A conservative businessman seemed headed to Ecuador's presidency, with voters rejecting the leftist movement started by former President Rafael Correa more than a decade ago. And in neighboring Peru, it remained unclear which of 18 presidential hopefuls would fill the two spots in a June runoff election.
The South American nations บทความสล็อตออนไลน์held elections Sunday under strict public health measures because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has recently seen a spike in cases and the return of lockdowns. Peruvians also elected a new Congress.
The Electoral Council in Ecuador did not declare a winner in the contest to replace President Lenín Moreno next month, but results released by the agency showed former banker Guillermo Lasso with about 53% of votes and leftist Andrés Arauz with 47%, with over 93%. of votes counted. Arauz had led the first round of voting with more than 30% on Feb. 7, while Lasso edged into the final by finishing about a half percentage point ahead of environmentalist and Indigenous candidate Yaku Pérez.
Arauz conceded the election and so did his main backer, Correa, who remains a force in Ecuador despite a corruption conviction while living in self-exile in Belgium beyond the reach of Ecuadoran prosecutors. Moreno was also an ally of Correa but turned against him while in office.
“Sincerely, we believed we would win, but our projections were wrong,” Correa tweeted. “Good luck to Guillermo Lasso, his success will be that of Ecuador. I only ask you to stop the lawfare, which destroys lives and families. ”
Correa, who oversaw an economic boom before the country hit a slowdown beginning in 2015, was sentenced in absentia last year to eight years in prison for his role in what prosecutors described as an elaborate scheme that demanded millions of dollars from businessmen in exchange for the. contracts of large infrastructure projects between 2012 and 2016.He calls the allegations trumped-up charges for political ends.
Lasso finished second in the previous two presidential contests. He favors free-market policies and Ecuador's rapprochement with international organizations. During the campaign, he proposed raising the minimum wage to $ 500, finding ways to include more youth and women in the labor market and eliminating tariffs for agricultural equipment.
