ECUADOR: A former coup-plotter squared off against the wealthiest man in the country yesterday as Ecuadorean voters went to the polls to elect a new president.
Retired army colonel Mr Lucio Gutierrez (48) enjoyed a commanding poll lead over "banana king" Mr Alvaro Noboa (52) before yesterday's vote, pledging to combat corruption and keep Ecuador out of a regional free-trade accord.
Mr Noboa has used his wealth to convince voters that if elected, he would have no reason to steal from state coffers. Voters appeared sceptical, however, as Mr Noboa is a veteran of the nation's traditional party system, which is riddled with corruption.
Mr Gutierrez came to prominence in January 2000 when he disobeyed orders and participated in a failed indigenous-led coup which ousted president Jamil Mahuad. The previous president, Mr Abdala Bucaram, was run out of office in similar fashion. Before that, vice-president Mr Alberto Dahik fled to Costa Rica in 1995, after an arrest warrant was issued against him for alleged misuse of public funds. "Only the flagrant abuse of public money can explain why this oil-rich country is so deeply impoverished," commented Mr José Hernandez, as he prepared to vote yesterday.
Some 60 per cent of state funds are covered by oil profits, yet 80 per cent of the population live in poverty.
Mr Gutierrez has frequently been compared to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: both leaders attempted to overthrow their governments, both were imprisoned, and both formed political movements which have gathered massive popular backing.
Unlike Mr Chavez, however, Mr Gutierrez is unlikely to seek a quarrel with business leaders, while his rejection of the regional free-trade accord, known as ALCA, reflects the sentiments of the vast majority of citizens.
The Ecuadorean left has criticised him for pledging to respect an accord which ceded a slice of national territory to the US for the construction of an army base. Mr Gutierrez said that he would respect the US base once it was not used for offensive operations against Colombian rebels.
"The Colombian problem is an economic and social one and cannot be resolved by military means," he commented.
The main battle facing the winner of yesterday's contest is how to rebuild the nation's shattered social infrastructure where emigration and corruption have left the country on the brink of economic collapse. An estimated 15 per cent of Ecuador's 13 million citizens have emigrated in the past 10 years, leaving a gaping hole in rural areas.
Almost half the population depends on remittances from abroad, which substitute for a social welfare system. The minimum salary, €140, covers only half the basic monthly needs of an average family.
Mr Gutierrez has proposed the reactivation of native industry and the use of remittances to launch economic projects and slow emigration.
It is estimated that tax evasion costs the country more revenues than those earned through remittances.
Mr Gutierrez won popular acclaim for promising to impose life sentences on government employees convicted of stealing over $5,000.