I’ve been watching for this one, and now it’s official.

Ecuador heads for socialist reform of constitution

Ecuadorans overwhelmingly voted Sunday in favor of forming an assembly to rewrite the constitution, a project sought by leftist President Rafael Correa, according to initial, unofficial results. Correa, who had staked his post on the outcome, was handed 78.1 percent of the votes, a Cedatos-Gallup exit poll showed. The private company’s results were broadcast by the television network Ecuavisa. … Correa, who took office three months ago, has set out a sweeping reform program for his five-year mandate that would include reversing free-market measures, renegotiating foreign oil contracts and cutting ties with the International Monetary Fund.

What is it with socialists and 5-year plans?

Anyway, Ecuador and Venezuela will play out in different ways. First of all, Ecuador currently has adopted the dollar as their official currency. If they don’t reverse that, they won’t have the ability to inflate the way that Chavez has done. In addition, while oil is a decent portion of their economy, they don’t have quite the resources that Chavez has been able to dole out.

With a per-capita GDP much smaller than Venezuela, without the inflation problem, and without the incredible oil boom that Chavez has, they’ll have to be much more circumspect about how aggressive they get with their socialism. Thus, they could hold a semblance of stability when Venezuela eventually crumbles. But I think the end result is the same as always, socialism won’t be the panacea they’re looking for.