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ECUADOR
Upcoming elections
Yurién Portelles
IN the context of next year’s
elections, political intentions are becoming clearer
in Ecuador, with information as to the presidential
aspirations of opposition groups, all of which are
attempting to define a single platform with which to
confront President Rafael Correa in 2013.
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Political
intentions are becoming
clearer in Ecuador with information
as to the presidential aspirations
of opposition groups, who are
attempting to define a single
policy for confronting President
Rafael Correa.
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Although Correa has not as yet
announced that he will run for reelection, he is
perceived as a strong candidate to defeat,
considering his high degree of popular support, in
excess of 80%, according to official reports.
The first round of voting for
Ecuador’s president, vice president and 136 members
of the National Assembly is scheduled for February
17, 2013, and the new authorities who will lead the
country for a five-year period, take possession on
May 24.
Names given the most attention in
the media include Lourdes Tibán, parliamentarian for
Cotopaxi province, from the Pachakutik Movement;
Gustavo Larrea of the Movimiento Participación (Participation
Movement); and Paúl Carrasco of the Izquierda
Democrática (Democratic Left).
Others are Jorge Escala and Mery
Zamora, from the Movimiento Popular Democrático (Democratic
Popular Movement); Diana Atamaint and Auki Tituaña (Pachakutik);
and Alberto Acosta, former president of the
Constituent Assembly.
Guillermo Lassa, president of the
Bank of Guayaquil, has resigned from his position,
probably to run for the presidency, although he has
repeatedly denied this.
According to WikiLeaks, Lasso has
sought support to counteract Correa’s policies, in
complicity with ex-president Lucio Gutiérrez and
millionaire businessman Alvaro Noboa.
Noboa began his electoral campaign
early by proclaiming himself presidential candidate
for the Partido Renovador Institucional de Acción
Nacional, and called on the opposition to join him
in order to "do away with the Citizens’ Revolution"
(Correa’s social program), while Gutiérrez stated
that there would definitely be a second round in the
elections.
CORREA, A SOLID CANDIDATE
The figure of economist Rafael
Correa, leader of the Movimiento Alianza PAIS, is
the most solid one for the presidency on the
Ecuadorian political scene.
In addition to having led the nation
over the last five years, an unprecedented feat in
the country, given its total of seven presidents in
the previous decade, observers agree that Correa
exhibits an incorruptible image which has impressed
voters.
Political analyst Santiago Basabe
stated on national television that his virtue as a
good administrator and transparency in the use of
the country’s resources, places the current
President in an advantageous position over his
opponents in the upcoming elections.
In addition to being young and
charismatic with a solid academic background and
demonstrated leadership at the national and
international level, in particular in the context of
Latin America, Correa has worked positively and
achieved results.
There has been a sustained reduction
of poverty over the last five years, during which
one million-plus people emerged from absolute
poverty, contract labor has been eliminated, and
unemployment has fallen from 7.38% to 4.88% (last
March).
Beyond pending challenges, such as
his agrarian reform program, Correa has backing due
to public policies adopted during his presidential
terms in favor of traditionally marginalized sectors,
such as indigenous groups, women, children and
people with disabilities, in spite of constant media
campaigns against him.
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