Noboa wins first round of Ecuadorean presidential elections

Miami Herald ^ | October 15, 2006 | EMILY SCHMALL AND STEVEN DUDLEY

[ConservativeStatement]

QUITO, Ecuador - Ecuadorean presidential elections will go to a second round on Nov. 26, after one of the country's wealthiest men, Alvaro Noboa, narrowly defeated the U.S. trained economist Rafael Correa in the first round on Sunday.

With a quarter of the votes counted, results from the National Electoral Tribunal showed Noboa obtained 26 percent, while Correa got 24 percent. Exit polls by independent pollsters coincided with these results. Neither candidate reached the 40 percent minimum needed to avoid a runoff.

Ecuador was voting on Sunday for their eighth president in 10 years in what many hoped would be an end to a tumultuous decade of politics, but many fear could lead to more chaos.

[ConservativeStatement]

Correa was recently quoted a saying "Calling Bush the devil is offending the devil. The devil is evil, but intelligent. I believe Bush is a tremendously dimwitted president who has done great damage to his country and to the world," Correa said.

[ConservativeStatement]

Correction: as saying (not a saying)

[Ex-pat Paul]

So, what's the problem? That's the beauty of free speech.

[sageb1]

So which one is really right of left?

[ConservativeStatement]

Noboa, from an article I read, has the support of social Christians and he in effect labeled Correa a Commie.

[sageb1]

Social Democracy type then? Socialist rather than Communist? ~sigh

I'm a conservative Catholic. Thinking this is another "lesser of two evils" situation.

[ConservativeStatement]

I am not too familiar with MonstersAndCritics.com but they have a lead from Deutsche Presse-Agentur calling Noboa "a conservative." Could be a relative term but he certainly isn't another Correa from what I have read. http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southamerica/article_1211413.php/Conservative_tycoon_Noboa_leading_in_Ecuador_exit_polls

[sageb1]

Thank you.