Lenin Moreno and Rafael Correa measure their numbers in local elections in Ecuador – 03/24/2019

Ecuadorians vote this Sunday in local elections of great importance behind the scenes, baduming an indirect confrontation between the president, Lenin Moreno, and his exiled predecessor, Rafael Correa, for the control of the so-called Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (CCPCC), which elects the main magistrates and regulatory authorities and whose composition will be voted on during these elections.

So, Ecuadorians they will choose not only the local and municipal authoritiesbut also to the seven leading members and as many alternates of the Council that will replace the current one, which has ceased at least thirty accusations for its alleged lack of independence under the Correa government.

Former President Correa, from Belgium (where he was linked to a scandal surrounding the kidnapping of opponent Fernando Balda) focused his efforts on the control of the Council, an organization that most citizens disapprove. They could, in fact, express their discontent by a void vote, without it forcing the authorities to dismantle it peremptorily. However, a majority of void votes (whose final weight in the count was also controversial between the two presidents' sides) could force a restructuring of the entity.

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On the other hand, opinion polls published this month showed a fall in free fall on the rate of approval around the figure of Moreno, the leader of Alianza País (AP), confirms a downward trend observed over the past year, mainly due to economic stagnation.

Ecuador reached this year a $ 4.2 billion financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)while the country faces a large fiscal deficit and a strong external debt.

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The country will also receive $ 6,000 million in loans from multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Latin American Development Bank (CAF), Moreno said in a message. broadcast on national radio and television.

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These elections take place at times when they have been presented Several allegations of corruption by the current Moreno government against previous Correa governments. In addition, supporters and former officials of Correa administration They also filed criminal complaints against Moreno for alleged corruption.

Moreno, meanwhile, denounced the alleged maneuvers of his predecessor and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on behalf of the "candidates for" 21st century socialism "" in the elections of the countries of the region.

Moreno has reported a series of messages in Twitter that Correa created "at the end of its mandate" the Eloy Alfaro Institute (IPPE) of Political and Economic Thought, which would have received funding from the Bank of Economic and Social Development of Venezuela (BANDES).

According to Moreno, in August 2018, the institute received a transfer of BANDES for the value of $ 281,000 from the account of a private bank in Ecuador, Development Bank. "This money was used to pay the members," he said.

He said that Correa had received a transfer of $ 84,800 to a Belgian account and another transfer to an Ecuadorian account at the Bank of the Pacific of $ 11,400. There are also bank drafts to "your employees" in Ecuadorian accounts between $ 6,000 and $ 34,000, he added.

"The peculiarity of all this is that in a country suffering from hunger, misery and mbadive migrations, like Venezuela, divert funds from a state bank to feed the personal accounts of former officials who are trying to destabilize my government, "said Moreno.

Europa Press Agency.