Rafael Correa

Early life

Early life

Correa's father was Rafael Correa Icaza, born in Los Ríos Province, Ecuador, while his mother is Norma Delgado Rendón (born 1 September 1939). He had three siblings; Fabricio Correa, Pierina Correa and Bernardita Correa. Having grown up in the coastal city of Guayaquil, he has described his family background as being that of the "lower middle class".

When Correa was five, his father was arrested and imprisoned for three years after attempting to smuggle illegal narcotics into the United States. Publicly acknowledging this incident while president, Correa stated that "I do not condone what he did [but] drug smugglers are not criminals. They are single mothers or unemployed people who are desperate to feed their families". Correa was 18 when he was told about his father's actions.

While living in Guayaquil, Correa was highly involved in the Boy Scout program. When he was 17, despite his family facing financial hardship, a family friend paid for him to be educated at an elite local school, where he excelled. During his secondary studies he was president of the Lasallian Student Cultural Association ("ACEL" in Spanish). Correa then obtained a scholarship to study at the Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil (UCSG), a private higher education institution in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where he obtained an undergraduate degree in economics in 1987.

When attending UCSG, he was elected President of the Association of Students of Economy, Audit and Administration (AEAA) and, later on, President of the Federation of Students (FEUC) of the same education center, a position which in 1986 allowed him to preside over the Private Universities Students Federation of Ecuador (FEUPE).

University

Following the conclusion of his studies at UCSG, Correa worked for a year in a mission at a kindergarten run by the Salesian order in Zumbahua, Cotopaxi Province, where he taught Catholicism and mathematics. It was here that he furthered his faith in Catholicism, and developed a working understanding of the Quechua language spoken by most of Ecuador's indigenous people. He then secured a scholarship to study economics further at UCLouvain in Belgium, where he met Anne Malherbe Gosselin, whom he married and has three children with. He later received a Master of Arts in Economics from UCLouvain in June 1991.

Correa was able to afford a university education with the aid of funding grants. He continued his studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned a Master of Science in economics in May 1999, and a PhD in economics in October 2001.

Returning to Ecuador, Correa secured a position at the University of San Francisco in Quito, where he taught economics. At the same time, he worked as an economic adviser to state and international agencies. During this period, Ecuador experienced a banking crisis and the government of President Jamil Mahuad replaced the Ecuadorean sucre currency with the U.S. dollar. Correa was highly critical of this dollarisation policy, arguing against it in various academic publications that he produced at the time.

Politics

Between 1992 and 1993, during the presidency of Sixto Durán Ballén, Correa was a director at the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) in Ecuador, tasked with administrative oversight and supervision of improvement programs for the national educational system. The improvement programs were funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Minister of Finance

On 20 April 2005, Correa was appointed to the position of Minister of Economy and Finance in the government of President Alfredo Palacio, having previously advised Palacio before his ascension to the presidency. As finance minister, Correa met with a number of Latin American presidents, including Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Argentina's Nestor Kirchner, and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. He established himself as both a political maverick and a staunch critic of economic liberalization.

During his four months in charge of the portfolio, Correa was skeptical of signing a free trade agreement with the United States and declining advice from the International Monetary Fund, instead working to increase Ecuador's cooperation with other Latin American countries. Arguably his most notable decision within the Ministry of Finance was to reverse the fact that surpluses from oil sales go directly to prepay Ecuador's foreign debt and instead go to investment in health and education. After the World Bank stopped a loan, citing changes in the oil revenue stabilization fund, Correa resigned from Palacio's government. He had also proposed the issuance of government bonds at a lower interest rate than the 8.5% prevailing one at that time. Venezuela's government was buying half of the new bond issue. Correa claimed in his resignation letter that the sale was done with full presidential authorization, but cited lack of support from the president as a factor in his decision to resign. When Correa resigned as minister, polls showed he had the highest credibility of any official in the administration at the time, with 57% of Ecuadorians saying that they trusted him.

Prior to becoming President, Correa denounced the "sophistry of Free Trade", in an introduction he wrote for a book titled The Hidden Face of Free Trade Agreements. One of the authors of that book is his ex-Minister and congressman Alberto Acosta. Citing as his source the book, Kicking Away the Ladder, written by Korean economist based at Cambridge University and Center for Economic and Policy Research analyst Ha-Joon Chang, Correa identified the difference between an "American system" opposed to "a British System" of free trade. The latter, he says, was explicitly viewed by the Americans as "part of the British imperialist system". Correa wrote that Chang showed that it was Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, and not Friedrich List who was the first to present a systematic argument defending industrial protectionism. (Correa includes List's National System of Political Economy in his bibliographic references.)

2006 presidential campaign

Correa decided to campaign for the presidency in the 2006 presidential election, although at the time he was a largely unknown figure among the Ecuadorean public. Employing Vinicio Alvarado as his campaign manager, Correa's campaign emphasised his personality as a macho family man of modest origins who was angry with the country's political elites. During his campaign, he described himself as the head of "a citizen's revolution" against the established political parties and corrupt elites, and depicted himself as the leader of a second independence movement devoted to freeing Ecuador from American imperialism. Touring the country aboard a motorized caravan attending political rallies, he emphasized this opposition using campaign songs such as Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It", as well as through the slogan "Se viene el correazo" ("Here comes a whipping"), a pun on the fact that "Correa" can be translated as whip.

Correa established a political vehicle, the PAIS Alliance (Alianza PAIS—Patria Altiva y Soberana, "Proud and Sovereign Fatherland Alliance"), which united a disparate group of leftist organizations. However, in an unusual move he announced that the PAIS Alliance would not put forward any congressional candidates during the election, thus reflecting his opposition to the established political system. During the campaign, Correa stated that if elected he would use an executive decree to introduce a national referendum on the establishment of a constituent assembly which had the potential to rewrite Ecuador's constitution. He presented this as a process necessary to overthrow the established political elites, whom he termed the partidocracia ("partyarchy") and redistribute political power.

The Alianza PAIS movement signed a political alliance with the Ecuadorian Socialist Party, which did present candidates for Congress. On 31 July 2006, Alianza PAIS also signed a Programmatic Political Agreement with the Communist Party of Ecuador when Correa was postulated for candidate for president. Other parties that joined Alianza PAIS coalition in a runoff election included Democratic People's Movement, Democratic Left, Pachakutik, and the Partido Roldista Ecuatoriano.

During his campaign, Correa traveled to Barinas, Venezuela to spend time at Hugo Chávez's family home, describing the Venezuelan President as a personal friend.

On economic policy, Correa called for reform of the petroleum industry, including an increase in the percentage of petroleum revenues spent on social programs for the Ecuadorian poor, following the reforms of the Hydrocarbons Law promoted by former Economy and Finance Minister Diego Borja. He accused foreign petroleum companies operating in Ecuador of failing to meet existing environmental and investment regulations.

Presidency (2007–2017)

First term: 2007–2009

Rafael Correa was officially declared President on 4 December 2006 by the electoral court. He was sworn in on 15 January 2007 as the 45th president of Ecuador, the seventh to occupy the post since the legislature removed President Abdalá Bucaram 10 years earlier in the midst of a debt crisis that had devastated the country. His inauguration was attended by most regional leaders, as well as the Iranian president and the Spanish Crown Prince. Declaring that "Ecuador had voted for itself", Correa proclaimed that his election meant an end to neoliberalism in the country. Invoking the name of African-American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., Correa also spoke out against racial discrimination against indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorians in his speech. During the ceremony he wore a shirt decorated with motifs from the prehistoric Jama Coaque culture.

During his first months in office, Correa's government doubled the monthly poverty assistance payments to $30, doubled the credits for housing loans and reduced the electricity rates for individuals on low incomes.

Correa ordered a plebiscite on the issue of whether or not Ecuador should establish a new constitution in April 2007; the proposal passed with over 80% of the vote. Elections to establish a Constituent Assembly were held in 2007 and were won by Correa's government with over 60% of the vote. The new constitution also increased the powers of the presidency by increasing the number of presidential decrees permitted.

Socialism will continue. The Ecuadorian people voted for that. We are going to emphasize this fight for social justice, for regional justice. We are going to continue the fight to eliminate all forms of workplace exploitation within our socialist conviction: the supremacy of human work over capital. Nobody is in any doubt that our preferential option is for the poorest people, we are here because of them. Hasta la victoria siempre! (Until victory, for ever!)

Correa adopted a confrontational approach to both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Correa's administration stated that the new government would not sign an agreement which allowed the International Monetary Fund to monitor its economic plan. In February 2007, Correa's economy minister Ricardo Patiño stated: "I have no intention … of accepting what some governments in the past have accepted: that (the IMF) tell us what to do on economic policy ... That seems unacceptable to us". However, as a member of the IMF, the annual report known as the "Article IV" report will be submitted. In April 2007, Ecuador paid off its debt to the IMF. Correa said Ecuador wanted no further relationship with the fund. During his first year in office, Correa spoke of building an alternative to capitalist development, stating "we are building a conception of development that is different from that of the capitalist system, where we seek not to live better, to have competition, to have more every day, but to live well, to satisfy basic needs, where harmony with nature is sought, where we seek the indescribable life of cultures." This was reflected in an ideological manifesto of Correa's PAIS Alliance and various development plans, which promoted as an alternative to capitalism Buen Vivir (Good Living). He declared Ecuador's national debt illegitimate and announced that the country would default on over $3 billion worth of bonds; he pledged to fight creditors in international courts and succeeded in reducing the price of outstanding bonds by more than 60%.

Second presidential term: 2009–2013

Rafael Correa was re-elected for a second term in the April 2009 general election, where he gained 52% of the vote. He was the first Ecuadorian President to serve a second consecutive term since the 19th century. It was the first time in thirty years that the country had re-elected a president and the first elected president from Guayaquil (The coast) who had finished his term after Leon Febres Cordero (1984–1986). He won by a large margin over the other seven candidates, taking 52 per cent of the vote to the 28 per cent of Lucio Gutiérrez, his nearest rival. His party also won the largest legislative block in the National Assembly, although not a majority.

Correa was sworn into the Presidency on 10 August 2009, the same day as Ecuador's bicentennial. His speech took place in front of several Latin American dignitaries, such as the president of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Cuban President Raúl Castro, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Correa used the opportunity to promise a continuation of his "socialist revolution", his plans to end poverty and to go on "stamping out the structural causes of poverty". He also said the actions of the media were opposing his government. He claims that the continuation of his "The Citizens' Revolution" policy is intended to ensure all citizens are equal.

The health budget was $561 million in 2006 and was increased to $1.774 billion in 2012, which is 6.8% of the national budget. The Ecuadorian government signed an agreement with the Cuban government to allow public company Enfarma to massively produce medicine at low cost. Working hours for doctors were increased to 40 hours/week and their salaries were also increased. Mobile hospitals have been implemented. Another program has been implemented to increase the rate of return of medics amongst Ecuadorian emigrants.

Infant mortality, from 24.4 per 1000 in 2005, declined to 18.3 in 2015. Between 2008 and 2016, new public hospitals have been built, the number of civil servants has increased significantly, and salaries have been increased. In 2008, the government introduced universal and compulsory social security coverage. In 2015, corruption remains a problem. Overbilling is recorded in 20% of public establishments and in 80% of private establishments.

In June 2009, CONARTEL (a radio and television regulating body) imposed fines on a television station, Teleamazonas. A third fine could lead to a temporary or permanent ban on this private television channel. In December 2009, the station was taken off the air by the Superintendent of Telecommunications [es], under a provisional suspension of 72 hours for purportedly "spreading false information."

Third presidential term: 2013–2017

General elections were held in Ecuador on 17 February 2013 to elect the President, the National Assembly, Provincial Assemblies and members of the Andean Parliament. Correa was reelected president, winning by a large margin in the first round of the presidential election. According to the quick count released by Participación Ciudadana, the Alianza PAIS movement (AP) reached two-thirds of the new National Assembly. The results gave the movement 100 of the 137 seats contested in the polls. Correa's closest electoral rival, Guillermo Lasso (with 11 of the 137 seats in the new National Assembly), conceded shortly after the election concluded.

The Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Society won the WSIS 2013 prize in category C5: Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs with the project Digital Training through Mobile Classrooms. In 2013, a comprehensive communication law was adopted, called Ley Orgánica de Comunicación.

Correa's government accepted a US$364 million loan from the IMF for earthquake reconstruction.

At the same time, inequalities, as measured by the Gini index, decreased from 0.55 to 0.47. Between 2006 and 2016, poverty decreased from 36.7% to 22.5%. Annual per capita GDP growth was 1.5 percent (as compared to 0.6 percent over the prior two decades).

In November 2013, Correa's government said that the United States Agency for International Development was supporting the opposition and asked it to end its activities in Ecuador.

In April 2014, Correa's government ordered all US Defence Department employees working in the US embassy out of the country. Correa had previously stated that the US had too many military officers in Ecuador and that they had "infiltrated ... all sectors" of the country.

Post-presidency

Self-imposed exile in Belgium

Since leaving office in 2017, Correa has lived in self-imposed exile in Belgium, his wife's native country. In April 2022, Belgium's Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons granted Correa asylum. Correa described himself and his family as "persecuted people." He was legally represented by Christophe Marchand.

Continuing influence in Ecuador

After finishing his term, Correa has remained politically influential in Ecuadorian politics. He frequently comments on social media; as of 2024, he had approximately one million followers on TikTok and four million on X (formerly Twitter). More than a decade after Correa left office, Ecuadorian politics has remained largely polarized between correísmo and anti-correísmo forces. although in a 2023 interview with El País, Correa said, "I have never liked the word Correismo." At the time of the 2023 muerte cruzada (the decision of Lasso to trigger early elections), the largest bloc of legislators in Ecuador's National Assembly were pro-Correa.

Correa's successor as president was Lenín Moreno, his protégé and former vice president, but the two men fell out within weeks of Moreno taking office, and Correa emerged as a critic of Moreno. Moreno moved closer to segments in Ecuador that had feuded with Correa, including business interests, the political right, and indigenous groups that had been marginalized under Correa. Correa was also angered by Moreno's decision, in April 2019, to withdraw the asylum granted by the Ecuadorian government to Julian Assange under Correa; Moreno invited Scotland Yard into the Ecuadorian embassy in London to arrest Assange, leading Correa to call Moreno a "traitor" and "a corrupt man" and the withdrawal of asylum, "one of the greatest betrayals in Latin American history."

During the Correa-Moreno feud caused a deep split within the ruling PAIS Alliance. Correa assailed the Moreno government's performance in the newspaper El Telégrafo. In the February 2018 Ecuadorian referendums, Moreno supported a measure to restate presidential term limits in Ecuador, thus blocking Correa from returning to the presidency. (Correa had suggested he might run in the 2021 election.) Correa led "No" campaign, returning to Ecuador from Belgium to campaign against the measure. The referendum passed by a two-to-one margin, thus reinstating term limits that had been dropped from the Ecuadorian constitution under Correa in 2015. Another referendum passed at the same time barred those convicted of corruption offenses from seeking office, a measure aimed at Correa's ally and former vice-president Jorge Glas, who was recently been found guilty of corruption.

Moreno was succeeded by Guillermo Lasso and Daniel Noboa, both Correa opponents and part of the country's political right. In 2023 election, Noboa led an anti-Correa coalition to defeat Correa ally Luisa González. In the 2025 election, Noboa again defeated González.

Legal cases in Ecuador

In July 2018, a judge in Ecuador ordered the arrest of Correa (who by that point lived in Belgium) after he failed to appear in court during a trial surrounding the kidnapping of his political opponent Fernando Balda. Baldo, a lawmaker, was once a Correa ally who later became a critic of Correa; in 2012, he was briefly kidnapped in Bogotá, Colombia, during the 2010 Ecuadorian crisis, before being released by Colombian police, who blamed the Ecuadorean intelligence agency, Senain, for the incident. Balda had at the time been accused of involvement in a coup attempt against Correa. The court said that sufficient evidence existed to try Correa on the kidnapping charges, but suspended the trial because Ecuadoran law provided that Correa could not be tried in absentia. Pablo Romero, the former director of Ecuadoran intelligence, and two police officers were also accused of involvement. Correa denied any involvement in the alleged kidnapping. In July 2018, Interpol rejected an Ecuadorian government's request for a red notice in connection with the case, and called it "obviously a political matter."

Separately, Correa's trial in absentia on charges of bribery began in February 2020 in the National Court of Justice. The Ecuadorian government accused him of accepting illegal bribes from businesses to finance his campaign in the 2023 election, and granting state contracts in return. The case, called Caso Sobornos 2012-2016, stemmed from an investigation initially called Arroz Verde (Green Rice), after the name of a file in an email sent to an ex-Correa aide. The prosecution of the case was led by Attorney-General Diana Salazar. Correa and his former vice president Jorge Glas were among the 20 political and business leaders charged in the case, which alleged $8 million of bribes accepted between 2012 and 2016. Correa has denied wrongdoing and has framed the charges against him as politically motivated and farcical. In April 2020, the court found Correa and the other defendants guilty. The court sentenced Correa and Glas to eight years in prison, and banned all the defendants from having any political role for 25 years.

Moreno's government made three requests to Interpol for a red notice to ask foreign governments to arrest Correa. Interpol rejected each request on human rights grounds.

US travel ban

On 9 October 2024, U.S. State Department (DoS) Spokesperson Matthew Miller announced that Correa, Glas, and their immediate families were declared as "generally ineligible" from entering the United States due to "significant corruption" allegations during Correa's and Glas' time in office. Correa publicly condemned the announcement, saying that neither he or his family had applied for an American visa, and called the measure arbitrary, barbaric and politically motivated. The Progressive International also rejected the measure and expressed solidarity with Correa, theorising that the measure was linked to Correa's October 2 embrace with Julian Assange after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe approved a resolution recognising Assange as a political prisoner of the US. The PI also speculated that it was meant to influence the outcome of the 2025 elections in Ecuador and that it was not related to the rule of law in Ecuador.

Controversy

Relationship with the media

Correa was highly critical of the Ecuadorian press. Accusing the press of lying and slandering him, he proposed a law that would ban those working in the financial sector from financing media outlets. Paraphrasing Tony Blair, he stated that the Ecuadorian press acted as "a group of wild beasts". He has also regularly criticized it as "...mediocre, incompetent, inaccurate, lying and is a part of the structure of corruption and accomplice of the national disaster." The US State Department noted "There is more than a grain of truth in Correa's observation that the Ecuadorian media play a political role, in this case the role of the opposition", further adding that the news outlets are owned by wealthy elites who see his economic reforms as a threat to their own position. Correa oversaw democratic backsliding in Ecuador.

Correa has criticized several newspapers as El Universo, El Comercio, Diario Hoy, Diario Expreso, La Hora, calling them "news mafias" for criticising the ruling of the Electoral Tribunal depriving 57 opposition legislators of their seats in Congress. Correa argued that the press had remained silent about the holdups that had occurred in state-owned enterprises like Pacifictel and the Ecuadorian Customs Administration (CAE).

On 10 May 2007, Correa filed a lawsuit against Francisco Vivanco Riofrío of the board of directors of the Quito-based La Hora newspaper, over an editorial published in the paper on 9 March. The editorial, titled "Official Vandalism", said that Correa intended to rule Ecuador "with turmoil, rocks and sticks". It described the president's behavior as "shameful." Correa's suit is based on Article 230 of the country's penal code that sets prison penalties of up to two years for contempt, expressed in "threats or libel that would offend the president."

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has declared that it is "a clumsy step on the part of the Ecuadorean president to file a criminal charge against a news outlet, accusing it of contempt, an archaic concept in a modern democracy and outmoded in Latin America and which should be eliminated from penal codes, as the IAPA has been insisting." The Committee to Protect Journalists has also protested against the lawsuit: "Fear of criminal penalties will inhibit the Ecuadoran press in reporting and commenting on issues of public interest. We call on President Correa to drop the libel suit against Vivanco and repeal defamation laws that contradict international standards on freedom of expression".

Attacks on critics

In late November 2010 a citizen, Juan Solano, was arrested in Machala for alleged obscene public gestures against Correa's motorcade. Correa said he did not order the arrest, and apologised to Solano for the way he was treated. That same month, some 20 electric workers on strike were laid off after insulting Correa during a visit to Guayaquil. Correa said there was no connection between his visit and the layoffs.

On 1 May 2015, Correa stopped his motorcade in downtown Quito to berate 17-year-old Luis Carrera, after he spotted Carrera giving the middle finger gesture at Correa. Carrera was later sentenced to 20 hours of community service.

Correa has revealed the real identities of a number of his social media-based critics, leading to those individuals being harassed. In other instances, like in November 2011, August 2012 and January 2013, he responded to Twitter users who attacked him (once with an alleged threat) by publicly ordering the National Intelligence Secretariat to investigate them. The November 2011 incident resulted in the arrest in flagranto of a 44-year-old citizen in Cuenca who was freed the following day and later publicly apologised for what he posted.

Shortly after leaving power, he was criticised for using his Twitter (now X) handle to disclose tax information about critics, such as a journalist who criticised him in June 2017, to whom Correa responded by attaching information on his previous income tax payments and asking him to "tell me where I can refund the small amount of taxes you have paid." This incident led to other online critics, activists and journalists to campaign for the reporting and suspension of his account for his deplatforming, alleging privacy infringement, without success. In April 2019, Facebook blocked access to Correa's "fan" page, which had more than 1.5 million followers, citing the social network's rule against disclosing others' personal data. Correa had been using his account since the previous month to publish details of the "INA Papers" case, involving an alleged offshore bank account linked to Moreno's brother; Lenin Moreno himself was not tied to the account.

In his post-presidential exile, Correa has remained an active social media user, notably on X, formerly Twitter. There, he constantly attacks, insults, and mocks critics, incumbent government officials, journalists, academics, analysts, and anyone he perceives as an enemy or detractor, presuming moral and intellectual superiority, and spending considerable time on social media. One journalist, who has labelled his virtual behaviour as "toxic," has criticised its negative repercussions for Ecuador's national political debate, given his large following (over three million) and social media impact.

Edward Snowden

In June 2013, US Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the foreign relations panel, warned Ecuador that accepting PRISM leaker Edward Snowden "would severely jeopardize" preferential trade access the United States provides to Ecuador. "Our government will not reward countries for bad behavior."

President Correa responded by offering a multimillion-dollar donation for human rights training in the United States. "Ecuador offers the United States economic aid of US$23 million annually, similar to what we received with the trade benefits, with the intention of providing education about human rights", said a government spokesman. "Ecuador does not accept pressure or threats from anyone, nor does it trade with principles or submit them to mercantile interests, however important those may be."

Ecuador, which had originally issued Snowden a temporary travel document through its embassy in London, withdrew it because it did not meet the requirements of being in an Ecuadorian Embassy at that time. Snowden said that having the document gave him "the confidence, the courage to get on that plane to begin the journey" and that "there are few world leaders who would risk standing for the human rights of an individual against the most powerful government on earth, and the bravery of Ecuador and its people is an example to the world". President Correa said that, although he respected the decision of the London consul Fidel Narváez to issue it, the document was invalid.

Odebrecht scandal

The Ecuadorean government continues to investigate the allegations of corruption in the country by Brazil's largest construction company. Ecuadorean officials announced that the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht will not be able to sign any future contracts with public institutions in Ecuador, as authorities continue to investigate alleged corruption in its operations. According to Geovanny Vicente Romero, a political analyst, "Ecuador is in the midst of presidential elections and its lame-duck president Rafael Correa wants to leave the house in order for his successor by taking a position in favor of investigating the Odebrecht case. Correa recently complained that though there were $33.5 million in bribes paid in Ecuador, the individuals involved in the case remain unknown". Some Ecuadorians had grown disenchanted with corruption, as well as Correa's confrontational and polarizing behavior towards media organizations. However, according to Transparency International, corruption decreased under Correa's government.

Response to the drop in oil prices

In 2014, the price for crude oil, which was Ecuador's main export, began moving downward, from $111 per barrel in June 2014, to $50 per barrel in March 2015. To replace the lost revenue, Correa proposed raising taxes, including an increase of up to 75% in capital gain (Ley de Plusvalia), and a tax on inheritances from 2.5% up to 77.5% (the highest for inheritances of over $849,600).

Claims of collaboration with drug traffickers

A former cellmate of dead drug trafficker Leandro Norero claimed in 2024 that he had witnessed Correa speaking on a video call with Norero on two occasions while Correa was still the President of Ecuador. According to the witness, the discussions involved the freeing of Jorge Glas.

Public image and personal life

According to the Cedatos, Correa began his presidency with a 73% approval rating. An opinion poll carried out by Profiles of Opinion in the cities of Quito and Guayaquil, in March 2012 indicates that 80.5% of those interviewed categorize President Correa's administration as positive. According to the Mitofsky of April 2012, as regards the "approval of leaders in America and the world", President Correa possesses an excellent evaluation. His popularity even increased from 75% to 81% from August 2011 to January 2012.

According to the Mitofsky of April 2013, as regards the "approval of leaders in America and the world", President Correa possessed a positive evaluation of 90%. However, his public image in Ecuador was heavily deteriorated after several controversial regulations during his later years as president. Approval ratings for Rafael Correa slipped from 60% in January 2015 to 45% in July 2015. Correa leaves office with a rate of 46%, according to a latest survey by the firm Cedatos.

Correa is Catholic, and while President, kept a photograph of the Pope on his desk.

Political ideology

Correa describes himself as an advocate of "socialism of the 21st century". The Economist described Correa as "a left-wing populist", while The Washington Post has characterized Correa's ideological approach as being "economically populist, socially conservative, [and] quasi-authoritarian". The scholars of political science George Philip and Francisco Panizza claimed that like his allies Morales and Chávez, Correa should be categorized as a populist, because he appealed "directly to the people against their countries' political and economic order, divided the social field into antagonistic camps and promised redistribution and recognition in a newly founded political order."

Correa's actions vis-a-vis indigenous communities, however, were described as not populist. To protect Chinese mining interests, "Shuar lands are now under occupation by 8,000 military personnel — marine, air and land troops — equipped with four war-tanks, surveillance drones, aerostatic balloons, mobile satellites and helicopter gunships."

On 23 May 2013, Correa reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage.

During his time as president, the government led by Correa was associated with the anti-capitalist left, with one observer in 2007 noting “Now anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist governments such as Venezuela (Chavez), Cuba (Castro), Bolivia (Morales) and Ecuador (Correa) have been joined by nationalist centre-left governments such as Brazil (Lula da Silva), Uruguay and Argentina.”

Honours and awards

Recognition

Rafael Correa has been also awarded with:

Conquering Insignia of Tarqui, Grand Cross of the Armed forces of Ecuador – in gratitude for the administration carried out for the benefit of the soldiers of the Homeland.

Order Great Marshal of Ayacucho of Venezuela – for the Bolivarian character of his administration in Ecuador, February 2009.

Medal of Honor in the Grade of Grand Cross –highest honour of the Congress of Peru, 12 June 2010.

Great Necklace of the Ecuadorian Federation of Soccer – in November 2010 in gratitude for the expedition of the Law of the Sport.

Medal of "Distinguished Visitor" – awarded by the UCSG in the inauguration of the III International University Congress, Development and Cooperation.

Highest honour of the Association of retired Generals of the National Police – for having brought about the approval of pensions to almost 20,000 former uniformed officers.

Honorary degrees

Chile: University of Chile Honorary doctorate, 11 March 2008.

Paraguay: Universidad Nacional de Asunción Honorary doctorate, 24 March 2009.

Russia: Moscow State Institute of International Relations Honorary doctorate, 30 October 2009.

Russia: Ural State University Honorary doctorate, 30 October 2009.

Argentina: University of Buenos Aires Honorary doctorate, 3 December 2010.

Dominican Republic: Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo Honorary doctorate in Economic and Social Sciences, 23 April 2010.

Peru: University of Chiclayo Honorary doctorate, 28 February 2012.

Turkey: Bahçeşehir University Honorary doctorate, 16 March 2012.

Russia: People's Friendship University of Russia Honorary doctorate, 30 October 2013.

Spain: Universitat de Barcelona Honorary doctorate, 23 April 2014.

Chile: University of Santiago, Chile Honorary doctorate, 2014.

Argentina: National University of Córdoba Honorary doctorate, 2015.

France: Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 Honorary doctorate, 2 December 2015.

Cuba: University of Havana Honorary doctorate, May 2017.

Work published

Books

Ecuador: From Banana Republic to Non Republic, Random House, Quito, 2009.

"The Vulnerability of the Ecuadorian Economy: Toward better Economic Politics for Employment Generation, Reduction of poverty and Inequality," Program of the United Nations for Development (UNDP), Quito, 2004.

"The Challenge of Development: Are We Prepared for the Future?," Publications of the San Francisco de Quito University, Quito, 1996.

Academic articles

"The Washington Consensus in Latin America: to a Quantitative Evaluation", working paper, San Francisco de Quito University, Quito, April 2002.

"Structural Reform and Growth in Latin America: a sensitivity analysis", CEPAL Magazine, number 76, April 2002, Santiago de Chile.

"One Market, One Currency: the Economic Desirability of Monetary Union for the CAN", working paper, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, May 2001.

"Destabilizing Speculation in the Exchange Market: the Ecuadorian Marries", working paper. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, January 2000.

"Endogenous Institutional Change? To a Critical View of the Political Economy of the Reforms: the Ecuadorian Marries", working paper. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, August 1999.

"The Ecuadorian ISI Revisited", working paper, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, May 1999.