Ecuador’s Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner tendered his resignation on 7 July. Sonnenholzner, President Lenín Moreno’s third vice president, said he would play a part in the forthcoming electoral campaign. He did not confirm whether he would seek to stand in next February’s presidential contest, but he stressed the need to “follow a path that removes us from inequality, hunger, unemployment and corruption”. One of Moreno’s familiar laments is that he inherited a state so overburdened with debt that he had no room for manoeuvre and was forced into a series of unpopular economic austerity measures, leading to violent protests last October. The economic impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and rock-bottom oil prices mean Moreno will bequeath his successor next May a similar challenge. But he boasted this week that as a result of his government’s decision to honour its debt commitments, a restructuring deal, crucial for the country’s future, was within its grasp.
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