Ricardo Armando Patiño Aroca (born 16 May 1954) is an Ecuadorian politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador from 2010 until 2016, under the government of President Rafael Correa.

After writing his master's thesis related to the world of labor, Patiño was External Consultant of the ILO (September 2000 – February 2001) and General Coordinator of the Research Team "Estrategias para una política de empleo para el Ecuador con énfasis en la pequeña empresa y micro empresa" (Strategies for an employment policy for Ecuador with emphasis on micro and small enterprise) ILDIS (February – September 2000).

Throughout his career he has held the positions such as : Economic Consultant of the Ecuadorian Central Class Organizations (1982–1991), Parliamentary Counselor (1990–1992), Founding Member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Users and Consumers of Guayas (1992 – 1997), Founder of the Group of Social Studies (March 1999 – 2000), General Coordinator of the Research Team "Strategies for an employment policy for Ecuador with emphasis on micro and small enterprise" ILDIS (February – September 2000), Founding Member and Coordinator of the Jubilee 2000 movement-Red Guayaquil Driving Group member (May 1999 to present), Member of the Driving Group (May 1999 – to present), Coordinator of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Inter-Ministerial Employment Commission of Ecuador (March 2001 – December 2002), Founding Member and Manager of the Savings and Credit Cooperative "De todas" (February 2003 – May 2005), Coordinator of the Professional Team appointed by Jubilee 2000 – Red Guayaquil, for developing the National Strategy for Debt Relief (August to December 2003), Advisor to the Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Ecuador (June to July 2005), General Undersecretary of Economics at the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Ecuador (July–August 2005), Minister of Economy and Finance (January–July 2007), President of the Comprehensive Auditing Commission of Ecuador's Public Credit (2007–2008), Minister of the Coast (July–December 2007), Politics' Minister Coordinator (2008 – 2010), and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Integration (2010 to present).

He was then appointed Head of the Department of Economic Planning, National Institute of Agrarian Reform, Southern Region, Nicaragua (1980–1981), where he worked on land redistribution which was a major priority of the Nicaraguan government.

In 1999 Patiño was a founding member, along with Alberto Acosta, Patricia Davila and Yvonne Benitez and others, of Jubilee 2000 – Guayaquil Network, an organization that investigated, criticised, and sought to resolve issues concerning Ecuador's foreign debt.

Besides, he increased the budget for health and education, created policies for granting credits to rural areas, and gave priority to investment in social and strategic sectors.

These efforts converged on the signing of the Founding Act of "Banco del Sur" by the Presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, on 9 December 2007.

Four months after Correa's government took office, Ecuador settled its debt with IMF and declared Eduardo Somensatto, the representative of the World Bank (WB) in the country as "persona non grata", as a refusal towards the Bank's decision of not signing the second part of the credit for competitive adjustment and consolidated tax, for an amount of one hundred million dollars, because of an alleged unfulfilment of the conditions concerning public debt, established under the conditions matrix.

[6][7] Voicing a speech, that included constant references such as the need of "putting humans before capital at all times", from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (now Ministry of Finance), Patiño drove, since January 2007, the creation of a commission that would audit the total public debt of the country, including the contracting, negotiation, restructuration, and usage of the different types of credits in order to determine their legitimacy, transparence, quality, efficiency, and effectiveness.

The final report of the CIAC was presented in November 2008; among its arguments were the declaration of "illegitimacy" to the commercial tranches and the need of recognizing the joint responsibly comprehended in managing the debt, the annulment of illegitimate obligations and the compensation for the damages caused.

With this declaration, Correa undertook the definition of a proposal directed to creditors, despite the warnings from the market analysts that the country would suffer the terrible consequences of having refused to pay the debt when it had all the necessary resources in order to do so.

The official proposal was presented on 20 April 2009; it consisted on repurchasing the bonds in circulation for up to 35 cents of their nominal values (price ceiling), appealing to an inverse reverse auction mechanism, by which the owed amount reduced just as the due date for closing the operation got closer.

Ecuador, buy means of the repurchase and other actions concerning the management of its public debt, succeeded in lowering the service of its external obligations from almost the 40% to the 22% of the General Budget of the State.

In this position, he strengthened the bonds with Decentralized Autonomous Governments (GAD, acronym in Spanish), and with indigenous organizations of the country regarding governmental policies in favor of interculturality in the Ecuadorian society.

Besides, he coordinated the relations between the Executive and the ruling bloc at the Constituent National Assembly of Ecuador 2007, that wrote the Constitution which is in force, and whose establishment was approved by 81.72% of the voters at the Popular Referendum of 15 April of the same year.

Also, along with the bloc of Alianza Pais, he participated in the approval of laws and the definition of constitutional reforms implemented by the Constituent Assembly on the areas of Fundamental Rights and Guarantees; Organization; Social and Citizen Participation; Structure and State Institutions; Land-use Regulation and Allocation of Responsibilities; Natural Resources and Biodiversity; Labor, Production, and Social Inclusion; Development Regime; Justice and Fight against Corruption; Sovereignty, International Relations and Integration; and Legislation and Inspection.

It considered the execution of new general elections; here, Correa and the ruling movement, as well as the adoption of the required reforms for applying the new Magna Carta prevailed including the approval and implementation of the democratic institutions for the administration of justice, among others.

During his administration, Ecuador witnessed transcendental milestones regarding its international and trade policies, which included the consolidation of relations with neighboring countries, the end to border disputes, the achievement of new commercial partners, the strengthening of new stages of regional integration, and the promotion of human rights.

With neighboring countries, the border disputes were settled after defining the sea limits by means of a process that involved dialogue, negotiation, and mutual trust.

In the framework of this integration process, new economic and trade relations are being promoted, by strengthening the usage of the Unified System for Regional Compensation (SUCRE, acronym in Spanish).

He has strengthened trade relations with nations including China, a country that has signed several agreements with Ecuador concerning electricity generation projects, mining, security, health, infrastructure and cooperation.

It is also important to acknowledge the adoption of the Additional Protocol to the UNASUR Constitutive Treaty of the "Commitment to Democracy", which recognizes the support to the democratic order in the region.

Among his efforts to provide UNASUR the legal and institutional structure, he has promoted "Banco del Sur", whose managed deployed[clarification needed] the necessary actions aimed at the signing of the Agreement by the Heads[10] of the seven founding countries (Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela), held on 26 September 2009.

Patiño led the way and remained at the place where the confrontation occurred, where after a fire exchange, a major military operation managed to rescue President Correa.

Afterwards, the Foreign Ministry, in charge of Patiño, made an international appeal to safeguard democracy in Ecuador; acts of solidarity took place in countries from all over the world, where people congregated in order to express their support to the Government of Rafael Correa.

[11] As part of his commitment to break down racist and discriminative schemes in the Foreign Ministry, Patiño incorporated people of indigenous nationalities, afro-Ecuadorians, and "montubios" to the diplomatic service for the first time.

Two public meritocracy-based rounds took place to select approximately 170 career diplomats that also were compliant with the gender equity concept and with the participation of national minority groups, traditionally discriminated in Ecuador.

[18][19] For the same purpose, Patiño also chaired the Second Conference of States Parties to the American Convention on Human Rights on 14 May 2013, in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where a second Declaration was passed reaffirming commitments held in Guayaquil, and establishes concrete actions to advance the process in which Ecuador has played an active and decisive role.

[20][21] Among the most important results is to create a Special Committee of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, to visits countries that are not part of the American Convention on Human Rights, as well as a proposal to establish a forum with all the States, Party and non-Party, members of the Pact of San José, and with the participation of social sectors to discuss the issue and advance in the objective of strengthening the IACHR.

Ecuador's interior minister, María Paula Romo alleged Patiño was part of the plot and had travelled with Bini to Peru, Spain and Venezuela.