QUITO, Ecuador (AP) – Ecuadorian voters appeared to call on a conservative businessman in Sunday’s presidential election to reject a left-wing movement that has held the presidency for more than a decade marked by an economic boom and then a recession. years, while in the vicinity of Peru, a crowded field of 18 candidates, it was virtually certain that it would result in a second round of presidential voting in June.
Voters in Ecuador and Peru voted in accordance with strict public health measures due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has recently intensified in both countries, leading to a return to bottlenecks and raising concerns about their already battered economies. The Peruvians also elected a new Congress.
Ecuador’s Electoral Council has not declared an official winner in the race to replace President Lenin Moreno next month, but the results released by the agency showed former banker Guillermo Lasso with about 53% of the vote and leftist Andrés Arauz with 47%, just over counted 90% of the votes. Arauz led the first round of voting by more than 30% on February 7, while Lasso advanced to the final by half a percentage point ahead of environmental and indigenous candidate Yaku Pérez.
Arauz was backed by former President Rafael Correa, a major force in the South American country, despite the corruption conviction that sent him to flee to Belgium beyond the reach of Ecuadorian prosecutors. Moreno was also an ally of Correa, but turned against him while in office.
“Correa’s negatives exceeded the expectations of a new, unknown candidate who had no career and did not campaign very well,” said Grace M. Jaramillo, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia, whose research includes Latin America. “He did not speak for all audiences … for the entire population and could not answer the human rights accusations of the Correista era.”
Correa ruled from 2007 to 2017 as an ally of Fidel Castro of Cuba and Venezuelan Hugo Chavez. He oversaw a period of economic growth caused by an oil boom and loans from China that allowed him to expand social programs, build roads and schools and pursue other projects.
But Correa increasingly repressed opponents, the press and companies in his last stage in office and fought with indigenous groups for development projects. Ecuador also suffered an economic slowdown in 2015, largely due to falling oil prices.
Lasso finished second in the last two presidential contests. He favors free market policies and bringing Ecuador closer to international organizations. During the campaign, he proposed raising the minimum wage to $ 500, finding ways to include more young people and women in the labor market, and eliminating tariffs on agricultural equipment.
“For years, we have dreamed of being able to serve Ecuadorians so that the country can progress so that we can all live better,” Lasso said in front of a chamber full of supporters, despite social distancing guidelines. “Today you have decided that it is so.”
Accompanied by his wife, María de Lourdes Alcívar, Lasso said that, starting May 24, he will dedicate himself “to building a national project that continues to listen to everyone, because this project will be yours.”
Despite his conservative stance on issues such as equality in marriage, he promised to accept other views.
Election officials did not intend to officially declare the winner on Sunday, but at least one head of state congratulated Lasso on the election result. Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou wrote on Twitter that he spoke with Lasso “to congratulate him on his success and to work together on the issues that our countries have in common.”
Ecuador is in a recession that many fear will worsen as bottlenecks return due to rising COVID-19 cases. Ecuador has reported more than 344,000 cases and more than 17,200 deaths since Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
The new president’s main task will be to “depolarize the country,” Jaramillo said. “There will be no signs of governance if the new government does not arrive and generate a platform in which agreements with the (national) Assembly are possible.”
The Peruvian election turned into a popularity contest in which a candidate even approached how to suppress his sexual desires. The crowded field of presidential hopes came a few months after the country’s political chaos reached a new level in November, when three men were presidents in a single week, after one was accused by Congress of corruption allegations and protests. -forced his successor to resign in favor of the third.
All former Peruvian presidents who have ruled since 1985 have been caught on corruption charges, some imprisoned or arrested in their mansions. One died by suicide before police could arrest him.
Claudia Navas, an analyst of political, social and security risks at the global firm Control Risks, said the fragmented elections were the result of a political system that has 11 parties lacking ideological cohesion. She said Peruvians generally do not trust politicians, with corruption being a key factor in disillusionment with the political system.
Navas said the congressional election would result in a split legislature, with no clear majority party and short-term political alliances. She said that the new Congress will also continue to exercise its authority to remove its own influence and block any initiative that threatens its own power.
“So we will probably continue to see significant legislative populism. It involves movements that seek to meet short-term public needs and demands at the expense of medium- and long-term sustainability, ”said Navas. “Regardless of who wins, we believe that the president is unlikely to complete his term due to the populist position of Congress and the risk of political instability is likely to persist through the administration.
To avoid a June elimination, a candidate would need more than 50% of the vote, and an exit poll indicated that the main candidate will receive only about 16% support. The poll was led by left-wing Conservative professor Pedro Castillo, followed by right-wing economist Hernando de Soto and Keiko Fujimori, opposition leader and daughter of former polarizing president Alberto Fujimori.
The country is among the hardest hit by COVID-19, with more than 1.6 million cases and more than 54,600 deaths since Sunday.
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Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano reported this story from Mexico City, and AP writer Gonzalo Solano reported from Quito.