Presidential election in Ecuador: Here are the five candidates struggling to get to the runoff

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Ahead of Ecuador’s presidential election this Sunday, there is the murder of one of the participating candidates, Fernando Villavicencio, and other political crimes that have brought the campaign to blood. In the context of an unprecedented anxiety and serious situation security crisis Threatening the foundations of the state, the polls made the right decision. luisa gonzalez as favourites, but lacks the necessary percentage to avoid the second round. Three other candidates are struggling to get into this decisive situation, which will take place in mid-October.

Luisa González, the candidate of Movimiento Revolución Ciudadana, at the close of the campaign in Guayaquil this Thursday. AFP

Luisa González on behalf of Rafael Correa

Lawyer and former MP González wants to return to Carondelet Palace at the age of 45. citizen revolutionparty founded in 2005 by economist Rafael Correa and who ran the country between 2007 and 2017, when Ecuador deviated to the right and forced its former president into exile? Gonzalez’s vast experience in the public sector. His lead role in recent months has earned him the presidential nomination, which is expected to return to Andrés Arauz in 2021, losing to Guillermo Lasso. He has 30% vote intention. Like Correa, González has a progressive profile on economic issuesbut this Against the decriminalization of abortion, even for rape victims. Recent violence has forced him to formulate a formula. security policy especially based on police purge allegedly linked to drug trafficking.

Christian Zurita, Movimiento Construye’s nominee to replace Fernando Villavicencio, who was assassinated during a rally in Quito, dons a helmet and is surrounded by police officers. Efe

Villavicencio’s successor, Christian Zurita

Christian Zurita i work with Fernando Villavicencio in many investigations corruption, organized crime And drug trafficking. They shared the authorship of the book. green rice. bribery industryfrom 2019. He did not expect that the murder of his partner would force him to replace him as standard bearer at this Sunday’s competition. build. Before he was killed by hitmen, Villavicencio was second in the polls, with 12.5% ​​of fans. Now it’s Zurita who must lead her group to the second round. Like his late friend and colleague, born April 4, 1970, circumstances led him from journalism to politics. Zurita has worked in print and visual media. One of his studies in the book big BrotherCo-written with Juan Carlos Calderón, led to his conviction in absentia by the court to Correa. “We will try to imitate your talent and name.Referring to the figure of her murdered friend, Zurita said she recommended better equipping and training the Police, enriching intelligence protocols in the fight against crime, and greater cooperation with the United States.

Jan Topic, a candidate for a country without fear, poses for photographers at the closing ceremony of the campaign in Guayaquil. VINCENT GAIBOR / BLOOMBERG

Jan Topic, prophet of the heavy hand

The Villavicencio case has created new conditions for speeches inspired by Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele to take a different place in the campaign. January TopicA businessman in the security industry, he gained some notoriety for his desire to stop being a footnote in these elections and import the Salvadoran autocrat’s methodology into his country. Status as a former soldier French Foreign Legion There was some kind of guarantee ruthless hardness against crime. candidate for a fearless country “He got the nickname.Ecuador Rambo“. And to further support this moniker, he used military uniforms in some of his propaganda acts. The intention of ‘zero tolerance’ to crime led to the previously unknown applicant’s stakes rising.

Yaku Perez. Efe

Yaku Pérez, the environment as a poster

Born in 1969, Pérez was an important part of the movement. pachakutikThe political arm of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) of Ecuador, which he represented in the 2021 presidential election, decided to establish his own group after the competition, where he placed third. we are water. Pérez is the only candidate from an original town, as Pachakutik has not nominated a candidate this time. canarycompeting in the elections at the beginning of the alliance of course it can.

Question ecological It is the center of your program. Her status as an activist has made her several times prison. Pérez holds master’s degrees in environmental and criminal law. To distinguish itself from punitive policies, a midpoint between “hard hand” and “open hand” combining low tolerance for crime with investments in education and youth employment programs. It has 7.5 percent of the vote.

Otto Sonnenholzner, former vice president and candidate of Actuemos, at the event in Guayaquil this Thursday. AFP

Otto Sonnenholzner, centre-right standard bearer

Economist, businessman and media man, on his back Otto SonnenholznerHe is under the responsibility of providing continuity to a 40-year-old project. center right He has been trying to establish himself in that country with great difficulties since 2017. The candidate of the parties Avanza and Sociedad Unida Más Acción (SUMA) warned of the risks of a return to the electoral arena. populism. Former Vice President Lenin MorenoDuring his troubled election campaign, he stressed the need for a nonsense security policy, which, in his view, was necessary to secure the election. foreign investment. “When a criminal raises his gun… (the police) will give him the shot he deserves,” he said. It also proposes a judicial reform that introduces quick sentences. The latest poll gives him 5.1% of the vote.

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