November 1, 2008       ECrisis knows all too well that Rafael Correa and his committed to lying cabal of Cabinet rank officials are chock full of nuts.

Correa predicts implausibly that Ecuador's economy will grow next year up to 5% on "investment opportunities..." Even credit rating Standard & Poors rejected the wild eyed scams from the Correa team, made publicly in New York City, "Standard & Poor's said the minister's growth forecast isn't realistic given the decline in oil prices and changes to the constitution and mining and banking laws. Paez didn't say what opportunities would draw investors to Ecuador. "The words, "isn't realistic" means of course....Ecuador is lying again and again and indeed the Correa team is lying as they have been from the outset. It is never helpful when governments lie to the public. Why is the USA subsidizing Correa's rampant criminality and enabling regional collapse by refusing to be honest about this cartel dictatorship? Such behaviors are more than patronizing: they are enabling criminals under the fake excuse of "solidarity building" and "stabilization." We remind that Adolph Hitler was running a stable political machine for a while. So too has been Mugabe in Africa....completely criminal of course but ostensibly stable.
 
Ecuador to Grow Up to 5% in 2009, Won't Use IMF Lines (Update1)

By Fabiola Moura and Jose Enrique Arrioja

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuador's economy will grow 4 percent to 5 percent in 2009 on investment opportunities in the country even as global financial crisis unfolds, Economy Minister Pedro Paez said.

``The infection is outside, in the United States,'' and not in Ecuador, Paez said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York.

Ecuador's economy grew 1.87 percent in 2007, the slowest growth rate in Latin America, according to the country's central bank. In June, President Rafael Correa called for a review of how the bank reports economic data, saying its methodology doesn't accurately reflect the weight of the oil industry. The government forecasts growth of 6 percent or more in 2008.

Standard & Poor's said the minister's growth forecast isn't realistic given the decline in oil prices and changes to the constitution and mining and banking laws. Paez didn't say what opportunities would draw investors to Ecuador.

"Intuitively, that is not consistent with growth of 5 percent for next year,'' Lisa Schineller, an S&P analyst, said in an interview in New York.

S&P rates the country's foreign debt at B-, six levels below investment grade. Its growth forecast for Ecuador is about 3.5 percent for this year and 3 percent for 2009, Schineller said.

Rhetoric & Pragmatism

Correa won the presidency in late 2006 by promising a new constitution, approved in Sept. 28, to help alleviate poverty and put an end to the country's cycle of collapsing governments. He is an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Ecuador, which borders Colombia and Peru, plans to avoid tapping emergency credit lines being offered by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as it distances itself from the U.S. and its allies.

``Due to ideological reasons, while these entities maintain their attitudes, I believe it is healthy to keep a distance,'' Paez said.

Ecuador would turn instead for additional funding to ``friendly countries'' like Russia, China, Venezuela and Iran, that are creating a ``security net for contingency lines,'' Paez said.

Ecuador will make social programs its spending priority at the expense of debt payments should the crisis have a bigger impact than expected, Paez said, echoing Correa's previous speeches.

``There is a blend of rhetoric and pragmatism, to some degree, in the Correa administration,'' Schineller said. ``As oil prices come down, as the global economy slows, clearly in terms of watching Ecuador's room for maneuver is something that we are increasingly doing.''

The country, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, expects the price of oil to average $85 a barrel next year, Paez said.

That forecast ``is not consistent with our outlook at the moment,'' Schineller said.

Crude oil from Ecuador traded at $51.83 per barrel today at 2:32 p.m., according to Bloomberg data.

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Today's WALL STREET JOURNAL notes about U.S. presidential elections, "Perhaps the best case for the McCain candidacy -- apart from national security -- is that he would be a check on what is likely to be an emboldened and dangerous left-wing Congress." This statement is true. The U.S. Congress under Senators Reid-Dodd-Leahy-Lugar is unaccountable even as Congresspersons Delahunt, Pelosi, Frank, McGovern and even Ed Marky are now operatives for the George Soros one world socializing for some/tax evasion for others while legalizing narcotics and installing labor unions in place of a real, vibrant Middle Class nastiness underway. In Ecuador, there are no checks and balances on anything. There is no credibility left. And worse- no one speaks of this. The USA will soon follow in the long line of unmanly products of manipulative ethics, which always robs any man of his manhood, his honor and his scared values....which no longer exist in Ecuador where no man has a purpose and no man's life has honor any more.
 
Here is more news about more fraudulent claims against Correa's greed. This Bank, which has been busily servicing FARC money laundering, instead of cleaning up will enjoy some of Correa's "special" justice. It will be shut down under a personal vendetta:
 

Banco Pichincha apelará fallo judicial
Fue condenado a pagar $ 5 millones al presidente Rafael correa por daños

El Banco Pichincha anunció que apelará la sentencia de primera instancia emitida en su contra por el juzgado primero de lo Civil de Pichincha.

El fallo es consecuencia de una demanda planteada por el presidente de la República, Rafael Correa, en contra de la entidad bancaria.

El Pichincha presentó una solicitud de aclaración y ampliación de la sentencia, que todavía no está ejecutoriada, según dice un comunicado.

Sobre este caso, el banco asegura que, de acuerdo con la nueva Constitución, antes de resolverse este proceso existen otras tres instancias más a las que puede recurrir. El caso podría incluso llegar a conocimiento de la nueva Corte Constitucional (CC).

La demanda fue interpuesta por Correa en enero de 2007, al haber sido acusado de incurrir en una supuesta mora de pagos por una deuda no comprobada.
El juzgado aceptó la demanda planteada por el Primer Mandatario que reclamaba daños morales.

El conflicto se originó por una deuda que Correa había pagado al banco La Previsora por el uso de una tarjeta de crédito entre 1997 y 2001. Sin embargo, la acreencia fue reportada como no pagada e ingresada en la Central de Riesgo de la Superintendencia de Bancos.

La Previsora fue absorbida por Filanbanco, en el año 2000 y en agosto de 2001, el Pichincha adquirió las operaciones de la tarjeta Filancard, que incluía la operación de Correa.

En diciembre de 2005, según la versión del Pichincha, se admitió el pago de Correa por 169 dólares y se retiró su registro de la Central de Riesgo.

Antes de asumir la Presidencia, Correa interpuso una demanda y el juzgado le dio la razón, ordenando el pago de una indemnización por cinco millones de dólares. (MCV)

-Pedro Camargo for ECrisis