Rafael Correa is one of the most prominent faces of socialism in Latin America, and former president of Ecuador.
An economist, he served as the Economy and Finance Minister at the beginning of Alfredo Palacio’s presidency, in 2005, but would resign from office due to disagreements with the presidential policies. Having founded the political party Alianza PAIS, he became the President of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. During his time in office, also known as the “citizen revolution”, he fought the neoliberal policies of FMI and World Bank, advocating for a greater intervention of the State in the country’s economy and promoting cooperation among Latin-American countries. Correa achieved record numbers in decreasing poverty, inequality, and annual PIB per capita growth. He left his party in 2018, due to the ideological drift of his successor Lenin Moreno.