Ecuador is an interesting place. The president and congress are considered corrupt. Presidents last a short time, usually displaced by popular discontent to be replaced by someone even worse.
Most corrupt regimes are fairly long-lasting. Dictators the world over, once they work out who to bribe, usually manage to remain in power for decades. Just think of Fidel Castrol, Kim Jong Il, Robert Mugabe and, sadly, the new regime in South Africa.
Ecuador, in contrast, seems to change presidents as often as most people change their underpants. The last one seems to have been displaced by some kind of popular uprising, which makes the place a lot more democratic than, say, China. The current president seems to be some kind of disciple of Hugo Chavez, and is proposing to abandon the dollarisation of the economy, settling instead for some kind of Mercosurian version of the Euro. He has hardly has been elected before he was caught on some kind of videotape planning to manipulate the government bond market, renege on sovereign debt etc. etc.
In fact the country, although poor by European standards, seems to be getting on with things. There are plenty of cars on the roads, I didn't see any Brazilian-style shanty towns, the population, especially of Guayquil, seemed egregiously well-fed. I can imagine that the local branch of Weight Watchers is pretty busy.
I would guess that there is a an extreme inequality of distribution of income. I warned recently that I could be robbed at any time. There are innumerable guards with sub-machine guns hanging around the doorways to the banks. Guards are paid to mind motor cars overnight. People's drives have heavy railings to stop people stealing their vehicles.
From the point of view of the tourist, Ecuador has a lot going for it. Friendly people, cheap food and accommodation, familiar currency, familiar language. From the point of view of the investor, or of the average citizen, I'm not so sure.
