Ecuador Research Paper

Ecuador’s actions are not exclusive and have been seen before on the international level. In the past, certain costal states have staked a claim much wider than the customary limit (Slomanson 308). The majority of these cases were put forth by “lesser-developed nations with significant fishing or seabed resources adjacent to their coasts-while lacking the superior technology possessed by developed nations to take advantages of these resources” (Slomanson 308). Ecuador has used as justification the claim that fishing resources act as the primary source of exports and national wealth. In 1952, the same year that Ecuador claimed a 200-mile territorial sea, two other South American countries, Chile and Peru, also adopted this stance.

Peru is rich with minerals, natural resources, and precious metals such as silver, gold, copper, timber, iron ore, coal, potash, phosphate, petroleum, and natural gas. Natural resources have created Peru's infrastructure jump in growth in recent years. Peru has been building roads that go through different types of terrain to include mountains, rainforest and urban areas. Peruvians have updated their railway systems that transport civilians to and from their jobs all throughout the country. Although Peru is wealthy; unfortunately the majority of this income from these natural resources does not make it to the miners and farmers that work long days in order to acquire the resources for global sale. Many of Peru's citizens still live in poverty

Colombia is located in the northern region of South America, between Venezuela and Panama. It is almost twice the size of Texas and consists of "flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, and eastern lowland plains" (CIA). Half of the land is forested and a third is used for agriculture; this country has plenty of natural resources and exports the most coal in South America. Climate is cooler in the uplands yet tropical eastern (CIA). Galeras, one of the country’s active volcanoes, erupted in 2009 and 2010.

Colombia is located in the north of South America. Both oceans surround it; to the west is the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast. Colombia also has Panama to the north, Venezuela to the east, Brazil to the southeast and Ecuador and Peru to the south. The capital is Bogota, and it also has important cities such as Cali, Medellin and Barranquilla. The population is around 47 million people in which 7 millions are in Bogota. The main language is Spanish with many ethnic languages across the country. Colombia is independent from Spain since July 20th of 1980

The United States and the small intern governments of Ecuador can be considered as interested observers. The United States is interested in this because in the last years the countries of Latin America has been doing what the United States asked them to do and they were in some level their servants because of the power and the dependency they had o the big supremacy. The United States won’t be please to realize that a new emerging powerful economy is entering in those places where they had a main power. The small governments in Ecuador are also interested observers; because owing to the fact that Petroecuador is a state-owned company, the profits it gains are suppose to be redistribute to the country in shape of public works.

Colombia has been the setting for the longest-running civil war in Latin America. The conflict in this country takes place between the government and the two leftist guerilla groups, as well as the conflict between the guerrilla groups and the paramilitary forces. As in most wars, the most affected in this conflict are unarmed civilians.

Located on the Pacific Coastline, El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America, and the most populated. The United States of America foreign policy on El Salvador is best explained by President Obama’s approach on Latin America where the United States is focused on economic growth and equality, energy and climate control, and regional and citizen security (Foreign Policy, 2012). This is best explained using the international level of analysis and neo-liberalism where the global structure and economic interdependence provides the foundation of America’s foreign policy. To ensure that one can see the transparency in United States methodology I will provide the history of El Salvador, the creation of United States interest in El

Galeano portrays this moment in Latin American history as the instant U.S investors took control over the industries. He details the dangers they went through when producing one item to export for the benefit of foreigners, and how they later imported the processed goods from those same foreign countries, injecting money only overseas. The fact that Latin America needed imports to survive initiated the imperial link the U.S has upon it. As stated by Galeano, “The growing dependence on foreign supplies produces the growing identification of the interest of U.S. capitalists operating in Latin America with U.S. national security”11, bluntly showing the relationship between the United States and Latin America. “With petroleum, as with coffee or meat, rich countries profit more from the work of consuming it than do poor countries from the work of producing it”12. Because profit was not being retained in the Latin American countries, nationalization of the industries became of importance. The United States offered intervention in order to protect everyone’s interests with the proposal of free trade, but this was no more than another manipulation to continue having power over Latin America and its resources: “Latin America’s big ports, through which the wealth of its soil and subsoil passed en route to distant centers of power, were being built as instruments of the conquest and domination of the countries to which they belonged, and as conduits

On July 28, 1821, Peru became its own country in Western South America. The capital of Peru is Lima.  Peru is organized into three social classes. The first being the upper class which includes three percent of the population. The second one is the middle class, which consist of the workers that depend on a job, which consist of sixty percent of the population.  The third one is the lower class which is formed by the farmers, which makes up the rest of the population. The people in Peru have a smaller group of white people that control the big lower class, which consist of mostly natives. The middle class of people today have a job such as office workers, military officers, and business owners or workers. The population of Peru is about 31,826,018 people.

The United States has been an important part in the history of all of Latin America. Many times, the United States influenced Latin American countries with its economic, political, and military power. The United States looked down at Latin America as its backyard, constantly using its influence to benefit from the land and supporting dictators in the region. The United States used this power to effectively influence Latin America for decades, even when the U.S. faced communism as a new threat during the Cold War. The United States feared the communist influence of the Soviet Union in countries like El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, because the “evil empire’s” plan for world domination included infiltrating Latin America. Even though these

Colombia produces the most cocaine and mines the most emeralds in the world. Even though they have an abundance of resources, they are only the forty-third richest country in the world. (Statistic Times,

“Colombia is well endowed with minerals and energy resources. It has the largest coal reserves in Latin America and is second to Brazil in hydroelectric potential. The country's oil reserves total about 2.6 billion barrels. However, these are estimated to represent less than 20% of the country's actual oil potential.” This site also discusses how Colombia’s unique climate and topography allow for success in production of natural goods such as the aforementioned coffee, flowers, tropical fruits, and livestock to name a few (“Colombia Trade News”).

One of the main features of Ecuador ’s economy is its dependence on only a few key export commodities, most importantly oil and bananas. Oil accounts for approximately 40% of the export economy, while bananas are responsible for about 17%, and Ecuador is the largest producer of bananas in the world. The rest of the economy is mostly based on less important agricultural exports, such as shrimp and flowers, which account for 6% and 4% of exports respectively. Ecuador is almost completely reliant on the success of these few industries, particularly oil, and so has suffered through a cycle of boom and bust economies over the past several decades, since oil was discovered in the 1970s.

Santiago is the capital of Chile. It is currently the largest city in Chile. Santiago was founded in 1541 and has been growing ever since. This city includes the largest building in Latin America called the Gran Torre Santiago. One of Chile's most popular features is Easter Island. Popular for it's stone heads, this Chilean island brings in tourist from all over the world. Famous not only because of the stone heads, but also for being the most isolated inhabited island. It is located 3,512 kilometres off the coast of Chile. The city of Valparaíso is one of the most important ports and cultural hot spots for Chile. It is located midway down the country and on the coast. Another important city is Viña del Mar. It is located

     Ecuador is one of the smallest countries of South America. It lies on the West Coast of the continent between Colombia and Peru. The equator crosses Ecuador and gives the country its name. Ecuador is the Spanish word for equator.