Ecuador’s presidential election concluded on April 11 with Guillermo Lasso winning. This was Lasso’s third run at the Ecuadorian presidency. His opponent, Andrés Arauz, is a 36-year-old socialist and protégé of former President Rafael Correa. Lasso will be sworn in on May 24.

Correa was president from 2007 to 2017. He’s been out of office for four years but still casts a long shadow over Ecuadorian politics. Many see Lasso’s election as an attempt to sever Ecuador from Correa’s influence and his socialist policies. Lasso has promised drastic economic change for Ecuador. A millionaire and former banker, he wants to make Ecuador more conservative. A “devotee” of the Catholic organization Opus Dei, he studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador.

“Today is a day of celebration,” Lasso said. “Democracy has triumphed. Ecuadoreans, all of you … have chosen a new path—a very different path from the one Ecuador has followed.”

What path does Lasso want to take Ecuador on?

Correa’s socialist policies left the country with a massive debt, and outgoing President Lenin Moreno has been struggling to pay it off. Moreno had to restructure $17.4 billion in debt. As of 2018, roughly a quarter of Ecuadorians lived in poverty. Ecuador doesn’t even have its own currency; it uses the United States dollar.

Fixing the economy will be one of Lasso’s top priorities. A supporter of free-market capitalism, he wants to balance Ecuador’s budget before the next election. He has also promised the creation of 2 million new jobs. In a country of 17.4 million, that would give jobs to over 10 percent of the population.

Lasso’s vision for the country is monumental. But how does he plan to get the funding for this?

Opening Ecuador up to foreign investment is one way. While running for president during the 2013 election, he pledged to open up Ecuador to economic investment from the West. “We will sign commercial agreements with the United States, Europe, Asia and with any country in the world that wants to buy an Ecuadorian product,” he said in 2012. At the time, he criticized the government’s trade policy. “The current government carries international politics influenced by ideological prejudices; a trade treaty with Iran is being proposed to the National Assembly, but a trade treaty with the European Union is not being promoted,” he said.

During his 2013 campaign, he stated a trade agreement with the EU would be a top priority. “This is going to be a priority, hopefully we can sign it with the European Union in the first six months of government, because the banana growers urgently need it, for example. Forty percent of Ecuadorian bananas go to Europe. We have to eliminate disadvantages to generate opportunities.”

The EU and Ecuador made a trade agreement in 2014, but Europe would be keen for greater economic cooperation. The European Commission’s website calls Ecuador “one of the least ‘investor-friendly’ countries in the Americas, with a very low foreign direct investment inflow, due to what is perceived as an uncertain legal framework for foreign investors.”

The EU has been trying to expand into Latin America lately. It made a trade deal with mercosur (a trade bloc including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) in 2020. It also made a deal with Mexico that same year. A conservative Catholic running Ecuador could provide Brussels another former Spanish colony to add to its trade empire.

This wouldn’t be the first time Europe has taken advantage of Latin America’s resources. When Spain and the Holy Roman Empire (modern Germany) were ruled by one monarch—Charles v—conquistadors like Cortez and Pizarro took over everything from the western United States to the southern tip of Argentina. Gold, silver and slaves from the New World made Charles’s empire a superpower.

Latin America is still resource-rich, and it has resources that Europe wants. And Europe is full of strong economies and wealthy investors that countries like Ecuador want. Could Europe’s courting of its former colonies transform it into a superpower?

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in his March 2019 article “America Is Being Besieged Economically”:

The mercosur countries possess resources that Europe needs. In return, Europe is supplying some of Latin America’s needs as well. The reality though is that by linking itself with Europe in this way, Latin America is contributing to the rise of a modern resurrection of the medieval Holy Roman Empire!

Few Americans are paying attention to the situation that is developing to our south. But I guarantee they won’t be able to ignore it indefinitely. This trade agreement will impact the whole world! It is going to affect your life dramatically. … This trade deal is that important!

To find out why Europe’s involvement in Latin America is so important, please read Mr. Flurry’s article “America Is Being Besieged Economically.”