ECUADOR

Ecuador Prepares For Second Round in Presidential Elections
Alvaro Noboa will dispute the position with Rafael Correa.

South America is in the midst of crucial elections in several countries. On Oct.29, Lula Da Silva was reelected for another four years as President of Brazil, the biggest country in the continent. Also Venezuela (Dec 3.) and Ecuador (Nov. 26) are preparing for elections. In Ecuador the first round left two candidates with a chance : Alvaro Noboa a millionaire banana exporter and Rafael Correa, a left wing economist. Since Correa obtained 22,86% against Noboa´s 26,83% , the economist has decided to tone down his expressions of admiration for Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, that is running for reelection. This link was well capitalized by Alvaro Noboa, that has accused Correa of receiving funds from Chavez . " We don't want Ecuador to become another Venezuela, run by a communist such as Chavez. I am very pleased with the first round results and I am sure to win," said Noboa after the first round results were revealed. On the other hand Correa replied that "there is nothing wrong with being a friend of Chavez, or of President Kirchner of Argentina. I have never said I am close to Chavez , I will never allow any foreign intervention , be it from Venezuela, the U.S. or whatever."
"Noboa inherited all his money from his father, he got more checks than brain cells," said Correa. It seems that Correa learnt the lesson from other Chavez backed candidates that lost recently lost elections, such as Ollanta Humala (Peru) and Andres lopez Obrador (Mexico). An Ecuadorian political expert, Wladimir Sierra, stated that Correa has distanced himself from Chavez in order to avoid defeat and is trying to win the support of the middle class. According to Sierra, Alvaro Noboa has good chances of winning on November 26.