By MONTE HAYES
The Associated Press
Sunday, January 14, 2007; 8:04 PM
QUITO, Ecuador -- Rafael Correa, a leftist economist and friend of Venezuela's anti-U.S. leader, promises swift radical political and economic changes after he is sworn in as president on Monday.
His plans have raised the hopes of Ecuador's poor but stirred worries that he may seek to govern arbitrarily.
Correa, 43, won a November election runoff as a charismatic outsider who pledged to lead a "citizens' revolution" against a political establishment widely seen as corrupt and incompetent.
On Sunday, five Indian priests in the Andean village of Zumbahua wrapped Correa in colorful ribbons, shook sacred herbs over his head and called upon the spirits of earth, moon and sun to provide his four-year term with positive energy.
Thousands of people, most of them Indians, jammed Zumbahua's central square for the ceremony, a mix of Catholic and Indian rituals to mark the beginning of Correa's term. Correa had lived in the village 20 years ago as a Catholic social worker.
"I will never fail you," he told the crowd to thunderous applause.
Correa was joined at the ceremony by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales, two fellow leftists and his closest allies in the region. All three were wrapped in the heavy wool ponchos typical of the Andean highlands.
Correa says his first act as president will be to call a national referendum on a special assembly to rewrite the constitution _ something he says is vital to limiting the power of the traditional parties that he blames for the country's problems.
"Citizens are fed up. We need a profound political reform, including a new generation of leaders," Correa said in an interview with The Associated Press shortly before his victory.
The nationalistic, U.S.-educated Correa has called President Bush "tremendously dimwitted." He has rejected a free trade pact with the U.S., saying it would hurt Ecuador's farmers. And he has said he will not extend the U.S. military's use of the Manta air base on the Pacific coast for drug surveillance flights when a treaty expires in 2009.
Correa joins a string of recently elected leftist presidents _ in Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Nicaragua, many of whom plan to attend his inauguration. Some, like Correa, admire Chavez, Venezuela's firebrand leader; others have distanced themselves from him.
Correa's call for a constitutional assembly follows similar moves by Chavez and Morales, the first Indian to govern his nation.
Some worry that Correa will use the assembly to strengthen presidential power. But he says his reforms aim to make elected officials more accountable, including having congressmen represent districts instead of being elected in a national vote. He supports allowing all elected officials to be recalled.
His view that Ecuador's democratic system benefits parties, not people, attracted voters disgusted with the corruption and greed of the political elite. More than 60 percent of Ecuadoreans live in poverty even though Ecuador is South America's fifth-largest oil producer.
"Our hope is that with this new government there will be jobs, work, health care, education," Maria Condor, 45, an herb vendor in Quito's San Roque market.
But Correa could face a tough challenge in a country that has suffered chronic political instability since its return to democracy in 1979. Congress dismissed the last three elected presidents _ violating impeachment proceedings _ after huge street protests demanding their ousters.
While Correa has shown a strong will that could help him stand up to the political establishment, some worry he also shows signs of an authoritarian governing style and an arrogance that could hinder efforts to compromise.
Last week he had a reporter expelled from a news conference, saying he did not show proper respect. He also warned recently that if Congress chooses an attorney general he does not like, he will not recognize his authority.
"He divides people into good and bad," said Patricio Pena, president of the Quito Stock Exchange. "The good are the ones who think as he does, and the bad are those who do not share his views."
Correa, a critic of free-market policies, plans to increase state control over the economy and renegotiate contracts with foreign oil companies to force them to share more of the oil they produce with the state.
He also intends to cut ties to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and has threatened a moratorium on foreign debt payments to free up money for social programs.
___
Associated Press Writer Jeanneth Valdivieso contributed to this report from Zumbahua, Ecuador.