“We have closed the negotiations and closed them well,” Ecuador’s foreign trade minister, Francisco Rivadeneira, said on 11 August in reference to the trade agreement struck with the European Union (EU) in July. A long legislative journey awaits before the trade accord can take effect but Rivadeneira was keen to stress that it had been “a very positive negotiation for Ecuador”, with widespread benefits for exporters and “extremely small” costs which were “difficult to identify”. He argued that the repercussions of failing to reach an accord would have been very negative, with “enormous unemployment in the country”. Ecuador completed its…

President Rafael Correa managed to duck a potentially awkward referendum on the exploitation of oil in the Yasuní national reserve earlier this year, but he might not be able to avoid a referendum on his plans to amend the constitution to be able to stand for indefinite re-election. The political opposition is preparing to gather signatures to demand a referendum in late 2015 on a reform that has not even been approved by the national assembly yet. Correa insists that such a referendum holds no fears for him – and his high approval rating suggests his confidence is not misplaced…