Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, in front of the European Commission building, in 2020.
When Rafael Correa ruled in Ecuador, everything was green.
It was the color of the political movement Alianza PAIS that for a decade waved the flags of campaign rallies and colored the facades of the houses of the sympathizers.
Now, the former president is trying to rebuild what remains of his political capital with new acronyms, a new color and a new president in the party after the defeat of his candidate in the last presidential elections last April.
Revolución Ciudadana is the name of the organization that will now officially host Correísmo and that shares the acronym RC with its top leader, Rafael Correa. A smurf blue hue has replaced the almost fluorescent green. Since August 28, the president has been Marcela Aguiñaga, a minister at the time of Correa, a legislator in Lenín Moreno's stage and one of the public figures who is still in the active politics of what was the Government of the so-called Ecuadorian XXI Century Socialism . The greatest exponent, however, continues to be the former president based in Belgium.
"The Citizen Revolution is rebuilding itself and we are doing it with our leader Rafael Correa," emphasizes Aguiñaga, a 48-year-old lawyer by training, in a telephone interview in the middle of his tours of the country.
“Rafael is not a political dead man and, in fact, Correísmo and the Citizen Revolution are the political movement with the greatest support in the entire country.
You just have to see that everything that has to do with Correa is still news in the local media ”, underlines the new president of the party, a week after the National Electoral Council accepted the change of initials of its formation.
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The Citizen Revolution political movement was previously that of Fuerza Compromiso Social, an organization led by an official of the Correa regime, who was also Lenín Moreno's minister and who is today in prison for embezzlement. "We have politically persecuted, fellow exiles, but we must thank the militancy for the resistance," celebrates Aguiñaga, who shared ranks with former ministers who are now convicted and with former legislators who fled justice.
Along with Rafael Correa, who is sentenced to eight years in prison for bribery and who has avoided going to jail for being outside of Ecuador, there are several high-ranking officials in his administration with prison sentences, such as former vice president Jorge Glas, the former minister of Public Works, María de los Ángeles Duarte or the former Minister of Hydrocarbons, Carlos Pareja Yannuzzelli.
In addition, former Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño and three former assembly members of Alianza PAIS remain with political asylum from the Government of Mexico since 2019.
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The dismantling of Alianza PAIS after the break in 2016 between Correa and Lenín Moreno, his successor, led Correísmo to stand in the presidential elections in May with an alien identity. Andrés Arauz debuted in politics as the candidate designated by Correa and did so under the umbrella of Fuerza Compromiso Social in alliance with Centro Democrático. The electoral authority had previously denied the request to register a new organization with the mention and slogan of "citizen revolution", since it was part of the identity of the then ruling party Alianza PAIS, despite the fact that former President Moreno had distanced himself from it. and Correa since his first year in office.
Now that the electoral rector has authorized the Social Commitment Force to be renamed the Citizen Revolution, the movement has begun to relaunch its image and reorganize its files for the next appointment with the polls. The municipal and provincial elections of 2023 will tell if the defeat in the presidential elections is the thermometer with which the future of the progressive model in Ecuador is measured. Aguiñaga, the figure with the longest political career among the most loyal to Correa who is still in the country, keeps his letters hidden. "It would be wonderful to be mayor of Guayaquil because I am from Guayaquil," she replies with a tone that leans her more towards other options. "The prefecture of Guayas is not a small matter," he drops.
As Correa cannot stand in an election again due to the political death that goes hand in hand with his conviction, the Citizen Revolution will need a new face.
Could she become a candidate for president?
"It's not in my plans," he says.
"Right now I'm focused on making room for women in the presidential binomial."
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