_#_Communists: Communist Party of Ecuador (PCE, pro-Moscow), Rene
Mauge Mosquera, secretary general, 5,000 members; Communist Party of
Ecuador/Marxist Leninist (PCMLE, Maoist), 3,000 members; Socialist
Party of Ecuador (PSE, pro-Cuba), 5,000 members (est.); National
Liberation Party (PLN, Communist), 5,000 members (est.)
_#_Member of: AG, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU,
LAES, LAIA, LORCS, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPEC, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jaime MONCAYO; Chancery at 2535 15th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 234-7200; there are Ecuadorian Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco, and a Consulate in San Diego;
US—Ambassador Paul C. LAMBERT; Embassy at Avenida Patria 120, on the corner of Avenida 12 de Octubre, Quito (mailing address is P. O. Box 538, Quito, or APO Miami 34039); telephone [593] (2) 562-890; there is a US Consulate General in Guayaquil
_#_Flag: three horizontal bands of yellow (top, double width), blue, and red with the coat of arms superimposed at the center of the flag; similar to the flag of Colombia which is shorter and does not bear a coat of arms
_*Economy #_Overview: Ecuador has substantial oil resources and rich agricultural areas. Growth has been uneven because of natural disasters (e.g., a major earthquake in 1987), fluctuations in global oil prices, and government policies designed to curb inflation. The government has not taken a supportive attitude toward either domestic or foreign investment, although its agreement to enter the Andean free trade zone is an encouraging move.
_#_GDP: $10.6 billion, per capita $1,010; real growth rate 1.5% (1990)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 49.5% (1990)
_#_Unemployment rate: 8.0% (1990)
_#_Budget: revenues $2.2 billion; expenditures $2.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $375 million (1991)