Rafael Correa took power as President of the Republic of Ecuador to govern until 2017.

Correa took on his third term at the National Assembly before the heads of state of different Latin American and European countries, international delegations, assembly members, ministers, family members, and members of the governing party Alianza PAIS. Correa and his Vice President Jorge Glas were sworn in before the President of the National Assembly, Gabriela Rivadeneira, on the morning of May 24, 2013.

In his inauguration speech President Rafael Correa promised to continue the social programs which his high levels of popularity have been based on. Correa emphasized that public investment will be maintained this year at 15% of the gross domestic product (GDP) to continue the social plans and the building of infrastructure.

Presidente Rafael Correa Takes Office. Quito, Ecuador, May 24, 2013. Photo from the
Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador on Flickr. (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

On Twitter Ecuadorians commented on the speech under the hashtag #PosesiónPresidencial [es] (President takes power).

Carlos Macas (@CarlosMacas19) [es] mentioned one of the changes to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) that Correa proposes [es]: change the headquarters from Washington to a country in the region that has joined the American Convention on Human Rights (also known as the Pact of San José).

@CarlosMacas19: Rafael Correa “La sede de la CIDH tiene que estar en un País, que haya ratificado el pacto de San Jose” #PosesiónPresidencial RT

@CarlosMacas19: Rafael Correa “The headquarters of the IAHCR has to be in a country that has ratified the Pact of San Jose” #PosesiónPresidencial RT

But lawyer and political activist Luis A. Gaibor G. (@Luisgaiborg) [es] asked:

@Luisgaiborg: De q sirve q #Ecuador firme todos los Pactos d D. Humanos si ni siquiera se respeta el Derecho d Libertad d Expresión #PosesionPresidencial

@Luisgaiborg: What does it matter if #Ecuador signs all the Human Rights Pacts if it doesn't even respect the Right to Freedom of Expression #PosesionPresidencial

President Correa has a tense [es] relationship with the media in the country. In his speech he said that “the Latin American press, with honorable exceptions like always, is bad, very bad” and he claimed to be a victim of a “media lynching”. Nevertheless, as social communicator Edison Pérez (@edyelrojo) [es] mentions, Correa added: “We defend the freedom of expression of all Ecuadorians and not only of certain groups”.

Luis Baque Gutiérrez (@baquelig) [es] repeated the words of the president during the speech:

@baquelig: #PosesiónPresidencial Este ECUADOR no esta dispuesto a ser colonia de nadie. Bravo @MashiRafael

@baquelig: #PosesiónPresidencial This ECUADOR is not ready to be anyone's colony. Bravo @MashiRafael

With a more critical look, @Jose_CastroS [es] from Guayaquil questioned Correa's words when he said [es] that “The Pope is Argentine, God is probably Brazilian (as the President of Brasil Dilma Rousseff said), so surely paradise is Ecuadorian”:

@Jose_CastroS: que Ecuador es el paraiso ? donde deja la delincuencia, el narcotrafico , asesinatos? #PosesiónPresidencial#CorreistaPendejo

@Jose_CastroS: so Ecuador is paradise? what about the crime, the drug trafficking, the killings? #PosesiónPresidencial#CorreistaPendejo

Finally, Elector Ecuador (@ElectorEcuador) [es], a citizen initiative that informed voters about the election candidates in the country, congratulated Correa and his vice president:

@ElectorEcuador: #Ecuador Felicitamos en su nuevo mandato a @MashiRafael y @JorgeGlas #24deMayo #EleccionesEC http://fb.me/1X8pM9zO4

@ElectorEcuador: #Ecuador We congratulate @MashiRafael and @JorgeGlas on their new term #24deMayo #EleccionesEC http://fb.me/1X8pM9zO4