Although it may seem counterintuitive to the Americans posting on this site, the US has likely used its intermediaries like Lucio Gutierrez and Luis Posada Carriles to destabilize the Ecuadoran Government. The global system functions because US diplomatic pressure on OPEC nations (and China and Japan) to buy low yield US treasury bonds keeps US interest rates low. Low rates mean consumers can tolerate more debt for imported goods-the motor of the economy since the US has deindustrialized itself. Correa's policy of playing hardball on repayment of Ecuador's soveriegn debt and his use of oil revenues to finance social programs instead of US treasury bills is a challange to the global system. Successful defiance could encourage other countries such as Saudi Arabia to follow suit. Correa's minor and partial defiance of the Washington Consensus is a threat to US security and stability. 99% of Americans have no knowledge of the fact that in the 1970s, the US informed OPEC that surplus dollars could be used for Treasury Bills, armaments, or contracts with US civil engineering firms but that any attempt to purchase stakes in US firms (by proxy companies with state funds) or to develop state owned competitors that threatened US market share would be considered an act of war. Carriles and Gutierrez never unilaterally send their mercenaries and political loyalists to undertake actions unless the plan is first cleared by the CIA as being consistant with US policy for the region. If they did act unilaterally, they would suddenly find host governments willing to act on the interpol warrants for their arrest.
