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Ecuadorans vote; leftist Chavez friend, conservative tycoon vie for presidency
By Patrick Moser
AFP
QUITO
Petroleumworld.com 11 26 06Voting was under way in volatile Ecuador's run-off presidential battle Sunday, with leftist economist Rafael Correa, 43, ahead of conservative banana baron Alvaro Noboa, 56 in voter intention polls.
Correa, a friend of Venezuela's anti-US President Hugo Chavez, held an eight-point advantage over his rival in intention polls just hours ahead of the election, though pollsters said 17 percent of the 9.2 million eligible voters were still undecided.
Both candidates fueled tension in the volatile South American country, with Noboa claiming a rival victory would lead to communist dictatorship and civil war, and Correa warning of the risk of electoral fraud.
A US- and European-educated leftist economist, Correa has stirred unease on financial markets with his calls to renegotiate the country's debt and to revise foreign oil companies' contracts in Ecuador.
| His friendship with the firebrand Venezuelan leader and his determination not to renew a lease for a US military base in Ecuador also have caused concern in Washington.
Correa, who was four points behind his conservative rival in the October 15 first round of voting, climbed in opinion polls as he toned down his criticism of US President George W. Bush, whom he once called a dimwit.
He stressed on Saturday he wanted "the best possible" relations with Washington.
He has also distanced himself from Chavez as the Venezuelan president, who himself faces the electorate on December 3, came under fire for allegedly meddling in the Ecuadoran election.
Noboa, a pro-market conservative who wants to strengthen ties with the United States, claims Chavez backed Correa in a bid to boost his regional influence in Latin America, where several leftist leaders have been elected to office over the past year.
A folksy Bible-thumping anti-communist, Noboa claims his opponent intends to turn Ecuador into a dictatorship aligned with Venezuela and communist Cuba. This the tycoon says, would trigger a bloody coup in the Andean country that has had seven presidents over the past 10 years, three of them forced from office by tumultuous street protests.
"Correa wants an insurrection, a civil war in which the poor will die," said Noboa, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 1998 and 2002.
Ecuador's wealthiest man, Noboa portrays himself as a champion of the poor, who make up almost half the oil-rich country's 13 million population.
Correa calls him a reckless capitalist who got rich on the back of exploited workers and who plans to run Ecuador like his private estate.
The former finance minister, who describes himself as a "humanist, leftist Christian," claimed Noboa resorted to electoral fraud in the first round and may be plotting to do so again.
"Watch out for alterations of results, ballot box switching; ensure there is no vote-buying," he said on Saturday.
"If they win cleanly, we will accept the outcome. But we will not accept fraud," Correa told journalists.
He claimed he had reliable information, though no proof, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had tried to influence the electoral campaign ahead of the first round.
"I think this interference has lessened a little," Correa said, suggesting Washington now realized what kind of man his rival is, and reiterating allegations Noboa once paid off officials to hush up an affair over a drug seizure on one of his cargo ships.
Voting got under way at 7:00 am (1200 GMT) and was due to conclude 10 hours later.
AFP 26 1209 GMT 11 06
Copyright© 2001 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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