1983

In order that Ecuador's government be allowed a loan of 1.5 billion dollars from the IMF, they were forced to take over the unpaid private debts Ecuador's elite owed to private banks. Furthermore in order to ensure Ecuador could pay back this loan, the IMF dictated price hikes in electricity and other utilities. When that didn't give the IMF enough cash they ordered Ecuador to sack 120,000 workers.

Ecuador were required to do a variety of things under a timetable imposed by the IMF. These included: raising the price of cooking gas by 80% by 1st of November 2000; transferring the ownership of its biggest water system to foreign operators; granting British Petroleum the rights to build and own an oil pipeline over the Andes; and eliminating the jobs of more workers and reducing the wages of those remaining by 50%.