Ecuadorian president celebrates 3 years in office

QUITO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Friday marked Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's three years in office, a day which witnessed both celebrations and protests as the foreign minister resigned only three days ago.

Commenting on announced demonstrations against his administration, Correa played down the moves by some indigenous organizations.

"The indigenous people are with us," he asserted.

"With them, we are invincible, and a great part of them is joining the 'civil revolution' project. The indigenous masses are with us," he said during a television interview with local Ecuador TV.

According to Security Minister Miguel Carvajal, "in a democratic government, like ours, the different opinions and criteria will always be guaranteed, being from the parliamentarians or leaders."

In the past three years, Correa's ruling Country Alliance Movement won six consecutive elections since November 2006.

The government also approved a New Constitution, which took effect in October 2008 and is considered a major triumph.

Policy Coordination Minister Ricardo Patino said that the extensive participation of citizens was an achievement by the leftist project, which was aimed at consolidating "the socialism of the 21st century."

"Never a Constitution, ever, was discussed, worked, (or) widely analyzed in such a long time, with thousands of people, (and) hundreds of organizations from all sectors," Patino said.

Fernando Cordero, head of the Ecuadorian Assembly, said that the approval of the new Constitution was one of the most important achievements of the first three years of Correa's government.

He added that the enforcement of the constitution requires joint efforts from the Ecuadorian society.

According to Correa, 32 new laws had been written from October 2008 to June 2009.

Following these changes in laws, the challenge aheads for Correa's government lies in encouraging more participation from social sectors.

However, Correa is losing popular support as separate polls this week showed that his approval rating fell to around 40 percent, down from the 72 percent when he took office in January 2007.