"At high noon last October 1st," the New Yorker reported in 2004, "the citizens of Ecuador did something they'd never dreamed possible: they synchronized their watches. In doing so, they embarked on a Campaña Contra la Impuntualidad, a national crusade against lateness (whose cost, according to one study, amounts to more than 10% of gross domestic product).

A group called Participacíon Ciudadana had orchestrated the initiative in order to try to change Ecuadorans' attitude towards time-keeping. The group enlisted the country's only Olympic gold medallist, the race-walker Jefferson Pérez, as a SPOKESMAN, plastered cities and villages with posters ('Inject yourself each morning with a dose of responsibility, respect, and discipline'), and persuaded companies to stop late-arriving workers from attending meetings.

Even President Lucio Gutiérrez, infamously unpunctual, vowed to participate. His SPOKESMAN, going on television to announce this vow, arrived at the studio, needless to say, several minutes late..."