“Obama’s hands are tied” – Ecuador’s president
Published: 30 October, 2009, 15:13
Edited: 31 October, 2009, 05:04
TAGS: South America, Obama, USA, Economy
Ecuador's president thinks Barack Obama is a good man, but suggests Washington's powerful factions will stop him from doing his job.
Rafael Correa talked to RT, commenting on his three-day visit to Moscow, where he signed a raft of energy and military deals.
RT: Concerning Barack Obama, does it seem to you that there is enough foundation to establish a general opinion about him?
R.C.: Yes, I met him in person during our meeting, I think it was in Dominica, but I don’t remember the name of the place exactly. So, I had an opportunity to talk to him. He seems like a good guy to me, honest and well-intentioned. However, this is not enough. I’m afraid that he doesn’t rule the entire apparatus of the US administration. It is such a complex system that he doesn’t belong to. President Obama is an outsider. As a result, there may be certain military groups with their own agenda. There may be intelligence groups as well. There may be powerful economic interests, industrial groups with their own agenda, too. Therefore, I’m afraid that, in spite of his good intentions, Obama won’t be able to change the system. That’s what we’ve seen so far. For example, regarding the Cuban embargo or the coup d'état in Honduras. If there was a firmer US stance, this coup would end tomorrow. But there isn’t. My fear is that, despite Barack Obama being a good and well-intentioned person, the inertia of the US apparatus is overpowering him.
RT: What do you think about the fact that the US dollar is still the official monetary unit of Ecuador?
R.C.: I was always against the US dollar, it’s seems a huge technical mistake to me. An important part of a country’s sovereignty is having its own monetary unit. In one of his movies, the actor Luis Everett said: “Let me introduce a currency in a country, and I’ll laugh at its legislation.” That is, by managing a currency in a country one can destabilize the situation in it or enrich oneself. I believe that it was a monstrosity in terms of sovereignty. I wasn’t the one who introduced it. Actually, at that time, I was in the United States. Unfortunately, there are economic issues you may get into, but are unable to get out of.
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Why should the u.s. have to worry or care about problems in cuba or hond. we have real problems here, trust me when i tell you obama has his own agenda that has nothing to do with 3 world countries,you are impressed with his well mannered approach like a child is impressed with a cartoon. When your country figures out how to makeindoor plumbing and paved roads we can start talking.
@Antony; I agree --- we need to deal with our problems here. But what we also need to do is listen to what others are observing, as these are some clues on how to deal with problems. For starters, we need to leave people ALONE, and not jam down their throat our "financial instruments", and they would be quite happy to build their own roads and plumbing. Friendly armtwisting needs to stop, so that the developing countries do not have to take IMF loans that they do not want. Oh, yes, they are "begging" for those loans. Translate, a crooked elite is always for sale, for as long as there is money --- our money. This is how some are making money, at taxpayers expense. Then we need to remove over 1,000 bases worldwide in over 180 countries. They are there to allow somebody to make a lots of money. And wars are the best money making machines ever invented. For some. For us, it is debt. And in a due course, we will go through inflation, our wealth wiped out. The smart money is already going into safe havens. And what has Honduras or Cuba got to do with it? Not much, other then good examples of what should not be happening. Coup in Honduras done by two guys trained in our own School of the Americas. Cuba is isolated in order to keep the dreams alive of the exiles who still hope to take over by violence. Who cares about their interests, when the interests of the US public are damaged. It costs a great deal of money to run an empire. To fix problems, one will have to first stop the loss of money on all sorts of projects around the world. Whether they are military or civilian, they will have to be first accounted for, and then stopped. Why on earth do we need to finance thousands of NGOs worldwide? While the staff they collect may be well meaning and dedicated, the management of those groups is corrupt and self-serving. They are parasitical, with only one objective --- keep the funding.