Winner's dance

Ecuadorians asked the president to stay

The Latin American voter believes in socialism without the dictates of the United States, but with the American dollar. This was once again proven by the early presidential elections in Ecuador, which took place last Sunday. Rafael Correa (pictured) declared himself their winner - the current head of state and leader of the ruling leftist movement "Alliance-Country". According to preliminary data, almost half of the voters voted for him, and about a third voted for his main rival, leader of the opposition Patriotic Community Party Lucio Gutierrez. Banana magnate and millionaire Alvaro Noboa is still third with 10.2% of the votes.

The final results will be announced only after nine days. But it is already clear that for the first time in 30 years there will be no second round of voting: according to the constitution, the president is considered elected if he receives either an absolute (more than 50%) or a simple (40% or more) majority of votes with at least 10 percent advantage over the main competitor.

Upon learning of the first results, 46-year-old Correa began to dance, hugging his colleagues. So far he has been lucky in politics. Elected president two years ago, he initiated a referendum on a new constitution last fall with the goal of holding early elections. Now the politician has the opportunity to serve another full presidential term - four years, and then be re-elected again. “For Correa, these elections were an interim rating measurement. Theoretically, he has a chance to remain in power until 2017,” Vadim Teperman, director of the Center for Economic Research at the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained to Vremya Novostey. The expert did not rule out that “Correa learned a similar technology for maintaining power from his Venezuelan colleague Hugo Chavez.” He, as is known, has been in power legitimately since 1999.

In domestic policy, Correa, like Chavez, is aimed at building “socialism of the 21st century,” and in foreign policy he opposes “US global domination.” At the same time, the Ecuadorian, according to VN’s interlocutor, is pursuing “a balanced economic course and does not create obstacles to foreign capital, which has already caused criticism from the left.” Immediately after coming to power, Correa, an economist by training, announced his intention to maintain the US dollar as the unit of currency in Ecuador. “This is a serious limiter that keeps inflation under control, preventing the printing press from turning on,” the expert noted.

Correa also prevented a serious budget deficit. Social programs launched two years ago are working, “otherwise he wouldn’t have won now,” says Vadim Teperman. In a crisis, the economic and social policies of the authorities will largely depend on the price of oil: for Ecuador, an OPEC member, this is an important export item. But the human factor is also important. An overly easy victory in the elections, said Vadim Teperman, is fraught with a loss of a sense of reality for a politician: “Hugo Chavez, having received the opportunity to be re-elected for life a couple of months ago, immediately slipped into unbridled populism.”

Boris YUNANOV