Esther Cuesta
Esther Cuesta | |
|---|---|
.jpg) A re-elected Cuesta at the National Assembly in 2024 | |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| Assumed office 14 May 2017 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Esther Adelina Cuesta Santana 23 June 1975 Guayaquil, Ecuador |
| Political party | The Citizens' Revolution |
| Education | University of Massachusetts Amherst |
Esther Adelina Cuesta Santana (born 23 June 1975) is an Ecuadorian politician and a member of the National Assembly and The Citizens' Revolution. Cuesta was an undocumented immigrant in the United States and she represented the 800,000 Ecuadorian migrants in Europe, Asia, and Oceania.
Life
[edit]Cuesta was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador,[1] in 1975. When she was 19, she vacationed in Mexico, secretly crossing the border into the United States.[2] She was an undocumented immigrant for "several years".[3] Cuesta earned graduate, masters, and doctoral degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst[1] in 2002, 2009, and 2015, respectively. Her interests at the time were not political but in linguistics, economics, anthropology, and sociology. Cuesta's doctoral research involved studying migration to Europe from Ecuador.[2]
In 2009, Cuesta went to Italy to research and, while she was there, was offered the position of Consul[2] eventually becoming Ecuador's Consul General in Genoa. She was in that position until April 2015. She then joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Vice Minister of Human Mobility and in 2016 she was promoted to be the Minister.[1] She put herself forward as a candidate for the National Assembly and she was elected in February 2017 to represent the 800,000 Ecuadorian migrants in Europe, Asia, and Oceania.[2] She was appointed to be the president of the Italian-Ecuadorian Parliamentary Group and vice president of the Assembly's Committee on Foreign Relations, Sovereignty and Security.[2]
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Cuesta was President of the Commission for Sovereignty, Integration, International Relations and Integral Security. She was elected by the National Assembly to that position in June 2018 with Ana Belen Marin as her vice-President.[4]
Before the elections in February 2021, Cuesta requested unpaid leave from the assembly so that she could take part in the elections. 42 other members also made the same request including Wilma Andrade, Mónica Alemán, Verónica Arias, Dallyana Passailaigue, Cristina Reyes and Silvia Lorena Vera. During her absence her job would be carried out by her substitute.[5]
In July 2022 the position of vice-president of the assembly was vacant as Yeseña Guamaní had been removed by the Union for Hope (UNES) faction and a replacement was required. There was a political stand-off as the parties could not agree. The Pachakutik party proposed Mireya Pazmiño and Mario Ruiz and the Democratic Left offered Johanna Moreira. UNES offered Marcela Holguín, Sofia Espín and Cuesta.[6]
The President of Ecuador Guillermo Lasso brought in the constitution clause number 148 known as Mutual death in May 2023 when he knew that he was about to be impeached. This required all of the National Assembly members to stand for re-election.[7] Cuesta stood for re-election.[8]
Cuesta was reelected. In April 2024 she caused controversy when she published a video in supported of Jorge Glas who was a former colleague who was then avoiding arrest inside the Mexican embassy.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Discurso Asambleísta ESTHER CUESTA - Entrega de Credenciales". Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador (in Spanish). 8 September 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Smith, Samm. "Dedicated to Public Service". www.umassalumni.com. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ "2018: Ecuador´s Organic Law on Human Mobility | University of Bristol Law School". www.bristol.ac.uk. University of Bristol. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ "Esther Cuesta y Ana Belén Marín dirigen la Comisión de Relaciones Internacionales". Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador (in Spanish). 11 June 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ^ "43 Asambleístas solicitaron licencia para intervenir en las elecciones de febrero". Mundial Medios (in Spanish). 6 January 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
- ^ "Entre los bloques de la Asamblea que buscan las dos vicepresidencias aún no hay las condiciones para llegar a un acuerdo – Diario La Hora". La Hora (in Spanish). 20 July 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ News, Latin America (17 May 2023). "What is cross-death, and what does it mean for Lasso in Ecuador?". The Rio Times. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "43 asambleístas que fueron destituidos lograron la reelección". Primicias (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 November 2023.
- ^ Varas, Eduardo (12 April 2024). "El correísmo pierde pista". GK (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 May 2024.