Inauguration Day!

This past Tuesday was Obama's inauguration, and Ecuador was paying attention. The vast majority of people I speak to – students and professors, Rotarians and non-Rotarians – are impressed by Obama. They feel he is very smart and thoughtful, and sincere. The newspapers put him on the front page numerous times over the last week, and followed up with detailed stories about his biography (there is a huge fascination with his being biracial) and some of his policies (especially on economic and “War on Terror” issues.) There is certainly excitement and a repressed hope.

The repressed part stems from a fundamental skepticism of the United States on the part of many, although certainly not all, Ecuadorians. In particular, there is profound objection to Guantanamo, perhaps because of Latin America’s history of human rights abuses, sometimes supported the United States. Its closure will help, but our credibility was pretty badly damaged.

Despite all this, the hope is there. If it were not, nobody would even pay attention the election – and most everyone did. Beneath the openly voiced objections to many US policies, there lies an intense desire for Obama to succeed in re-starting our economy (and thus Ecuador's in large part!), helping to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, closing Guantanamo, and simply reaching out and showing interest in the region.

I tried to do my small Ambassadorial part by inviting several of my University friends to join me at a bar in watching the event. We had a diverse international group – an Ecuadorian, Bolivian, and Colombian joined me and did their best to understand Obama’s speech. They were impressed by what they understood, and certainly by the obvious enthusiasm it generated. I know they also felt my excitement and graciously shared in it, listening to my reflections and asking questions. It is good to have friends like these.