Coronel does not deny that there would be an enormous opportunity cost to Ecuador of not developing the Yasuni oil field. He does not deny that Correa's offer to the developed world was that Ecuador would share that opportunity cost rather than try to shift it entirely to the developed nations. Correa did not place an oil field in the Yasuni -- nature did. There was no "spite" involved. There were no "double standards that made impossible for him to receive any money." If "kidnapping" were an applicable metaphor, neither "attitude" nor "double standards" on the part of the purported kidnapper would be relevant to receiving a ransom. The entire passage is logically incoherent. Coronel, an oil guy, simply ignores the reasons that nations develop oil fields because they need revenue. The ludicrous kidnapping metaphor demonstrates Coronel's spite, not Correa's.
Coronel argues that his criticisms of my column are based on the "evidence."
"Mr. Black's perspective is not substantiated by the evidence.
He starts by claiming Correa is one of the two most popular leaders in Latin America, according to a polling company based in Mexico. Another polling company, Latino Barometer, based in Chile, ranks Mr. Correa in the 11th position among 18 Latin leaders (last, in 2012, was Hugo Chavez)."
I did not start by talking about Correa's popularity. I started by talking about the four legs of Correa's policies for economic and social development. As I have explained in other articles at greater length, the irony is that the four policies are praised even by the neo-classical economists. I noted later that Correa was popular in Ecuador because he delivered on his promised policies and the policies were transforming life for millions of Ecuadorians. This is why Correa has been reelected with such strong support in democratic elections.
When I discussed Correa's popularity I provide the citation and relevant quotation so the reader could review the context. My claim about his popularity was "based on evidence." Coronel states that there is another survey that he does not cite or provide a link to that reported different results. I cannot evaluate an unknown survey with precision, but it appears that the survey results Coronel recites would not be based on national surveys, but rather regional surveys. In other words, the polls and election results confirm that Correa is exceptionally popular with Ecuadorians. He may be far less popular with people in Colombia. There is a very recent publication that confirms the reliability of the survey I cited -- and it is from a source dear to Coronel's heart -- Fox News.
"A compilation of polls released this week appear to indicate those heads of state who take a tough guy stance toward the United States remain the most popular leaders in the region.
Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega and Evo Morales in Bolivia are all wildly popular in their home nations and wildly unpopular in the halls of Washington. In contrast, U.S.-friendly presidents like Colombia's Juan Manuel Santos and Sebastià ¡n Pià ±era of Chile rank at the bottom of the list.
Both Colombia's Santos and Chile's Pià ±era have approval rating well under 40 percent -- 25 and 36 percent, respectively."
An important note that U.S. media often fail to understand -- Latin American leaders who object to certain policies of the United States government are not "anti-American." Correa, for example, studied in the U.S. and has great sympathy with the American people.
A fuller story on the polls can be found in the McClatchy article.
"They've proven to be politically very astute. They have a connection to their base, and they are delivering to the poor," said Michael Shifter, the president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington research center.
Recent World Bank outlooks for Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua hail the economic achievements in those countries.
Under Correa, Ecuador has reduced income inequality, expanded the middle class and reduced poverty from 37 to 27 percent since 2006, the outlook says."
Note that McClatchy is making the same point I made. The reason that Correa is so popular in Ecuador is that he delivers results that have improved the lives of the people of Ecuador. He has been so successful that the World Bank and Fox News have praised him.
Coronel then ends on an even more incoherent passage.
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