessities, drastically deval-
ued the currency and decreased the purchasing power of the masses,
further impoverishing them. Other recent adjustments include prod-
uct diversification for export growth, privatization of state enter-
prises, and the encouragement of foreign investment. You can
probably notice a socio-economic/political viscous cycle occurring
here. Needless to say, little if any of this has manifested in real prog-
ress for any but the wealthiest Ecuadorians, while the intricate link
between politics and economics continued to merge.
Ecuador Today
Ecuador continues to struggle with development under the con-
straints of massive external debts and inflation, rising oil prices, and
a strain on its natural-resource base. Oil, shrimp, and bananas are
the top three earners of foreign revenue, but all are nonrenewable
and/or subject to fluctuating world prices. In addition, each directly
injures tourism, the country's fourth most-important earner and ar-
guably the only sustainable activity. Ecuador's immediate problems
come frommassive overpopulation and a rapid growth rate. With the
highest population density in Latin America, the rural poor are flood-
ing to ill-equipped cities and the Oriente. In the city, jobs are not
available and the majority of Ecuadorians live well below the poverty
line. In the jungle, they are devastating the land like swarms of lo-
custs.
Recently, there has been quite a bit of tension related to issues that
range from indigenous rites and social benefits to massive inflation
and rising oil prices. Regionalism based on historical economic differ-