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Venezuela's Chavez at the center of Ecuador's electoral battle
AFP
QUITO
Petroleumworld.com 11 10 06
A bitter row between Venezuela's firebrand leftist president and the leading candidate in Ecuador's presidential election Thursday raised concerns over the proposed financing by Caracas of a new oil refinery.
Alvaro Noboa, a wealthy pro-US conservative, has threatened to cut ties with Caracas if he wins the November 26 run-off presidential election, accusing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of backing his rival, leftist former finance minister Rafael Correa.
A senior official at the Petroecuador state oil company warned this could lead to the loss of proposed financing by state-run Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) for the construction of a refinery in the port of Manta, on Ecuador's Pacific coast.
"The announcement of the breaking of relations has damaged the country, because I was in Venezuela officially discussing the project to build a refinery with the support of PDVSA," said Rene Vargas, the presidential representative on Petroecuador's board of directors.
His statement came amid an escalating war of words between Noboa and Chavez.
On Wednesday, the Venezuelan president accused Noboa, a banana magnate and Ecuador's wealthiest man, of getting rich by exploiting his workers, including children.
The Ecuadoran government claimed the remarks amounted to "inadmissible" meddling and formally complained to Venezuela's ambassador in Quito.
Noboa, 55, a fiercely anti-communist, Bible-thumping populist, again suggested on Thursday that his electoral rival was mentored by Chavez.
Insisting he had no intention of holding an electoral debate, Noboa said Correa should instead "debate with Chavez in Venezuela to see how they will divide up the country, but I won't allow that."
Noboa, who had unsuccessfully run for the presidency in 1998 and 2002, leads the latest voter intention poll, with 59 percent and an advantage of 18 points over Correa.
Noboa led a crowded field of 13 candidates in the October 15 first round of voting, garnering 26.8 percent, followed by Correa with 22.8 percent.
AFP 09 1921 GMT 11 06Copyright© 2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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