Ecuador remains a defective democracy. President Lenín Moreno lacked leadership, clear initiatives, and the support of a legislative bloc. After the review period, on April 11, 2021, the new government of Guillermo Lasso was elected, which faces an opposition majority and a strong center-left bloc in parliament.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated Ecuador’s long and profound economic crisis. Fiscal contraction measures and economic slowdown resulted in an economic downturn of -9.3% at the end of 2020. The poverty rate increased from 27.2% to 37.6%, primarily due to increased unemployment.
In October 2019, Moreno’s government decided on a package of austerity measures to reduce the enormous fiscal deficit, which led to protests that were oppressed. Ecuador was one of the hardest-hit countries by COVID-19 in the Americas, but the national government failed to address the public health crisis.
