Luis José Monge (August 21, 1918 – June 2, 1967) was a convicted murderer who was executed in the gas chamber at Colorado State Penitentiary in 1967. Monge was the last inmate to be executed before an unofficial moratorium on executions began in the United States in 1972.

Murders

Monge, a Denver salesman, was a native of Puerto Rico who grew up in New York. He was convicted of and sentenced to death for murdering his pregnant wife and three of the couple's ten children after his wife had discovered he'd had an incestuous relationship with one of their daughters. Monge's murder victims were: his pregnant wife, Leonarda; Alan, age six; Vincent, age four; and Teresa, age eleven months. Immediately after the four murders, Monge called police and admitted his guilt. Monge had no prior felony convictions; in 1961, however, he abandoned his family for two months and served a short jail sentence in Louisiana for vagrancy. The alleged motive for the murders was "to prevent exposure of sex crimes committed by defendant with his own children". Monge beat his wife to death with a steel bar as she slept, stabbed Teresa, choked Vincent, and bludgeoned Alan with the steel bar.

Execution

After pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, psychiatrists evaluated Monge and found him to be sane. He then insisted on pleading guilty to first-degree murder. A jury that was convened for the penalty phase of the trial recommended a death sentence, and Monge's conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal. In January 1966, Governor John Arthur Love suspended all executions in Colorado, pending a referendum on capital punishment by voters. On November 8, 1966, the voters decided to retain the death penalty by a three-to-one margin. In March 1967, Monge attracted national attention when he asked a Denver court to allow him to be hanged at high noon on the front steps of the Denver City and County Building. This request was denied.

The following month, Monge fired his attorneys and directed that no attempts should be made to save his life. He gave up all of his appeals and asked to be executed. Nonetheless, his surviving children appealed for clemency. Doctors again evaluated Monge's mental status and found him mentally competent for execution. A week before his death, Monge shared a final meal with his surviving seven children. On the eve of the execution, some seventy members of the Colorado Council to Abolish Capital Punishment gathered on the steps of the state capitol building in Denver in a rally to protest the execution. On June 2, 1967, Monge was executed at the age of 48 in the state's gas chamber.

Upon his death, and according to his wishes, one of Monge's corneas was transplanted to a teenaged reformatory inmate. Monge was buried in Greenwood Pioneer Cemetery in Cañon City, Colorado, in a special pauper's section set aside for deceased inmates of Colorado State Penitentiary. His grave lies a few feet from that of John Bizup, Jr., a convicted murderer executed in 1964. The metal marker indicating Monge's grave has been marred with bullet holes. The Colorado gas chamber, retired after Monge's execution, is now an exhibit at the Museum of Colorado Prisons in Cañon City.

Quotation

It is reported that, while awaiting his execution by gassing, Monge inquired: "Will that gas bother my asthma?".

Moratorium

Opponents of capital punishment, in an attempt to abolish the death penalty, waged a national litigation campaign that ultimately found its way to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court agreed to review a series of cases challenging that the death penalty was unconstitutional. While the Supreme Court reviewed these cases, lower courts in all states stayed all pending executions, thereby creating a ''de facto'' moratorium on death sentences throughout the nation. The period of this "unofficial" moratorium on capital punishment began on June 2, 1967, with the execution of Luis Monge in Colorado. It would end nearly ten years later on January 17, 1977, with the execution of Gary Gilmore in Utah.

Summary

''Inmate:''

Name: Luis José Monge

Race: Hispanic

Sex: Male

Date of Birth:

Place of Birth: Puerto Rico

Occupation: salesman

Offense: murder (four victims)

Location of Offense: Denver, Colorado

Date of Offense:

Age at Offense:

Date of Execution: June 2, 1967

Age at Execution: 48

Years on Death Row:

''Execution:''

Date: Friday, June 2, 1967

State: Colorado

Governor: John Arthur Love

Warden: Wayne K. Patterson

Prison: Colorado State Penitentiary

Location: Cañon City, Colorado

Method: gas chamber

Last Meal:

Last Words:

The 101st execution in Colorado since 1859

The 14,489th execution in the United States since 1607

Execution in context

Luis Jose Monge's was the last execution both in Colorado and in the United States prior to the 1972 Supreme Court decision in ''Furman v. Georgia''. It would be ten full years before any state would carry out another execution and 30 years before Colorado itself would do so. Monge's was one of only two executions to occur in the United States in 1967. His was also the last execution by gas chamber in Colorado.

See also

Capital punishment in Colorado

Capital punishment in the United States

''Furman v. Georgia''

Gas chamber

''Gregg v. Georgia''

References

External links

Colorado Executions: 1859-1967

Colorado State Archives: State Penitentiary Records - A Short History of the Colorado State Penitentiary

The Death Penalty: Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney - Capital Punishment Timeline

The Executioner's Song: Job's not all it's cracked up to be

Executions: Regional Studies of Central States

Eye for an Eye: The grisly legacy of Colorado's death penalty past

Category:1967 deaths Category:20th-century executions by the United States Category:American people convicted of murder Category:Executed American people Category:People convicted of murder by Colorado Category:People executed by Colorado Category:People executed by gas chamber Category:People executed for murder Category:Puerto Rican people convicted of murder Category:1918 births

name	Juan Luis Guerra
background	solo_singer
birth name	Juan Luis Guerra Seijas
birth date	June 07, 1957
origin	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
genre	Merengue, bachata, salsa, Latin pop
instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano
occupation	Record producer, songwriter, musician, composer, arranger, guitarist
years active	1984–present
label	EMI Records
associated acts	Enrique Iglesias, Juanes, 440
website	}}

Juan Luis Guerra (born June 7, 1957) is a singer, songwriter and producer from the Dominican Republic who has sold over 30 million records, and won numerous awards including 12 Latin Grammy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Latin Billboard Music Awards. He recently won 3 Latin Grammy Awards in 2010, including Album of the Year.

He is one of the most internationally recognized Latin artists of recent decades. His pop style of merengue and bolero and Afro-pop/Latin fusion has garnered him considerable success throughout Latin America. Guerra is sometimes associated with the popular Dominican music called bachata, and while this association is partly true, he actually uses the basics of Bachata rhythm with a more bolero feel to the melodies in some of his songs. He does not limit himself to one style of music, instead, he incorporates diverse rhythms like merengue, bolero-bachata, balada, salsa, rock and roll, and even gospel as in the song "La Gallera". "Ojalá Que Llueva Café" ("I Wish That It Rains Coffee") is one of his most critically acclaimed self-written and composed pieces. A remix of "La llave de mi corazón" ("The key to my heart") with Taboo from The Black Eyed Peas is also an example of his fusion of genres.

Career

Early life

Born Juan Luis Guerra Seijas in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, he is the son of Olga Seijas and Gilberto Guerra, a basketball player. Before he committed to music, Guerra studied philosophy and literature at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. He then studied guitar and music theory at El Conservatorio Nacional de Música de Santo Domingo, then decided to go to the United States to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. He graduated from Berklee in 1982 with a diploma in jazz composition. After his return to the Dominican Republic, he released his first album, ''Soplando'' (1984) with a group of local musicians that subsequently became known as ''Juan Luis Guerra y 440''. The group members were Maridalia Hernández, Roger Zayas-Bazán, and Mariela Mercado. The band's name in Spanish is officially publicized as ''Cuatro Cuarenta'' (''Four Forty''), a shortening of the normally strict reading of number "four hundred forty". The 440 part of the band's name refers to the standard tuning of A440. Reportedly the name for the band came from a practice session where Juan Luis's brother suggested the name because the name would reflect how "in-tune and precise they were". According to Guerra, this first album was based on jazz tunes and concepts he had learned at Berklee, and it "wasn't intended to be a commercial hit." Subsequently, however, he began to write more merengues.

Two albums followed, ''Mudanza y Acarreo'' and ''Mientras Más Lo Pienso...Tú''. The band was nominated to attend the Festival of OTI (Organization of Iberoamerican Television) to represent the Dominican Republic.

Their next album, in 1989, brought them international acclaim. ''Ojalá Que Llueva Café'', a slow melodic number with superfast background tracks, became a number one hit in many Latin American countries, with the hit song of the same name. Subsequently, a video of the song was filmed and Juan Luis Guerra and his 440 band began touring. (The song's fame was revived in 1996 and 2008 with covers by Mexican artists Café Tacuba and Rosario Flores.)

1990s

In 1990, they released their next album, ''Bachata Rosa'', which became a major hit and earned Guerra his first Grammy award. The album, having sold more than five million copies at that time, allowed Guerra to keep touring Latin America, USA and Europe. This album contains memorable love songs such as "Burbujas de Amor" (Bubbles of Love), "Bachata Rosa", "Rosalia", "Como Abeja al Panal" (Like a Bee to Honey), "A Pedir Su Mano" (Asking For Her Hand), "Carta de Amor" (Love Letter), and "Estrellitas y Duendes" (Little stars and elves).

Guerra became a controversial figure in 1992 after he released his next album, ''Areíto'' (which is a Taíno word for ''song and dance''). It featured the hit single "El costo de la vida", (The Cost of Living), whose video clearly has an anti-capitalist message. Other songs included in this album protest against the poor conditions in many Latin American countries, the celebration of the 'discovery' of the Americas ("1492"), and the double standards of first-world nations. "El costo de la vida" was his first number-one hit in the Hot Latin Tracks. Guerra became the first performer of tropical music to achieve this feat.

In his next album, ''Fogaraté'' (1995), he stayed away from recording any protest songs. This album is particularly centered in the more rural and lesser known types of Dominican music, like the ''Perico Ripiao''.

Guerra's 1998 release ''Ni Es Lo Mismo Ni Es Igual'' (Neither The Same Nor Equal) garnered much critical acclaim, winning three Latin Grammys in 2000 for Best Merengue Performance, Best Tropical Song, and Best Engineered Album. Its hits include "Mi PC" (My PC), "Palomita Blanca" (Little White Dove), and "El Niágara en Bicicleta" (The Niagara on Bicycle - literal; to ride a bicycle across Niagara Falls, ie a difficult task - coloquial "al pasar el Niagara en bicicleta", Cuban).

2000s

In 2003, Guerra released his first new album in six years. Entitled "Para Ti" (For you), the album's songs are mostly religious in nature, reflecting Guerra's fervent Christianity. With this album the singer won two awards at the 2005 Billboards, in the categories of Gospel-Pop and Tropical-Merengue, for the hit single ''Las Avispas'' (The wasps), the first time ever that one song has won these two categories at the same time. Other hits included "Para Ti" and "Soldado" (''Soldier''). At the same time, Guerra was honored with the Latino Special Award for the Music Academy of Spain for his contributions to the music of his country and the Caribbean in the last 20 years.

In January 2006, Juan Luis performed at Berklee's 60th anniversary along with other artists such as Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Michael Camilo and Chiara Civello. That same year, he recorded with Diego Torres in "Abriendo Caminos" (Opening roads) and with Maná in "Bendita Tu Luz" (Blessed your light).

Notably, Juan Luis Guerra was part of the former highest grossing music tour of all time,(U2's 360 tour is currently the highest grossing music tour of all time) as he was the opening act for The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour at their San Juan, Puerto Rico show in February, 2006.

He was also invited by Sting to sing with him at a concert at ''Altos de Chavón'', La Romana in the Dominican Republic in 2006. At the ''Premio Lo Nuestro'' awards in 2007, he was given the honorary lifetime achievement award. He also performed the lead single of his new album, "La Llave De Mi Corazón", released in March 2007.

"La llave de mi corazón" reached number one on the Billboard charts for four consecutive weeks, and was the #1 selling album in Colombia while climbing the charts in other countries . Guerra won more than 20 awards with this CD, including 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 6 Premios Casandra awards, 4 billboard Awards, 2 lo nuestro, and one Grammy Award.

On April 6, 2006, Juan Luis Guerra was honored as a BMI Icon at the 13th annual BMI Latin Awards. Named BMI's 1995 Latin Songwriter of the Year, Guerra's songwriting has garnered 14 BMI Latin Awards.

Juan Luis Guerra was honored at the Latin Grammy Awards in 2007 with 5 awards, sweeping each category he was nominated in: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Tropical Song & Best Merengue Album. The engineers of the album, Allan Leschhorn, Luis Mansilla, Ronnie Torres, and Adam Ayan were awarded Best Engineered album. One night prior to the Latin Grammy Awards he received the Academy's Person of the Year Award for his contribution to Latin music and for his philanthropy.

On March 10, 2008, Juan Luis was honored with 6 awards in los Premios Casandra, the most important award event in the Dominican Republic. He won for Orchestrator of the year, Outstanding artist abroad, Music album of the year for "La Llave de mi Corazón" and "El Soberano" (The Sovereign), the most important award of the night.

On March 16, 2008 He and other artists participated in the ''Paz Sin Fronteras'' concert raised by Juanes, because of the conflict in recent days between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador.

On April 11, 2008 Juan Luis Guerra was the Billboard Latin awards big winner, with 7 nominations and 3 awards.

On September 15, 2008 Guerra was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace "in recognition of his efforts for the benefit of children with disabilities and children in need."

On May 9, 2009, Guerra was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Berklee College of Music at its commencement ceremony.

2010 Juan Luis Guerra was featured in Enrique Iglesias' Spanish single, Cuando Me Enamoro, and appeared with Iglesias in the music video. The single has currently spent 17 non-consecutive weeks at #1, the longest tenure at the peak position for both artists. In addition, the single was a self-replacement at #1 for Guerra as it replaced his own single Bachata En Fukuoka from his album A Son de Guerra.

Singing in other languages

Guerra has recorded several songs in English, like "July 19th" on his ''Fogaraté'' release (1995), and more recently "Medicine for My Soul" and "Something Good" with Italian singer Chiara Chivello. Some of his songs have verses in both English and Spanish such as "Woman del Callao", "Guavaberry", "Señorita" and more recently "La Llave de Mi Corazón". Album ''Areíto'' featured two songs, cover-title song "Areíto" and "Naboria daca, mayanimacaná" which are sung in the Arawak language of the extinct Taino natives of Hispaniola. Juan Luis Guerra also recorded the album "Bachata Rosa" in Portuguese. He uses Japanese words in ''Bachata en Fukuoka'' (Bachata in Fukuoka), 2010 Latin Grammy winner for Best Tropical Song.

Lyrical style

Being a native Dominican, his music is heavily influenced by native Caribbean rhythms, such as merengue and bachata.

His lyrics are often charged with intentionally simple, heavily metaphorical, erotic, or popular expressions, such as "Burbujas de Amor" (Bubbles Of Love) or "El Niágara en Bicicleta" (Niagara on Bicycle), an idiom for something difficult to do.

Discography

— 1985 1987 1990 1990 1992 1994 1995 1998 2000 2004 rowspan="2" 29 2010

rowspan="2"	Title	Year	Charts
! style="font-size:8pt"	Tropical Songs		Other Charts
align="left"	Soplando	1984	|	—
align="left"	Mudanza y Acarreo	|	—	—
align="left"	Mientras Más Lo Pienso...Tú	|	—	—
align="left"	Ojalá Que Llueva Café	|	40	2
align="left"	Bachata Rosa	|	19	1
align="left"	Areíto	|	9	2
align="left"	Fogaraté	|	3	2
align="left"	Grandes Éxitos Juan Luis Guerra y 440	|	10	2
align="left"	Ni Es Lo Mismo Ni Es Igual	|	4	2
align="left"	Colección Romantica	|	6	1
align="left"	Para Ti	|	2	—	Tropical Albums: 1Billboard 200: 108Top Heatseekers: 3
align="left"	La Llave de Mi Corazón	2007||	1	—	Tropical Albums: 1Billboard 200: 77
align="left"	Archivo Digital 4.4	|	—	Tropical Albums: 6
align="left"	A Son de Guerra	|2|

Singles

Date	Song	Charts			Album
		! style="font-size:8pt"	! style="font-size:8pt"	Other Charts
1989		21	—		Ojala Que Llueva Café
		2	—
	31	—
		3	—
	15	25
	35	—
	4	—
1992		6	—
		4	—
	4	—
	27	—
		28	—
	5	1
	6	—
1995		17	5
1998		1	2
		1	3
	2	4
	—	33
		28	21		Mientras Más Lo Pienso... Tú
	33	19		Colección Romantica
2004		4	11
2005		17	16
	align="left"	1	2
	2	5
	3	3
		18	13
	28	9
		1	1
	1	1		rowspan="1"
	—	—
	23	10
align="left"	26	9

440 band members

Roger Zayas

Maridalia Hernández

Mariela Mercado

Marco Hernández (replaced Maridalia Hernández)

Adalgisa Pantaleón (replaced Mariela Mercado)

Quico Rizek (replaced Marco Hernández)

Quotation

References

Bibliography

External links

in English and Spanish.

Biography of Juan Luis Guerra With particular focus on his relationship to bachata.

Juan Luis Guerra at National Geographic World Music

Juan Luis Guerra Online Scholarship from Berklee College of Music

Juan Luis Guerra at the Internet Movie Database

Encarta bio (Archived 2009-10-31)

Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:Bachata musicians Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:Caribbean music Category:Dominican Republic composers Category:Dominican Republic people Category:Dominican Republic singers Category:Dominican Republic songwriters Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Honorees Category:Merengue musicians Category:Performers of Christian music

ca:Juan Luis Guerra de:Juan Luis Guerra es:Juan Luis Guerra fr:Juan Luis Guerra gl:Juan Luis Guerra it:Juan Luis Guerra nl:Juan Luis Guerra ja:フアン・ルイス・ゲラ pt:Juan Luis Guerra ru:Герра, Хуан Луис sv:Juan Luis Guerra tr:Juan Luis Guerra

name	Rafael Correa
vicepresident	Lenín Moreno
order	President of Ecuador
term start	January 15, 2007
predecessor	Alfredo Palacio
Office3	President Pro Tempore of UNASUR
Term start3	August 10, 2009
Term end3	November 26, 2010
Predecessor3	Michelle Bachelet
Successor3	Bharrat Jagdeo
Office4	Minister of Finance of Ecuador
Term start4	April 20, 2005
Term end4	August 8, 2005
Predecessor4	Mauricio Yepez
Successor4	Magdalena Barreiro
Office5	President of PAIS Alliance
Term start5	February 19, 2006
secretary	Galo Mora Witt
birth date	April 06, 1963
birth place	Guayaquil, Ecuador
alma mater	University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUniversité catholique de LouvainUniversidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil
parents	Rafael Correa Icaza, Norma Delgado Rendón
brothers	Fabricio Correa, Pierina Correa; Bernardita Correa
spouse	Anne Malherbe
children	Sofía, Anne Dominique and Rafael Miguel
Residence	Carondelet Palace (official)Quito, Guayaquil (private)
profession	Economist
religion	Roman Catholicism
party	PAIS Alliance
Website	http://www.rafaelcorrea.com }}

Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado born (April 6, 1963) is the President of the Republic of Ecuador and was the president pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations. An economist educated in Ecuador, Belgium and the United States, he was elected President in late 2006 and took office in January 2007. In December 2008, he declared Ecuador's national debt illegitimate, based on the argument that it had been contracted by corrupt/despotic prior regimes. He then pledged to fight creditors in international courts, and succeeded in reducing the price of the debt letters and continued paying all the debt. He brought Ecuador into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas in June 2009.

Correa's first term in office had been due to end on January 15, 2011, but the new approved constitution written by the new National Assembly mandated general elections for April 26, 2009. In that election, Rafael Correa won in the first round with 51.9% of votes counted. It was the first time since 1979 in which a representative was elected without having to face a second round. Consequently, Correa began a new term in office due to end on August 10, 2013, which could be extended by reelection until 2017. To date, Correa’s administration has succeeded in reducing high levels of poverty, indigence, and unemployment.

Correa's policies towards the media have become increasingly controversial. The combination of lawsuits against a number of journalists and government takeovers of media outlets has led critics to charge Correa with a campaign against the independence of the media.

Background

Early life

A. descendant of the Chilean politician Rafael Correa of Saa and Lazón, Rafael Correa comes from a working class family. They used to live in Guayaquil. His father was Rafael Correa Icaza, born in the Province of Los Ríos, Ecuador, March 23, 1934 and deceased June 10, 1995; and his mother is Norma Delgado Rendón, born September 1, 1939.

Rafael Correa Icaza was arrested on September 21 1987 when trying to enter the airport JFKennedy with 2 kilos of cocaine hydrochloride. He was sentenced by the Central District of Florida by Judge Fawcett to prison in a Louisiana medium security prison were he spent 5 years and 6 months.

His parents had three more children: Fabricio Correa, Pierina Correa; Bernardita Correa(+). He is married to Anne Malherbe, a teacher of Belgian nationality born in 1969, who he met in 1990 at the Catholic University of Louvain. The couple have three children: Sofía, Anne Dominique and Miguel. Correa is a devout Roman Catholic. Apart from his native tongue of Spanish, he speaks English, French, and Quechua.

He carried out their primary and secondary studies in the Catholic school San José-La Salle, of Guayaquil. During their youth it was part and it directed groups of Scouts of the Association of Scouts of the Ecuador, as the troop of the Group 14 San José-La Salle, then, the Group 17 Christopher Columbus that also helped to be founded.

During their secondary studies President of the Student Cultural Association was designated Lasalliana (ACEL). Then, in the UCSG, it was elect President of the Association of Students of Economy, Audit and Administration (AEAA) and, later on, President of the Federation of Students of this center university student (FEUC), function that led him to preside over during one year in 1986 the Federation of University Students Peculiar of the Ecuador (FEUPE). Thanks to their good academic qualifications, he obtained a scholarship to study in the Catholic University of Santiago from Guayaquil, a private institution of the Ecuador, in the one that finally graduated in economy in 1987. In 1993 it was directive in the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) of the Ecuador, with administrative competitions in programs of improvement of the national educational system financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Career 1987-2001

Following graduation, he worked for one year in a mission at a kindergarten run by the Salesian order in Zumbahua, Cotopaxi Province, a rural town of extreme poverty where Correa lent literacy works to indigenous and microempresas development, also where he acquired some knowledge of Quechua, the language of the majority of the indigenous population concentrated in the Andes region of Ecuador. In addition to Spanish and Quechua, he speaks French and English.-

In June 1991, he received a Master of Arts in Economics from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium. He later studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned a Master of Science in Economics in May 1999, and later a PhD in Economics in October 2001. According to ''The Washington Post'', Correa's adviser at the University of Illinois, Werner Baer, supports his former student. "He appreciates the market to a certain point, but he knows that the market left alone concentrates wealth", he said. "He is not going to do anything foolish... because he is a fairly open-minded person."

In their dissertation doctoral, titled "Three rehearsals about the Latin American contemporary development", Correa affirms essentially that the structural reformations applied in Latin America beginning in the 1980s failed as for the development of the growth. By means of econometric analysis, Correa argued that the reformations were not cause of the growth, and that the liberalization of the labor markets harmed to the productivity of the Latin American countries.

Minister of Finance 2005

In 2005, Correa served as economy and finance minister under Alfredo Palacio. During his four months in office, he advocated poverty reduction and economic sovereignty. Correa was skeptical of a free-trade deal with the United States, did not take the advice of the International Monetary Fund, and worked to increase Ecuador's cooperation with other Latin American countries. After the World Bank withheld a loan (citing the changes to the oil income stabilization fund), Correa resigned from Palacio's government. Correa had also proposed the issue of government bonds at a lower interest rate than the contemporary one (8.5%); Venezuela was to purchase 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.

2006 Presidential campaign

Preparations

At the start of 2006 Presidential campaign, Rafael Correa founded the Alianza PAIS—''Patria Altiva y Soberana'' ("Proud and Sovereign Fatherland Alliance"). The movement espouses political sovereignty, regional integration, and economic relief for Ecuador's poor. Correa, a very observant Roman Catholic, describes himself as a humanist, a Christian leftist, and a proponent of 21st century socialism.

During the campaign, Correa proposed a constituent assembly to rewrite Ecuador's constitution. Alianza PAIS did not run any congressional candidates, as Correa had stated that he would call for a referendum to begin drafting a new constitution. However, the Alianza PAIS movement signed a political alliance with the Ecuadorian Socialist Party, which did present candidates for Congress. Alliance PAIS also signature July 31 the 2006 a Programmatic Political Agreement with the Communist Party of Ecuador when Correa was postulated for candidate for president.

Other parties that united to Alliance PAIS in the second electoral turn other parties as: Democratic People's Movement, Democratic Left, Pachakutik, and the Partido Roldista Ecuatoriano..

Petroleum policy

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. In an interview, Correa stated:

Many of the oil contracts are a true entrapment for the country. Of every five barrels of oil that the multinationals produce, they leave only one for the state and take four... That is absolutely unacceptable. We're going to revise and renegotiate the contracts."

Finances and debts

He advocated reform of the financial sector, including limiting offshore deposits by local banks to no more than 10% of their holdings.

Correa also proposed strategies for reducing the burden of Ecuador's foreign debt service through compulsory debt restructuring. He indicated that his top priority would be spending on social programs rather than servicing Ecuador's debt.

Correa criticized the neoliberal policies of Jamil Mahuad to adopt the US dollar as the country's official currency while later acknowledging that it would not now be feasible to abandon that policy.

Commerce and foreign policies

Correa also criticized Ecuador's draft free trade agreement as currently negotiated with the US, although he does advocate expanding trade and opening markets with other countries, urging in particular the integration of South American economies.

On foreign policy, Correa commented on Ecuador's relations with its neighbor Colombia. Correa stressed Ecuador's interest in staying uninvolved in internal conflict in Colombia. In October 2006, Correa added that he would "pursue and capture" FARC members if they enter Ecuador. He also declared that he condemns their kidnappings, violations of human rights and bombings. Later, during his presidency National Police of Colombia accused Correa of having ties to the FARC. Correa denied the accusations. See section Presidency.

In August 2006, Correa told the Ecuadorian press that he is not part of the Venezuelan Bolivarian movement, although he considers Hugo Chávez a personal friend.

In response to Chávez's comparison of George W. Bush with Satan, Correa said it was unfair to the devil.

Indigenous votes

In addition to his platform on economic and social policy, Correa's ability to communicate with a large majority of Ecuador's indigenous population in their own language also differentiated him from other candidates. He learned Quichua in his youth during a year he spent volunteering in a remote highland town. However, in the 15 October election, a large percentage of the votes in areas with high concentration of indigenous people went to candidate Gilmar Gutiérrez, brother of Lucio Gutiérrez, although Correa generally ran second in these areas.

Result

In the 15 October 2006 general election Correa obtained second place (22.84%) behind banana tycoon Álvaro Noboa (26.83%). Correa won the subsequent 26 November 2006 runoff election with 56.67% of the vote. He took office on 15 January 2007.

Presidency 2007-2009

Rafael Correa was officially declared President of Ecuador on 4 December 2006 by the country's electoral court. He was sworn in on 15 January 2007 as the 56th 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 devastated the country. His inauguration was attended by most regional leaders, as well as the Iranian president and Spanish Crown Prince.

Correa promised to get rid of the traditionally corrupt political class.

Economic policy

Correa's administration has suggested that the new government will not sign an agreement allowing 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," Patiño added. However, as a member of the IMF, the annual report known as the "Article IV" report will be undertaken.

Market manipulation

In May 2007, evidence surfaced that some of the Ecuadorian government rhetoric might have been part of an alleged market manipulation to benefit Ecuador from movements in the price of financial instruments linked to Ecuadorian Bonds. A fall in Ecuador bond prices, ignited by aggressive default rhetoric, would trigger a buyback by Ecuador, financed by Venezuelan banks. This strategy collapsed due to operations engaged by Venezuelan financial institutions who profited from the market swings. Correa referred to the allegations as a conspiracy from a powerful banker. On July 26, 2007, Rafael Correa replaced finance minister Patiño, due to Patiño's appearance in a video recording, apparently discussing the market manipulation. Patiño then assumed a newly created position responsible for the Pacific coast region and later assumed the Politics Affairs Ministry. In a radio address on December 13, Correa said that he wanted to force a “big discount” on creditors, whom a day earlier he called “true monsters who won’t hesitate to crush the country”. "I have lost sleep over this ... this will cost us tears and sweat but I think we are doing the right thing." Correa, who endorses anti-debt NGO Jubilee 2000's slogan "life before debt", is popular among Ecuadorians for his stance against foreign investors.

Dollarisation

Correa has criticised the neoliberal policies of previous presidents, particularly former president Mahuad's adoption of the U.S. dollar as Ecuador's domestic currency in 2000. Correa has characterized dollarization as a "technical error" which has effectively eliminated Ecuador's ability to set its own monetary and exchange policy. However, Correa has also acknowledged that it would be politically impossible to abandon that policy now. After his election victory of April 15, 2007, he pledged to maintain dollarization during the four years of his administration, though he also indicated his support for the idea of replacing the dollar with a regional South American currency at some point in the future.

Bond repurchase

On April 16, 2009, Finance Minister Maria Elsa Viteri embarked on a trip to Europe in a mission to present Ecuador's offer to buy back global bonds 2012 and 2030 at 30% of their current value. In May 2009, Ecuador announced that it had successfully bought 91% of the bonds at a cost of 35 cents on the dollar.

Concessions of mobile telephony

In May of the 2008, under direct administration of Rafael Correa, was possible to negotiate the concession of bands for telecommunications of cellular Porta and Movistar for a total amount of 700 million dollars, calculates very superior to the established one for studies carried out in previous governments in those that it was recommended to give the same concession for 70 million dollars.

Foreign policy

During Rafael Correa's tenure as presidency he took some radical alternative steps to change the course of Ecuador's relations with the rest of the world. Amongst these were economic moves to correct Ecuador's debt imbalance, a distancing from the United States, a rift with its northern neighbour Colombia, and a strengthening of ties with ALBA (including Venezuela and Bolivia), as well as Iran.

Tension with Colombia

On March 1, 2008 at 00:25 local time (05:25 UTC), Colombia launched this military operation, 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) into Ecuador. According to Colombian authorities, the guerrillas responded militarily to this initial bombardment from a position in the vicinity of Santa Rosa de Yanamaru, on the Ecuadorian side of the border, killing a Colombian soldier, Carlos Hernández. A second bombardment was then carried out, resulting in the deaths of Raúl Reyes and at least 20 more FARC members. Two bodies, several documents and three laptops found in the guerrilla camp were returned to Colombia. This was the first time the Colombian military had killed a member of FARC's leadership council in combat. After this operation, the Colombian authorities increased its security measures nationwide, fearing FARC retaliation.

According to the Ecuadorian government, the attack happened inside its own territory, lacked its permission and was a planned strike, intended to be followed by the incursion of Colombian troops by helicopter. It pointed out that the attack had left a total of more than 20 people dead in Ecuadorian territory, many of whom were found to be wearing underwear or sleeping clothes. The government of Ecuador concluded that the attack was a "massacre" and not the result of combat or "hot pursuit". Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa had reason to believe that the Colombian warplanes had penetrated 10 km into Ecuador's territory and struck the guerrilla camp while flying north, followed by troops in helicopters who had completed the killings. He claimed that some of the bodies had been found to be shot from behind.

The Ecuadorian authorities found three wounded women in the camp, including a Mexican student who was identified as Lucía Andrea Morett Álvarez. Lucía Morett claimed that she was visiting the guerrilla group as part of an academic investigation, refusing to answer other questions about the circumstances surrounding her presence there. Regarding the attack on the camp, she has stated: "I was asleep when we received a first aerial attack. Two or three hours later we were attacked again". Ecuador said that it was cooperating with Mexico to investigate whether any Mexicans had been killed during the raid. According to the director of the Ecuadorian military hospital which treated the three women, they had received some sort of medical attention from both the attacking Colombian forces and the Ecuadorian soldiers who later found them.

President Uribe of Colombia spoke by telephone with his Ecuadorian counterpart, Rafael Correa, early on the morning of the raid, to inform him of the incident. In a press conference that evening, Correa denounced the attack as "aggression" against Ecuador, calling it a "massacre," and claiming that the rebels had been killed in their sleep using "advanced technology". He announced that he was summoning his ambassador in Colombia for consultations. On Sunday, March 2, Correa said that a diplomatic note would be sent in protest at the incursion, claiming that the action had been a violation of Ecuador's airspace. Ecuador formally recalled its ambassador from Colombia and expelled the Colombian ambassador from Quito.

Correa withdrew his government's ambassador in Bogotá, Colombia, and ordered troops to the country's border following the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis in early March 2008. On 3 March 2008, Colombia's police said that documents found in a camp in Ecuador where Colombian troops killed Raul Reyes, a top guerrilla boss, showed ties between the FARC rebels and Correa, including contacts about political proposals and local military commanders. Correa denied the accusations, calling them lies. Correa also said that a deal to release political prisoners – including former Colombian Sen. Ingrid Betancourt – was nearly complete before the 1 March 2008 Colombian raid into his country. On 5 March 2008, Correa and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez met to discuss Colombia's attack and made a series of accusations against Colombia's government. During the meeting, Correa dismissed Colombia's president Álvaro Uribe as just a "puppet" while others are the "puppet masters". On 18 May 2011, Colombia's Supreme Court ruled documents found on computers of slain FARC commander "Raul Reyes" are inadmissible as evidence in court as the material is illegally obtained and provides no evidence.

At a Rio Group summit held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on 7 March 2008, after a heated exchange of accusations between Correa and Uribe, the diplomatic crisis was temporarily resolved with Colombia's apologies for the attack and reassurances that it won't be repeated. Correa said that with this resolution Latin America was starting a new era where international principles of justice will have preeminence over power.

Relations with United States

On repeated occasions, Correa has announced Ecuador's unwillingness to renew a lease on the Eloy Alfaro Air Base to United States Southern Command. SOUTHCOM has the contractual right to leave a year after that date, but has announced it plans to vacate by September 2009.

Relations with Venezuela

In June 2009, Correa joined the Chavez-backed Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), together with Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia and other countries.

2008 Constitution

Conflicts with Congress

In February 2007, Correa's plan to have a referendum on the convening of a constituent assembly was approved by Congress. The referendum took place on 15 April 2007. However, after this date was set, the "statutes" for the referendum were modified by Correa to allow more powers to the constituent assembly., One of these powers was the ability to dismiss Congress, a power which Congress never approved. The newer version of the referendum was approved by the majority of the seven-seat Electoral Tribunal. In early March, Congress, which was controlled by Correa's opposition, reacted by trying to impeach the President of the electoral tribunal. The electoral tribunal then removed from office the 57 members of Congress who tried to impeach the President of the Electoral Tribunal, on the grounds of attempting to intervene an electoral process. Correa backed the electoral tribunal (which approved his version of the referendum) while stating that the removal of the 57 congressmen was constitutional. The situation escalated to a feud between the opposition in Congress and the Executive and marches in the street against Congress and police intervention to prevent the Congressmen from entering the legislative building.

On 22 March, 21 alternate deputies were sworn in, allowing the Congress to regain quorum, and on 23 March and 24 March a further 20 deputies were sworn in. The new majority (formed by 28 alternate deputies and 31 deputies from parties that support the referendum and Assembly) pledged to support the referendum on the Constitutional Assembly. On 23 April, the Constitutional Tribunal decided to try to reinstate 51 of the 57 Congressmen who had been fired by the Electoral Tribunal. The Constitutional Tribunal claimed that it was illegal to remove them in the first place, and approved a petition by the 51 requesting their reinstatement. But before the congressmen had the chance to reenter Congress, Congress voted to fire all nine judges of the Constitutional Tribunal for their "unconstitutional actions".

Constituent referendum

On 15 April, Ecuadoreans voted overwhelmingly (81.72% in favor) to support the election of a constituent assembly.

Assembly election

On 30 September 2007, due to the extraordinarly large number of candidates and lists (26 national lists, 428 provincial lists, 44 emigrant lists) the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly election, 2007 was the most complex in Ecuador's history. As a result in the national election, President Correa won backing for his plans to rewrite Ecuador's constitution and expand state control of the nation's economy. Correa's faction won approximately 61% of the seats in the National Assembly (80 of 130 Assembly Members).

Constituent Assembly

The Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly first convened on November 29, 2007 in Montecristi, and was given six months to write a new constitution, with a possible two-month extension. In June 2008, the president of the CA, Alberto Acosta, resigned due to his opposition to speeding up the debate on the remaining articles to meet the deadline of 26 July 2008. He was replaced by Fernando Cordero Cueva on 24 June 2008. When Ecuador began the process of writing a new constitution, they received help from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund to draft environmental laws giving nature and ecosystems rights.

In late July, 2008, the assembly approved a draft constitution with 494 articles.

Constitutional referendum

A constitutional referendum was held in Ecuador on 28 September 2008 to ratify or reject the constitution drafted by the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly elected in 2007. Partial results show that 64% of voters voted to approve the 2008 Constitution of Ecuador.

Relationship with the media

Correa, paraphrasing Tony Blair, 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."

Correa has criticized to several newspapers as El Universo, El Comercio, Diario Hoy, Diario Expreso, La Hora, it qualified them of "informative mafias", for their criticism the decision of the TSE that deprived 57 legislators of the opposition. Correa argued that the press has remained silent before the holdups that have happened in government enterprises like Pacifictel, and the Corporation Ecuadorian Aduanera (CAE).

On May 19, during the Enlace Ciudadano called by Correa to talk about freedom of speech, he ordered that security eject the opinion editor of the Guayaquil-based ''El Universo'' newspaper, whom he had invited to the event. Correa ordered him to be ejected because the editor began talking about Correa's personal life. Video

Correa declared that he would not hesitate to revoke the license of "coup instigating" media stations following the example of Hugo Chavez when he took RCTV off the air.

Lawsuit against the ''La Hora'' newspaper

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 March 9. 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.”

Francisco Vivanco Riofrío has declared that he will not apologize for the editorial and that he is prepared to face the lawsuit. He has also declared that "that editorial reflects our thoughts and we will defend not only our right to manifest our opinions but also the opinions of all citizens, as we have done during the 25 years of our newspaper's existence.”

Reactions to the lawsuit

In connection with Correa's complaint against ''La Hora'', the Ecuadorian Association of Newspaper Publishers (AEDEP), has shown its support for that newspaper and declared that "no contemporary Ecuadorian politician has employed such legal figure (contempt) as an instrument to frighten the press."

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.” The World Press Freedom Committee has declared that "it is clear that this attempt to silence the Ecuadorian press goes against very basic freedom of the press tenets, as consecrated in at least two of the most important international human right charts."

Expropriation of Gamavision and TC television channels

Correa has constantly denounced what he views as the political activism of the major Ecuadorian television channels. He has also denounced the fact that they are owned by business groups who own banks related to the financial crisis of 1999, where millions of state dollars were given to rescue them while these left thousands of people without their life savings. In mid 2008, the Correa government expropriated Gamavision and TC television channels along with another hundred firms, because they were property of the Isaias. This group owned Filanbanco, a bank involved in the crisis of 1999. Correa did this to give back the savings to those affected by it. Currently these channels are owned by the state and have been defined as assets before calling an auction to sell them. Correa hopes that the stations' own workers gather together to buy each channel.

Public Media

Correa decided to create Ecuador TV, the first state-owned channel in the country in order to produce television with better quality standards than the private channels. Also newspaper ''El Telegrafo'' became state owned). They were also created: Radio Pública, El Ciudadano, ANDES and PP,which are administered by state instances.

Environmental conservation

The President has affirmed that his is a "green" Government for its defense of the environment." In this line, he has decided to return to the Commission International Whaler to impede the reboot in the hunt of these mammals; it has established a prohibition to the extraction of beautiful wood; and he has announced that for a compensation of 350 millions of annual dollars of the international community it would give up the exploitation of an oil field with around 1000 million barrels, one of their biggest reservations of petroleum, located in a reservation of the well-known biosphere as the National Park Yasuní,, in the amazon basin. The proposal hopes to collect contributions starting from 2010.

Correa announced that it will allow the export of shark fins, in case the sharks are captured accidentally. Several organizations environmentalists, as a sector of Ecological Action, Black Shepherd and Global Activism criticized this decision strongly.

Yasuní - ITT Project.

Yasuní - ITT Project. The aim of the proposal is to provide a creative solution for the threat posed by the extraction of crude oil in the Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha (ITT) oil fields, which are located in the highly vulnerable area of Yasuní National Park. The proposal would contribute to preserving biodiversity, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and their way of life.

President Correa has stated that Ecuador’s first option is to maintain the crude oil in the subsoil. The national and international communities would be called on to help the government implement this costly decision for the country. The government hopes to recover 50% of the revenues it would obtain by extracting the oil. The procedure involves the issuing of government bonds for the crude oil that will remain “in situ,” with the double commitment of never extracting this oil and of protecting Yasuní National Park. If Ecuador succeeds in receiving the hoped for-amount – estimated at 350 million dollars annually – it would only be for a period of ten years beginning after the sixth year, since production, and thus potential revenues, would progressively decline after those ten years.

A more promising alternative would be a strategy to provide the government with the 50% of resources in such a way as to provide a consistent income for an indefinite period of time. This resource would be channeled towards activities that help to free the country from its dependency on exports and imports and to consolidate food sovereignty.

Sea Conservation

Correa overturned a ban on the sale of shark fins, which are popular in Asia, but stipulated that the fins can only be sold if the sharks are caught accidentally and by artisan fishermen. He did not say how authorities would determine whether the shark had been caught accidentally or deliberately.

On August 3, 2007, Correa ordered the deportation of Sean O'Hearn-Gimenez, director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, saying that he would not allow "gringuitos" (literally, "little gringos") to tell Ecuadorians what to do or to pursue local fishermen. However, a local newspaper noted that O'Hearn-Gimenez had signed a 5-year agreement with Ecuador's own Environmental Police rather than acting unilaterally (as a foreigner with no authority of his own), and was married to an Ecuadorian. The deportation was ordered because Sea Shepherd, in partnership with the Ecuadorian National Environmental Police, exposed and stopped the biggest shark-fin shipment in the port city of Manta. Correa later rescinded the extradition order because O'Hearn-Gimenez was married to an Ecuadorian woman. All the arrested fishermen were released, too, and the confiscated shark fins returned to them.

Other policies

Reformations of Ministries

Correa's administration began January 15 2007 with the execution through its first two ordinances of two of its campaign proposals: the convocation of a popular consultation so that the citizenship decided if wanted a Constituent National Assembly, and the reduction halfway the wages of the high positions of the Estado,19 beginning with the retribution of the own President that was diminished to 4.250 monthly dollars (25 minimum living wages). At the moment officials of the judicature wages have been awarded for on the 5.000 dollars.

The President also looked for the gender balance and its Executive had to the beginning of his administration 40% of the wallets occupied by women. Likewise, it prohibited their minister and other public employees to receive gifts and agasajos20 for their work. Nevertheless, the candidates of the Alianza PAIS to the Constituent Assembly have participated in official events, such as the inauguration of the hydroelectric power station San Francisco (Alberto Acosta), and the beginning of the construction of the headquarters for the Constituent Assembly (Trajano Andrade), both when they carried out the positions of Secretaries of Energy, Transport and Public Works respectively, previous to the convocation to elections.

Social Investment

According to the Office of Press of the Presidency, the Government's realizations in the first weeks of activity were the increment in a 15%44 of the social investment of the State, the committed duplication of the Voucher of Human Development, dedicated to help to the families with less economic resources and in situation of poverty; as well as an increment of 100% in the voucher of the housing to facilitate the construction, buys and rehabilitation of the housings of people more desfavorecidas. You has also begun to distribute medications in a gratuitous way.

Human rights

The Government decidet to create Commission of the Truth that it investigates the crimes of State against the Human rights.

August of 2008, the government is accused of mistreating Guadalupe Llori prefecta of the oriental county of Orellana. Human Rights have sent letters to the President demanding this abuse. According to Human Rights is denied the visit of family and physical abuse exists on behalf of the guards. Guadalupe Llori was imprisoned without sentence neither you prove that involve it in the accusations made by the government up to September of 2008, after the municipality of Quito it granted him the constitutional resource of hábeas corpus. Correa doesn't have you it pronounced before these accusations.

As for the Ecuadorian Natives, the Government affirms that it has recognized to the indigenous groups that they don't want to maintain contact with the developed world and a politics of State has settled down for the towns in isolation voluntary.

Energy politics

Their government has put special emphasis in developing the energy system. During their period, the construction of the Hydroelectric of Mazar culminated that takes advantage of the flow of the river it Averages that you dilute up it is used in it dams it well-known as Amaluza. it was also awarded the construction of the project Coca Elbow Sinclair, the most ambitious hydroelectric project in the history of the Ecuador. Is also projected the construction of it dams it of the rivers Toachi and Pilatón. During November of 2009, Ecuador should ration energy, in view of a deficit that was overcome after the installation of thermal generators. Is projected the growth of the capacity of generation of the Ecuador, country that he/she will stop to depend on the energy that Colombia or Peru consent to sell him.

States of Emergency

Correa declared in emergency situation and it dedicated extraordinary economic resources to diverse sectors, among them the justice system - that suffers from overcrowding, with 16,000 prisoners when its real capacity is only 8,000 -; for the counties affected by the eruption of the volcano Tungurahua; for the Police Nacional; for the educación; for the system of health pública; for the sector ferroviario; for the reconstruction vial; for the agricultura; and to stop the environmental deterioration of the archipelago of Galápagos; among others.Correa ordered him not to be used companies of labor intermediation that exploit the workers.

Security and Defense

One of the most serious problems that the government of Correa has faced has been not to be able to lower the criminal indexes significantly. In this environment, it was endowed from weapons to the policemen, a plan of control of weapons began.

In June and July of 2007 in several communities of the Amazonía and domestic South, they were carried out protests against oil and mining concessions to transnational companies (PetroChina, PetroBras and mining Canadian). According to some media, the Government repressed abusing from the force to these mobilizations.

Correa proposed the Plan Ecuador, which according to him emphasizes development, justice and peace to the militarism proposed by the Plan Colombia, financed by the United States.

Presidency 2009-present

Rafael Correa was re-elected for a second term in general election in 26 April 2009. It was the first time in thirty years that the country had re-elected a president.

Correa was sworn into the Presidency on 10 August 2009, the same day as Ecuador's bicentennial. He claims that the continuation of his "Revolución Ciudadana" policy is intended to ensure all citizens are equal.

Closure of Teleamazonas

In June 2009, CONARTEL (a radio and television regulating body) imposed fines on a remaining independent television station, Teleamazonas, for transmitting bull-fights and "The Simpsons" during prime time. 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.

Mining Protests

In January, Ecuador was shaken by mass protests against large-scale mining. Indigenous people were demanding that they not be exploited at all and were blockading highways to make their point. President Rafael Correa responded by calling the protesters “nobodies” and “extremists.” The government detained a number of protest leaders, charging some of them with terrorism. One leader in the Amazon was briefly disappeared only to show up in a hospital in the Amazonian city of Macas with a gunshot wound to the head. Police officers were also injured in attempting to clear blockades. In an interview with the state-run media on Thursday, Correa said that the police were not armed and had only riot gear to protect them from demonstrators who were wielding shotguns. The Shuar man that died was killed by protesters' own weapons, Correa said.

Hydrocarbon production reforms

Correa announced that on Monday 26 July 2010 Ecuador will enact reforms to a hydrocarbons law that aims to expropriate foreign company operations unless they sign service contracts increasing state control of the industry. Correa reminded oil companies that if they don't abide by the state's policies, they will have their fields nationalized and will be forced from the country.

Law of Superior Education

A debate to modify this and other reforms, specially the one which granted control of the Higher Education System by the government, was practically passed with consensus by the multi-partisan National Assembly on August 4, 2010 but vetoed by the president Rafael Correa, who wanted to keep the law strictly as it was originally redacted by his political party and SENPLADES (National Secretary of Panning and Development). Due to this change, there are many highly educated professionals and academicians under the old structure but estimated that only 87% of the faculty in public universities have already obtained a master's degree and fewer than 5% have Ph.D. (although many of them have already Ecuadorian granted Doctorate degrees).

2010 Ecuador crisis

On September 30, 2010, the National Police went on strike over the passage of a bill that would end the practice of giving medals and bonuses with each promotion. In what was called an attempted coup d'état, protests included road blockades, storming the National Assembly and state-run television station, and the military seizure of the Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito. President Correa went to debate with the rebellious police, but he was unsuccessful and instead challenged them to kill him, saying, "I'm not taking one step back. Gentleman, if you want to kill the president, here he is, kill him if you have the guts." The police responded by attacking him and taking him hostage. While held in the hospital inside the police headquarters, Correa declared a national state of emergency. That night, an elite army unit rescued him from the hospital amid violent clashes between the police and the army. The Army then took him to Carondelet Palace, where he announced he would not pardon those responsible. Throughout Ecuador, eight people were killed and 274 wounded in the unrest.

On the same night, eight South American Presidents attended an emergency summit of UNASUR convened that night in Buenos Aires to express their full support for Ecuadorean democratic institutions and Rafael Correa. The summit also announced a "democratic clause" to the UNASUR Constitutive Treaty and an agreement to take immediate and concrete steps if further similar attempts should occur.

The United States declared support for Correa through its ambassador to the Organization of American States.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed "full support for President Rafael Correa, and the institutions of democratic government in that country." On October 5, Ecuadorian foreign minister Ricardo Patiño said “I firmly believe that Mr. Obama had nothing to do with this. I hope, and trust that neither his (immediate subordinates) did.

President of Unasur

Correa was a signatory to the The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty of the Union of South American Nations on July 15, 2009.. Ecuador has ratified the treaty. On August 10, 2009 Correa hosted the Heads of Government of South America in Quito, as he took over the one year Pro Tempore Presidency of UNASUR. Correa announced on April 3, 2010 that he would propose to UNASUR the creation of a united front against transnationals like the US company Chevron, which he accused of attempting to destroy his country.

Correa also asked that UNASUR create a commission to investigate the events that led to the Sept. 30 police revolt in Ecuador in which about a dozen people died and 270 were wounded. The uprising was led by police upset over a new law that would deny them promotion bonuses.

During Friday's summit, leaders also approved a democratic charter that would serve as a guide for the 12-nation bloc if any of them faced an attempted coup. The charter would have been an effective tool during Ecuador's revolt, Correa said. On November 29, 2010, UNASUR's presidency passed from Ecuador to Guyana.

Lawsuit against the ''El Universo'' newspaper and Big Brother

Correa announced another lawsuit this time against an editorial writer and the directors of El Universo newspaper. The legal action would affect the opinion editor of the paper, Emilio Palacio, who was sued for defamation by a high-ranking public official last year. Correa explained that several of Palacio's editorials were “accusations” and “slander." In an ofiicial Universo editorial he was acussed to be an mass murderer. El Universo says the president’s suit was announced several hours after the newspaper published an article about an information access request denial. “We are not only suing the editorial writer, but also the newspaper El Universo’s directors,” said Correa, in a radio interview on Ecuadorinmediato, quoted by El Universo. “Ecuador’s autocrat cracks down on media freedom.” According to an editorial published by ''The Washington Post'' on 27 July, 2011:

Last week the president personally attended the trial while thuggish supporters threw eggs and bottles at the defendants outside the courthouse. To no one’s surprise, the provisional judge hearing the case quickly ruled in the president’s favor, sentencing Mr. Palacio and the three El Universo directors to three years in prison and awarding $40 million in damages to Mr. Correa — an amount that exceeds the total value of the newspaper.

Correa has also filed a lawsuit against Juan Carlos Calderón and Christian Zurita, investigative journalists and authors of the book "Gran Hermano" (Big Brother). The lawsuit is based on the book's content, a journalistic investigation into contracts signed between the president's brother, Fabricio Correa, and the State.

Correa has been accused, in the words of the President of the Inter-American Press Association, of mounting a "systematic and hostile campaign to do away with the independent press and establish, by law or through the courts, ownership of the truth that all the Ecuadoran people must swallow." These complaints relate both to a series of lawsuits against journalists and to government takeovers of many media outlets.

''The Washington Post'' reported in July 2011 that, according to a report for the National Endowment for Democracy, the government had controlled one radio station when Mr. Correa became president in 2007, but that by the time of the report it owned five television channels, four radio stations, two newspapers and four magazines.

Declaration of U.S. ambassador ''persona non grata''

On 4 April 2011, Correa's government declared the United States ambassador Heather Hodges ''persona non grata'', and asked her to leave the country as soon as possible. The action came after a leak by Wikileaks of a State Department cable implying that Correa must have been aware of the alleged corruption of General Jaime Hurtado when he appointed Hurtado as the commanding general of the Ecuadorian National Police (ENP). The cable stated that, prior to Hurtado's appointment, the US embassy had "multiple reports that indicate he used his positions to extort bribes, facilitate human trafficking, misappropriate public funds, obstruct investigations and prosecutions of corrupt colleagues, and engage in other corrupt acts for personal enrichment. Hurtado's corrupt activities were so widely known within the upper ranks of the ENP that some embassy officials believe that President Correa must have been aware of them when he made the appointment. These observers believe that Correa may have wanted to have an ENP chief whom he could easily manipulate." ''CNN'' reported that the Ecuadorian government had called the allegation that Correa knowingly promoted a corrupt officer to head the police "unacceptable, malicious and reckless."

Ecuadorian constitutional referendum, 2011

Correa announced a constitutional referendum, which took place on 7 May 2011. The Ecuadorian people were asked to vote on ten questions, including a reform of the judiciary. Despite opposition members denouncing what they call a "power grab" on behalf of Correa's government. Although an Exit poll driven by the "Santiago Perez" pollster showed that the 10 questions won with the 62% of the votes, as the count continued the "yes" lost presence even going as far as slightly losing to the "no" for a short period of time in questions 4 and 9. Correa pledged that the data had been manipulated by counting first the votes from the provinces where the "no" have won to create the "sensation of fraud" and he predicted that the "yes" will win with at least 250.000 votes on all 10 questions. At the end the "yes" won all 10 questions but only the first question got more than the 50% of the votes. This was Correa's the eight election to pass during his term in office.

Recognition

Rafael Correa has been honored with:

Necklace of the Liberator's Order, maximum badge of Venezuela October 11, 2007.

Conquering badge of Tarqui in Grade of Great Cruz of the Armed forces of Ecuador in gratefulness to the administration carried out in the soldiers' of the Homeland benefit.

Necklace of the Liberator's Order San Martin, maximum badge of the Republic Argentina, April 20, 2008

Order Great Marshal of Ayacucho of Venezuela for the character bolivariano of their administration in Ecuador, February 2009.

Order Francisco Morazán in Great Cruz's Grade, Badge of Gold of the Republic of Honduras.

Great Necklace of the Order The Sun of the Peru, maximum badge of that country, June 9, 2010.

Medal of Honor in Great Cruz's Grade, maximum badge of the Congress of the Peru, June 12, 2010.

Order Augusto Caesar Sandino in grade Battles of San Hyacinth, maximum badge of the Republic of Nicaragua November 13, 2010 to survive the blow of State.

Great Necklace of the Ecuadorian Federation of Soccer in November 2010 in gratefulness to the expedition of the Law of the Sport.

Medal of “Distinguished Visitor”, by the UCSG in the inauguration of the III Congress International University, Development and Cooperation.

Maximum badge of part of the Association of General retired of the National Police to have made reality the approval of pensions jubilares to near 20 thousand former uniformed.

Doctor Honoris Causa

Correa is a Doctor Honoris Causa of the State University of International Relationships (Russia, October 2009), of the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina, May 2010) and of the Autonomous University of Sacred Domingo (Rep. Of the Dominican Republic, May 2010).

Also, in April 2010 he received the Prize for Exceptional Academic Achievement 2009 of the University of Illinois. On December 3 of 2010, the UBA Cultural Center of Buenos Aires gave him the Faces and Masks Democracy Prize.

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.

Scientific articles

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

"Structural Reform and Growth in Latin America: An analysis of sensibility", 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 Urban-Champaign, Illinois, May 2001.

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

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

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

Reports and articles for non scientific publications

"Another Economy is possible", in Another Ecuador it is possible, joint author with Alberto Acosta and other, to be published. Quito, September 2005.

"Capital and Development", Institutional report for the international seminar "Independence of Justice, democracy and development", Quito, March 3 and 4, 2005.

"Debt exchange: everything in the creditor's function", working paper, San Francisco de Quito University, February, 2005.

"Dolarización and desdolarización: more elements for the debate", commentaries to the dossier of Íconos 19, 20, Latin American Ability of Social Sciences, Quito, September 2004.

"From Banana Republic to Non-Republic: The last three decades of the economic history of the Ecuador” ", working paper, University San Francisco of Quito, August of 2004. "The sophysm of Free Trade", in Free trade: myths and realities, Alberto Acosta and Eduardo Gudymas, editors, editions Abya-Yala, Quito, July 2004.

"Ecuador: Absurd dolarizations and monetary unions", report for the seminar "Dolarization and alternatives", Andean University Simón Bolívar, Quito, July 2004.

"Vulnerability and uncertainty of the Latin American" economies, report for the seminar Integration, development and justness Quito, May 2004.

"Beyond the autistic" economy, in Economy and humanism number 15, have of the Institute of Economic Investigations of the Papal Catholic University of the Ecuador, PUCE, Quito, April 2004.

"Dolarización and Dutch" illness, working paper, University San Francisco of Quito, Quito, December 2003.

"The same of the worst thing: the economic politics of Lucio's Government Gutiérrez", working paper together with the economists Marco Flores and Eduardo Valencia, Forum Alternative Ecuador, Quito, November 2003.

"The economic politics of Lucio's Government Gutiérrez", magazine Íconos, Latin American Ability of Social Sciences, Quito, April 2003.

"Invigoration of the state institucionalidad for the reactivation", report for National Dialogue 2003, Quito, January 2003.

"The positivism of the modern" economy, Destiempo have, Quito, October 2002.

"Toward where does the Ecuadorian balance of payments go? ", Economic Letter, Corporation of Studies for the Development, Cordes, do Quito, April 2002.

"The Argentinean convertibility and the Ecuadorian" dolarización, magazine Alternatives, Catholic University of Santiago from Guayaquil, Guayaquil, February 2002.

Ministries

Secretaries

See also

Odious debt

References

Compañerito.com

External links

Biography by CIDOB Foundation (in Spanish)

MSNBC, "Leftward Tilt: Political Shift in Latin America"

Ecuador's Election: Revolution! Please Give Generously ''The Economist'', April 23, 2009

"The resignation of Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s Economy Minister: an example of IFI’s influence?"

Update on the Ecuadorian Economy, June 2009, report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research

Rafael Correa on Global Capitalism, Why He Won’t Renew the US Base in Manta, Chevron in the Amazon - video by ''Democracy Now!''

Rafael Correa on WikiLeaks, the September Coup, and U.S. Denial of Climate Funding - video by ''Democracy Now!''

Ecuadorian constitutional referendum, 2011 (in Spanish)

{{navbox |name = Heads of State of the South America |title = Current heads of state of the South American countries |list1 = Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (Argentina) Evo Morales (Bolivia) Dilma Rousseff (Brazil) Sebastián Piñera (Chile) Juan Manuel Santos (Colombia) Rafael Correa (Ecuador) Elizabeth II (Falkland Islands) Nicolas Sarkozy (French Guiana) Bharrat Jagdeo (Guyana) Fernando Lugo (Paraguay) Ricardo Martinelli (Panama) Alan García (Peru) Dési Bouterse (Suriname) José Mujica (Uruguay) Hugo Chávez (Venezuela)}}

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Christian socialists Category:Che Guevara Category:Current national leaders Category:Democratic socialists Category:Ecuadorian Christians Category:Ecuadorian Christian socialists Category:Ecuadorian communists Category:Ecuadorian economists Category:Ecuadorian people Category:Ecuadorian politicians Category:Ecuadorian Roman Catholics Category:Ecuadorian rebels Category:Ecuadorian revolutionaries Category:Ecuadorian socialists Category:Ecuadorian writers Category:Finance ministers Category:Government ministers Category:Government ministers of Ecuador Category:Leaders of political parties Category:Marxist humanists Category:People from Guayaquil (city) Category:People from Guayas Province Category:Presidents of Ecuador Category:PAIS Alliance politicians Category:Social democrats Category:Socialists Category:Université catholique de Louvain alumni Category:University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign alumni

ar:رفاييل كوريا an:Rafael Correa be-x-old:Рафаэль Карэа br:Rafael Correa bg:Рафаел Кореа ca:Rafael Correa cs:Rafael Correa da:Rafael Correa de:Rafael Correa et:Rafael Correa el:Ραφαέλ Κορέα es:Rafael Correa eo:Rafael Correa eu:Rafael Correa fr:Rafael Correa gl:Rafael Correa ko:라파엘 코레아 io:Rafael Vicente Correa id:Rafael Correa it:Rafael Correa he:רפאל קוראה ka:რაფაელ კორეა sw:Rafael Correa la:Raphael Correa lv:Rafaels Korrea lt:Rafael Correa hu:Rafael Correa nl:Rafael Correa ja:ラファエル・コレア no:Rafael Correa nn:Rafael Correa pl:Rafael Correa pt:Rafael Correa ro:Rafael Correa qu:Rafael Correa ru:Корреа, Рафаэль se:Rafael Correa sk:Rafael Correa sr:Рафаел Кореа fi:Rafael Correa sv:Rafael Correa ta:ராஃபாயெல் கொறேயா th:ราฟาเอล กอร์เรอา tr:Rafael Correa uk:Рафаель Корреа vi:Rafael Correa yo:Rafael Correa zh:拉斐尔·科雷亚

Name	Jaco Pastorius
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	John Francis Anthony Pastorius III
Alias	"Mowgli"
Birth date	December 01, 1951
Birth place	Norristown, PennsylvaniaUnited States
Death date	September 21, 1987
Death place	Fort Lauderdale, FloridaUnited States
Instrument	Bass, drums, piano, backing vocals, mandocello, steel drums
Genre	Jazz, jazz fusion, big band
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, producer, educator
Years active	1964–1987
Label	Epic, Warner Bros., Columbia, ECM, CBS, Elektra
Associated acts	Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell, Trio of Doom, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Word of Mouth,
Website
Notable instruments	Fender Jazz Bass }}

John Francis Anthony Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged for his skills as a virtuoso electric bass player.

His playing style was noteworthy for containing intricate solos in the higher register. His innovations also included the use of harmonics and the "singing" quality of his melodies on the fretless bass. Pastorius suffered from mental illness including a substance-related disorder, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982. He died in 1987 at age 35 following a violent altercation at a Fort Lauderdale drinking establishment.

Pastorius was inducted into the ''Down Beat'' Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988, one of only four bassists to be so honored (and the only electric bass guitarist). He is regarded as one of the most influential bass players of all time.

Early life and education

John Francis Pastorius III was born December 1, 1951 in Norristown, Pennsylvania to Jack Pastorius (big band singer/drummer) and Stephanie Katherine Haapala Pastorius, the first of their three children, Jaco Pastorius was of Finnish, German, Swedish and Irish ancestry.

Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Oakland Park, Florida (near Fort Lauderdale). Pastorius went to elementary and middle school at St. Clement's Catholic School in Wilton Manors, and he was an altar boy at the adjoining church. In his years at St. Clement's, the art he was most known for was drawing.

Pastorius formed his first band named The Sonics along with John Caputo and Dean Noel. He went to high school at Northeast High in Oakland Park, Florida. He was a talented athlete with skills in football, basketball, and baseball, and he picked up music at an early age. He took the name "Anthony" at his confirmation. however he injured his wrist playing football at age 13. The damage to his wrist was severe enough to warrant corrective surgery and ultimately inhibited his ability to play drums. with drummer Rich Franks assuming his former position in the band.

By 1968–1969, Pastorius had begun to appreciate jazz and had scraped up enough money to buy an upright bass. Its deep, mellow tone appealed to him even if its cost was prohibitive. Pastorius discovered the difficulties in maintaining the instrument, which Pastorius attributed to the humidity of his Florida home, coupled with his shift in focus to R&B; music. Following the development of a crack in the body, he finally traded the instrument for a 1960 Fender Jazz Bass.

Pastorius' first real break came when he secured the bass chair with Wayne Cochran and The C.C. Riders He also played on various local R&B; and jazz records during that time such as Little Beaver, Ira Sullivan's Quintet, and Woodchuck. In 1974, he began playing with his friend and future famous jazz guitarist, Pat Metheny. They recorded together, first with Paul Bley as leader and Bruce Ditmas on drums, then with drummer Bob Moses. Metheny and Pastorius recorded a trio album with Bob Moses on the ECM label, entitled ''Bright Size Life''.

Debut album

In 1975, Pastorius was introduced to Blood, Sweat and Tears drummer Bobby Colomby, who had been given the green light by CBS Records to find "new talent" for their jazz division. Pastorius' first album, produced by Colomby was the eponymous ''Jaco Pastorius'' (1976), a breakthrough album for the electric bass. Many consider this to be the finest bass album ever recorded; when it exploded onto the jazz scene it was widely praised by critics. The album also boasted a lineup of heavyweights in the jazz community at the time—essentially a stellar backup band—including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, David Sanborn, Lenny White, Don Alias, and Michael Brecker among others. Even legendary R&B; singers Sam & Dave reunited to appear on the track "Come On, Come Over".

Weather Report

Around the time of his solo album, he ran into keyboardist Josef Zawinul in Miami, where Zawinul's band, Weather Report, was playing. According to Zawinul, Pastorius walked up to him after a concert one night and talked about the performance and said that it was all right but that he had expected more. He then went on to introduce himself to Zawinul, adding that he was the greatest bass player in the world. An unamused Zawinul told him to "get the fuck outta here." According to Milkowski's book, on that same evening, Pastorius persisted and, according to Zawinul, reminded Zawinul of himself when he was a "brash young man" in Cannonball Adderley's band, which made Zawinul admire the young bassist. Zawinul asked for a demo tape from Pastorius, and thus began a correspondence between the two.

Pastorius joined Weather Report during the recording sessions for ''Black Market'', and he became a vital part of the band both by virtue of the unique qualities of his bass playing, his skills as a composer and his exuberant showmanship on stage. His stage act and melodic, propulsive solos brought Weather Report a large new African-American audience; before his arrival the band had mostly pulled in white college fans.

Guest appearances on albums

Pastorius guested on many albums by other artists, as for example in 1976 with Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople fame, on ''All American Alien Boy'', which again featured David Sanborn as well as Aynsley Dunbar. Other recordings included Joni Mitchell's ''Hejira'' album, and a solo album by Al Di Meola which were also standouts, both released in 1976. Soon after that, Weather Report bass player Alphonso Johnson gave notice that he would be leaving to start his own band. Zawinul invited Pastorius to join the band, where he played alongside Joe and Wayne Shorter until 1983. During his time with Weather Report, Pastorius made his indelible mark on jazz music, notably by being featured on one of the most popular jazz albums of all time, the Grammy Award-nominated ''Heavy Weather''. Not only did this album showcase Jaco's bass playing and songwriting, but he also received a co-producing credit with Joe Zawinul and even played drums on his self-composed "Teen Town."

During the course of his musical career, Pastorius played on dozens of recording sessions for other musicians, both in and out of jazz circles. Some of his most notable are four highly regarded albums with acclaimed singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell: ''Hejira'' (1976), ''Don Juan's Reckless Daughter'' (1977), ''Mingus'' (1979) and the live album ''Shadows and Light'' (1980). His influence was most dominant on ''Don Juan's Reckless Daughter'', and many of the songs on that album seem to be composed using the bass as a melodic source of inspiration. Also worthy of mention is his collaboration with jazz greats Flora Purim and Airto Moreira. Pastorius can be heard on Moreira's 1977 release ''I'm Fine, How Are You?'' His signature sound is prominent on Purim's 1978 release ''Everyday Everynight'', on which he played the bass melody for a Michel Colombier composition entitled "The Hope", and performed bass and vocals on one of his own compositions entitled "Las Olas".

Near the end of his career, he guested on low-key releases by jazz artists such as guitarist Mike Stern, guitarist Biréli Lagrène, and drummer Brian Melvin. In 1985, he recorded an instructional video, ''Modern Electric Bass'', hosted by acclaimed bassist Jerry Jemmott.

Pastorius' original compositions for solo electric bass guitar, "Portrait of Tracy" and "Three Views of a Secret" have been arranged for piano and published in ''The New Real Book: Volume 1'' published by Sher Music.

Projects

He and Weather Report parted ways in early 1981, and Jaco began pursuing his interest in creating a big band solo project named Word of Mouth, one that found its debut aurally on his second solo release, ''Word of Mouth''. This 1981 album also boasted guest appearances by several distinguished jazz musicians: Herbie Hancock, Weather Report's Wayne Shorter and Peter Erskine, harmonica virtuoso Toots Thielemans and Hubert Laws. The album allowed Pastorius' songwriting to take some of the spotlight from his bass performance. It also showcased his producing skills and ultimately, his ability to bring together a project that was recorded on both coasts of the United States, as well as in Belgium where he recorded Thielemans.

On his 30th birthday, December 1, 1981, he threw a party at a club in Fort Lauderdale, flew in some of the artists from his Word of Mouth project, and other noteworthy musicians that included Don Alias, and Michael Brecker. The event was recorded by his friend and engineer Peter Yianilos, who intended it as a birthday gift. The concert remained unreleased until 1995.

He toured in 1982; a swing through Japan was the highlight, and it was at this time that bizarre tales of Pastorius' deteriorating behavior first surfaced. He shaved his head, painted his face black and threw his bass into Hiroshima Bay at one point. That tour was released in Japan as ''Twins I'' and ''Twins II'' and was condensed for an American release which was known as ''Invitation''.

In 1982, he recorded a third solo album, which made it as far as some unpolished demo tapes, a steelpans-tinged release entitled ''Holiday for Pans'', which once again showcased him as a composer and producer rather than a performer. Jaco Pastorius did not play any of the bass parts on this album. He could not find a distributor for the album and the album was never released; however, it has since been widely bootlegged. In 2003, a cut from ''Holiday for Pans'', entitled "Good Morning Anya", was included on Rhino Records' anthology ''Punk Jazz''.

Behavior and health problems

Pastorius was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression. Pastorius showed numerous features of the condition long before his initial diagnosis, although they were insufficiently extreme to have been diagnosed at the time as mental illness, being regarded instead as eccentricities or character flaws. The condition in its earlier stages is likely to have contributed to his success as a musician. Hypomania, the cyclical peaks in mood that distinguish bipolar disorder from unipolar depression, have been associated with enhanced creativity. It was recognized (retrospectively) by friends and family that these peaks played an essential role in his urge to create music.

In his early career, Pastorius avoided both alcohol and drugs, but he became increasingly involved in alcohol and other drugs during his time with Weather Report. Alcohol abuse ultimately exacerbated Pastorius' condition, leading to increasingly erratic and sometimes anti-social behavior.

Pastorius was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in late 1982 following the ''Word of Mouth'' tour of Japan in which his erratic behavior became an increasing source of concern for his band members. Drummer Peter Erskine's father, Dr. Fred Erskine, suggested that Pastorius was showing signs of the condition and, on his return from the tour, his wife, Ingrid, had Pastorius committed to Holy Cross hospital under the Florida Mental Health Act, where he received the diagnosis and was prescribed lithium to stabilize his moods.

By 1986, Pastorius' health had further deteriorated. He had been evicted from his New York apartment and had begun living on the streets. In July 1986, following intervention by his then ex-wife Ingrid with the help of his brother Gregory, he was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in New York, where he was prescribed Tegretol in preference to lithium. After reportedly kicking in a glass door after being refused entrance to the club, he was engaged in a violent confrontation with the club bouncer, Luc Havan. Pastorius was hospitalized for multiple facial fractures and injuries to his right eye and left arm. He fell into a coma and was put on life support.

There were initially encouraging signs that he would come out of his coma and recover, but a massive brain hemorrhage a few days later pointed to brain death. Pastorius died on September 21, 1987, aged 35, at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale and was buried at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery in North Lauderdale.

In the wake of Pastorius' death, Havan was charged with second degree murder but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Because he had no prior convictions, and accounting for time served while waiting for the verdict, he was sentenced to 22 months in jail and five years probation. He was released after four months in jail for good behavior.

Honors and tributes

Miles Davis honored the late bassist on his album ''Amandla'' with the Marcus Miller composition "Mr. Pastorius", as Jaco Pastorius was an inspiration to Marcus Miller. Victor Wooten also honored Jaco Pastorius on his album ''Soul Circus'' on the track "Bass Tribute", thanking Pastorius several times. Wooten and Steve Bailey's ''Bass Extremes'' includes the tracks "Glorius Pastorius", "Portrait of Tracy," and also a tribute to Pastorius' interpretation of Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" titled "Madonna Lee". The Pat Metheny Group also honored Pastorius on their album ''Pat Metheny Group'' with the track "Jaco". This song was not specifically written for Pastorius. Metheny wrote the song and then realized that the main melody sounded a lot like Pastorius' "Come On, Come Over", and subsequently decided to name the tune for Pastorius. Bass player Brian Bromberg recorded a Pastorius tribute album entitled ''Jaco'', which includes his interpretations of "Come On, Come Over", "The Chicken", "Portrait of Tracy", and more.

John McLaughlin also honored Pastorius on his album ''Industrial Zen'' with the song "For Jaco". English keyboard player Rod Argent includes a track titled "Pastorius Mentioned" on his 1979 Album ''Moving Home''. The song "Big Country", by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, contains the opening lick from Pastorius' "Continuum". Stuart Zender, the original bass player and founding member of Jamiroquai, cites Pastorius as one of his main influences. "''With his sense of rhythm, melody and use of harmonics, Jaco pushed the envelope and transformed the way the electric bass guitar was played.''"

On December 2, 2007, the day after what would have been Pastorius' 56th birthday, a concert called "20th Anniversary (of his death) Tribute to Jaco Pastorius" was held at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, featuring performances by the award-winning Jaco Pastorius Big Band with special guest appearances by Peter Erskine, Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, David Bargeron, Jimmy Haslip, Gerald Veasley, Pastorius' sons John and Julius Pastorius, Pastorius' daughter Mary Pastorius, Ira Sullivan, Bobby Thomas, Jr., and Dana Paul. Also shown were exclusive home movies and rare concert footage as well as video appearances by Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell, and other luminaries from Pastorius' life. Almost 20 years after his death, Fender released the Jaco Pastorius Jazz Bass, a fretless instrument from its Artist Series.

On December 1, 2008, on what would have been Pastorius' 57th birthday, the park in Oakland Park's new downtown redevelopment was formally named 'Jaco Pastorius Park' in honor of its former resident.

Since 1997, an annual birthday event takes place around December 1 in South Florida, hosted by his sons Julius and Felix Pastorius.

Playing style

Technique

The "Jaco growl" is obtained by using the bridge pickup exclusively, and plucking the strings right above the bridge pickup. Pastorius used natural and false harmonics to extend the range of the bass (exemplified in the bass solo composition Portrait of Tracy from his eponymous album) and could achieve his signature horn-like tone by utilizing his fretless neck (covered in polyurethane marine varnish). His playing techniques earned him accolades both from the critics and his audiences. He used finger-style playing exclusively, and was not seen using the slap and pop method that dominated the R&B; charts.

Equipment

Basses

Pastorius was most identified by his use of two well-worn Fender Jazz Basses from the early 1960s: a 1960 fretted, and a 1962 fretless. The fretless, known by Jaco Pastorius as the "Bass of Doom", was originally a fretted bass that had the frets removed. Pastorius claimed to have removed the frets himself but later said he had bought it with the frets already removed. Pastorius finished the fretboard with marine epoxy (Petit's Poly-poxy) to protect the wood from the roundwound Rotosound strings he was using. Even though he played both the fretted and the fretless basses frequently, he preferred the fretless, because he felt frets were a hindrance, once calling them "speed bumps". However, he said in the instructional video that he never practiced with the fretless because the strings "chew the neck up." Both of his Fender basses were stolen shortly before he entered Bellevue hospital in 1986. In 1993, one of the basses resurfaced in a New York City music shop, with the distinctive letter P written between the two pickups. In 2008, the 1962 fretless "Bass of Doom" also turned up in good condition in New York. It was subsequently acquired by Robert Trujillo, bassist with Metallica. Although Trujillo currently owns the instrument, the Metallica bassist agreed in writing to relinquish the instrument to the family at any time for the same purchase price.

Amplification, effects, and strings

Jaco Pastorius used the "Variamp" EQ (equalization) controls on his two Acoustic 360 amplifiers (made by the Acoustic Control Corporation of Van Nuys, California) to boost the midrange frequencies, thus accentuating the natural growling tone of his fretless passive Fender Jazz Bass and roundwound string combination. His tone was also colored by the use of a rackmount MXR digital delay unit that fed a second Acoustic amp rig.

He often used Hartke cabinets during the final three years of his life because of their characteristic aluminum speaker cones (as opposed to paper speaker cones). These gave his tone a bright, clear sound. He typically used the delay in a chorus-like mode, providing a shimmering stereo doubling effect. He would often use the fuzz control built in on the Acoustic 361. For the bass solo "Slang" on the ''8:30'' album, Pastorius used the MXR digital delay to layer and loop a chordal figure and then he soloed over it. Jaco Pastorius used Rotosound strings. The book was written primarily from Milkowski's first hand experiences with Jaco when he lived in New York between 1984 and 1987, when Pastorius' health had deteriorated. This was supplemented with interviews with friends and family, as well as musicians and industry insiders.

Pastorius's second wife Ingrid has complained that the book treated Jaco Pastorius with a lack of sensitivity, Guitarist Pat Metheny, who was a close friend before Pastorius joined Weather Report, wrote in the liner notes of the reissue of Pastorius' first album that Milkowski's book was "a horribly inaccurate, botched biography".

The softcover edition of ''Jaco: The Extraordinary And Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius'' amended a paragraph concerning an occasion in which Jaco Pastorius had introduced a female friend to Milkowski as his daughter. A new 2005 edition has made further changes. Tony Franklin and Pedro Aznar among many others.

Selected discography

{|class="wikitable" style="valign:top; font-size:95%;" |- !rowspan=2 | !rowspan=2 |Solo !rowspan=2 |Weather Report !colspan=2 |Collaboration |- !Album !! Artist |- valign="top" !1975 | colspan="2" style="background:white;"| |

''Bright Size Life''

|Pat Metheny |- valign="top" ! 1976 |

''Jaco Pastorius''

|

''Black Market''

|

''All American Alien Boy''

''Hejira''

''Land of the Midnight Sun

|Ian HunterJoni Mitchell Al Di Meola |- valign="top" !1977 | rowspan="3" style="background:white;"| |

''Heavy Weather''

|

''Don Juan's Reckless Daughter''

|Joni Mitchell |- valign="top" !1978 |

''Mr. Gone''

|

''Sunlight''

|Herbie Hancock |- valign="top" !1979 |

''8:30''

|

''Mingus''

''Shadows and Light (live album)''

|Joni MitchellJoni Mitchell |- valign="top" !1980 | |

''Night Passage''

|

''Mr. Hands''

|Herbie Hancock |- valign="top" !1981 |

''Word of Mouth''

| | rowspan="3" colspan="2" style="background:white;"| |- valign="top" !1982 |

''The Birthday Concert''

|

''Weather Report''

|- valign="top" !1983 |

''Invitation''

| |}

Notes

References

External links

Category:1951 births Category:1987 deaths Category:American composers Category:American jazz bass guitarists Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American session musicians Category:Fingerstyle guitarists Category:American musicians of Finnish descent Category:American musicians of German descent Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of Swedish descent Category:Jazz fusion musicians Category:Jazz fusion bass guitarists Category:Manslaughter victims Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:Post-bop jazz musicians Category:University of Miami faculty Category:Weather Report members Category:People from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Category:Epic Records artists Category:Warner Bros. Records artists Category:Blood, Sweat & Tears members

br:Jaco Pastorius ca:Jaco Pastorius cs:Jaco Pastorius da:Jaco Pastorius de:Jaco Pastorius es:Jaco Pastorius fa:جاکو پاستوریوس fr:Jaco Pastorius id:Jaco Pastorius it:Jaco Pastorius he:ג'אקו פסטוריוס sw:Jaco Pastorius hu:Jaco Pastorius ml:ജാക്കോ പസ്ത്തോറിയസ് nl:Jaco Pastorius ja:ジャコ・パストリアス no:Jaco Pastorius pl:Jaco Pastorius pt:Jaco Pastorius ru:Пасториус, Джако sk:Jaco Pastorius fi:Jaco Pastorius sv:Jaco Pastorius uk:Джако Пасторіус zh:傑可·帕斯透瑞斯

playername	Fernando Cordero
fullname	Fernando Patricio Cordero Fonseca
height
dateofbirth	August 26, 1987
cityofbirth	Santiago
countryofbirth	Chile
currentclub	Unión Española
clubnumber	11
position	Striker
youthyears1	2003–2009 |youthclubs1 Unión Española
years1	2006– |clubs1 Unión Española |caps1 109 |goals1 15
years2	2007 |clubs2 → Curicó Unido (loan)|caps2 32 |goals2 4
pcupdate	25 February 2011 }}

Fernando Patricio Cordero Fonseca (born 26 August 1987) is a Chilean footballer who currently plays for the Chilean Primera División side Unión Española as an Attacking midfielder.

External links

Cordero at Football Lineups

Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:Chilean footballers Category:Association football strikers Category:Chilean Primera División players Category:Curicó Unido footballers Category:Unión Española footballers

es:Fernando Cordero Fonseca