Making change.Ecuadoran President Gustavo Noboa slept little on the night of the Jan. 21 coup. Around dawn, having closed his eyes for half an hour--his only rest in 24 hours--the former vice president, now the country's leader, faced a baptism of fire Baptism of Fire A difficult situation that a company or individual experiences that will result in either success or failure. Examples include Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), a new CEO hired to manage a struggling company, and hostile takeover attempts. . Should he go forward with his predecessor's surprise decision, announced two weeks earlier, to adopt the U.S. dollar as Ecuador's currency? Noboa knew well that fierce popular opposition to the policy had cost Jamil Mahuad the presidency. Or should he seek another way to counter the ravages rav·age v. rav·aged, rav·ag·ing, rav·ages v.tr. 1. To bring heavy destruction on; devastate: A tornado ravaged the town. 2. of soaring inflation, devaluation devaluation, decreasing the value of one nation's currency relative to gold or the currencies of other nations. It is usually undertaken as a means of correcting a deficit in the balance of payments. and recession? "I had the most grave decision any president has to make," Noboa says. "But if I hadn't gone for dollarization dol·lar·i·za·tion n. The replacement of a country's system of currency with U.S. dollars. , who knows what the sucre would be worth now." |
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