The Ethics and Democracy Network (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

''Red Ética y Democracia'', RED) was a

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

. It was formed by labour union leaders and other leftist militants, led by

León Roldós Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

, former vice-president and brother of former president Jaime Roldós, who came from the

Ecuadorian Socialist Party Ecuadorians ( es, ecuatorianos) are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collect ...

. For the October 2006 elections, RED entered into an alliance with the Democratic Left party, to support the candidacy of León Roldós and running mate Ramiro González, former Prefect of the

Pichincha Province Pichincha () is a province of Ecuador located in the northern Sierra region; its capital and largest city is Quito. It is bordered by Imbabura and Esmeraldas to the north, Cotopaxi and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas to the south, Napo and ...

. The alliance's presidential ticket came in fourth place with 14.8% of the votes, while RED won 5 of 100 seats in Congress. Between 2005 and 2007, RED received training by the U.S.

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs The National Democratic Institute (NDI), or National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, is a non-profit American NGO that works with partners in developing countries to increase the effectiveness of democratic institutions. The NDI's ...

through its ''Political Party Network'' funded by the

National Endowment for Democracy The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is an organization in the United States that was founded in 1983 for promoting democracy in other countries by promoting political and economic institutions such as political groups, trade unions, ...

. In 2009,

Martha Roldós Martha Rina Victoria Roldós Bucaram ( Guayaquil, Ecuador; 1963) is an Ecuadorian economist and politician. Her parents were the former president of the Republic Jaime Roldós Aguilera and Martha Bucaram, who both died in a plane crash in Loj ...

, the daughter of Jaime and niece of León Roldós ran as RED's presidential candidate. She was considered one of the strongest left-wing contenders of President

Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963), known as Rafael Correa, is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as President of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation ...

whom she heavily criticized, but won only 4.3% of the votes. Mario Unda, professor of sociology at the

Central University of Ecuador The Central University of Ecuador ( es, Universidad Central del Ecuador) is a national university located in Quito, Ecuador and is the oldest and largest university in Ecuador, and one of the oldest in the Americas. The enrollment at Central Un ...

criticized RED for a perceived drift to the

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical th ...

and links with

business oligarch A business oligarch is generally a business magnate who controls sufficient resources to influence national politics. A business leader can be considered an oligarch if the following conditions are satisfied: # uses monopolistic tactics to domina ...

s. RED was joined by Mónica Chuji, a former member of Correa's government who had turned against him, accusing him of authoritarian tendencies and excessive economic focus on ecologically harmful extractive industries. Chuji became RED's frontrunner for the Congressional election,Becker (2011), p. 172. in which the party failed to win any seat.

References

2005 establishments in Ecuador 2013 disestablishments in Ecuador Defunct political parties in Ecuador Ethics organizations Plurinational Unity of the Lefts Political parties disestablished in 2013 Political parties established in 2005 Socialist parties in Ecuador {{philo-org-stub