Free Republic

QUITO, Ecuador - Jorge Subia is nostalgic when he talks about this Andean nation's former currency, the sucre, and bridles with patriotic resentment when he recalls how it was replaced as the official legal tender by the U.S. dollar. "It's a national question of honor. The sucre was ours and now we have the dollar from the United States," said Subia, a truck driver. "The sucre was part of Ecuador, like the nation's flag or the national anthem." This week marks five years since former President Jamil Mahuad's Jan. 9, 2000, decision to phase out the sucre in favor of...