Rafael Correa, Ecuadorean President, declared default on all of Ecuador’s foreign sovereign bonds, for the second time in a decade, suggesting, that the debt was mostly acquired “illegally,” in his Saturday broadcast.

Correa, a Belgian trained economist, was officially declared President of Ecuador in December 2006 with a political slogan of “life before debt.”

“We’re preparing a restructuring plan with a very big discount because there is a legitimate part to the debt. We want to present a proposal where some value of the debt is recognized but at a much lower price than what they say we owe.”

His refusal to pay the month-delayed interest payment due Monday caused the $510 million U.S. worth of bonds to fall to 26¢ on the dollar. Correa says he had a moral obligation to not give authorization to pay interest on the current bonds withstanding, going on to say “I personally assume full responsibility in case this costs the country too much.”

Correa suggests that the previous administration sold the bonds illegally, and as such, the creditors to which Ecuador’s debt is held by are metaphoric “real monsters.”

The only bonds effected are the 2012 global sovereign bonds. Ecuador’s total debt is roughly $10 billion U.S.

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