Leftist Elected Ecuadorian President
Rafael Correa (pictured in AFP Photo) was declared the winner of Ecuador's Presidential race recently. He is a friend of Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan President that called US President Bush "the devil" in a UN speech in September. The result weakens US influence in the region as Correa stated he would oppose a free-trade agreement with the US and will not renew the lease for a US airbase. Correa said, "we respect international treaties, but in 2009, when the Manta agreement expires, we will not renew it."

The Latin American region will be a very interesting place to watch over the next few years as quite a few countries have leftist leaders now. TIME has a neat article about the recent developments and what they mean here. For more on the Ecuadorian election, read here. Another article mentions that the airbase closing will end US counternarcotics operations in the region.