Quito, Ecuador — A banana magnate who portrays himself as a friend of the poor and a young economist close to Venezuela's mercurial president, Hugo Chavez, were statistically tied after voters in this chronically unstable country cast ballots Sunday, according to exit polls. The presidential candidates now appear headed to a runoff on Nov. 26.
Exit polls after voting ended showed that Alvaro Noboa, 55, one of the wealthiest men in
The surveys showed that no candidate in the field of 13 came close to obtaining the 40 percent necessary to avoid a second round.
The election in this tiny, mountainous country of 13 million has attracted widespread attention beyond its borders because of the rapid rise of Correa, an economist who promises to overturn
Calling himself a friend of Chavez, who has become
“He's prepared, and we need someone who knows how to run things,” said Fanny Ceron, 38, a nurse, moments after casting her ballot for Correa. “We need someone who comes from the people. The others are just moneyed people. They want power. They have the money, but no ideas.”
Correa, though, would face a furious challenge from Noboa, who has spent $2.5 million on his campaign to cast himself as a populist, far more than any other candidate. At campaign rallies, Noboa gives away T-shirts, wheelchairs and even cash. He pays for mobile medical clinics run by his wife, Anabella Azin, a physician who also has political aspirations.
And his campaign ads have attacked Correa as a dangerous extremist who would align
“Correa is selling hope,” said Blasco Penaherrera, a businessman and president of the Quito Chamber of Commerce who does not support Correa. “I'm sure his opponents are going to sell panic.”
Noboa surged in the past three weeks. He was a distant fourth as recently as Sept. 20, according to the Cedatos-Gallup polling firm in
Sunday afternoon, after the televised release of exit polls, Noboa charged that
The campaign has resonated with people such as Jorge Teran, 46, a technician who is fed up with how backward
“I think he brings up God so often that he must have sensibilities in his soul,” Teran said.
Correa has appealed to Ecuadorans who are tired of a chaotic and corruption-riddled political system. Three presidents have been toppled since 1997, the last one, Lucio Gutierrez, just last year after a bloc of Congress voted him out. Fistfights are not uncommon in Congress, nor is scandal.
And even though
“We've had lots of populists here,” said Vladimir Pena, 33, an accountant. “And what happens is they last six months, and that's it.”
He invalidated his ballot.
No comments:
Post a Comment