Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa on Saturday named a new economic policy minister and called for the nullification of a recent arbitration ruling against his government in its feud with oil giant Chevron.
Katiuska King, currently a vice secretary in the country’s Senplades planning and development department, will be sworn in today to replace outgoing Economic Policy Minister Diego Borja. A total of eight or nine new ministers are to be named, Correa said in a televised address.
“Katiuska King will be the new economic policy minister,” Correa said.
It was unclear whether Borja would continue to head the central bank, which has not managed monetary policy since the country adopted the US dollar in 2000.
Correa has a troubled relationship with private investors.
He is forcing foreign oil companies to renegotiate their contracts in a bid to increase state control over the sector.
The fiery leftist leader shocked the markets in 2008 by defaulting on US$3.2 billion (NT$101 billion) in bonds and has sided with plaintiffs in the Amazon region of the country who are suing US oil company Chevron Corp for US$27 billion in environmental damages.
An arbitration panel ruled on Tuesday that Ecuador’s courts violated international law by delaying rulings on commercial disputes between Chevron and Ecuador’s government, and awarded Chevron US$700 million.
“We are going to look to nullify this monstrosity,” Correa said on Saturday.
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