Guillermo Lasso defeated Andrés Arauz and was elected President of Ecuador

With more than 97% of the votes officially counted, candidate Creo Guillermo Lasso obtained 52.5% of the vote against 47.4% of Correísmo’s candidate, Andrés Arauz, and was elected President of Ecuador

“It is a historic day, a day in which all Ecuadorians have decided their future, expressed with their vote the need for change and the desire for better days for all,” Lasso told his supporters. gathered in Guayaquil. The former banker thanked God for the vote, his family, as well as Alfredo Borrero, his running mate, “now elected vice-president of Ecuador,” he said. He also thanked Jaime Nebot, leader of the Social-Christian Party, who supported him for these presidential elections, the third in which he is participating as the highest authority in his movement.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the opportunity to be your president and to be able to serve you”, he declared to his supporters in Guayaquil and underlined that from May 24, they will assume with responsibility the “challenge to change the country”.

Lasso thus spectacularly recovered the contest after losing in the elections of February 7, when he obtained 19.74% of the support and was almost excluded from the poll with the native Yaku Pérez.

In the Samborondón area of ​​Guayaquil, dozens of supporters gathered with blue and white flags of the CREO movement and those of Ecuador. Meanwhile, in the area where Arauz’s supporters were gathered, in Quito, people were gradually withdrawing, and the movement’s headquarters were left empty. Candidate Correa arrived there to assume defeat. “I congratulate Lasso on his electoral victory today and I will show him our democratic convictions. (…) Today is not the end, it is the beginning of a new stage in the reconstruction of popular power, which is cruelly necessary for our country “, said the 36-year-old politician.

“I had in mind to win to promote transformative policies, starting with the smallest ones, for the protection and use of our biodiversity … We will continue to work to make all these policies a reality for the good from Ecuador and the Ecuadorian people, ”he said at the end of his statement, which resulted in a standing ovation from his supporters and the cry of“ Viva Correa ”.

The former president himself, a fugitive from Ecuadorian justice, has also spoken out and has done so on his social media. “Thank you all for your support. We honestly thought we were winning, but our predictions were wrong. Good luck to Guillermo Lasso, his success will be that of Ecuador. I only ask you to stop the fight against the law, which destroyed lives and families, ”Correa wrote.

The first to congratulate Lasso among world leaders was the President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou: “I just spoke with him to congratulate him on his success and for working together on the issues that our countries have in common.”

The President of Colombia also spoke. “We congratulate Guillermo on his election as President of Ecuador. A few minutes ago we talked and talked about working together for the region; We will continue to strengthen our trade, security and Andean integration relations for the benefit of our countries, ”he wrote on his Twitter account.

Chilean Sebastian piñera he also congratulated Lasso. “Congratulations and good luck to Guillermo, who is a good personal friend and a great friend of Chile,” posted the president on his Twitter account.

The leader of the Venezuelan opposition Juan Guaidó it was also voiced. “Congratulations to Ecuador on today’s election day and to President-elect Guillermo Lasso for his victory. We are counting on your support for the Venezuelan struggle. The union of those of us who want freedom and democracy for the region, threatened by dictatorships like that of (Nicolás) Maduro, is vital, ”he said in a message on Twitter.

According to the CNE, the day passed peacefully and the turnout was high as 10,184,500 people voted, while 2,097,502 were absent for various reasons. In total, the number of blank votes was 163,336 and 1,654,764 invalid.

Who is Guillermo Lasso and what did he promise to do

The 65-year-old former banker from Guayaquil started working at the age of 15, when his father was unable to continue paying for his studies due to the economic situation; later, he was president of the Bank of Guayaquil, one of the largest in the country, for a period of 20 years. He studied at a famous Catholic school in Guayaquil, San José La Salle, in which former presidents Otto Arosemena, Alfredo Palacio and Rafael Correa himself were educated.

The presidential candidate started in politics at the age of 43, when in the government of Jamil Mahuad he was governor of the province of Guayas for a year, then super minister of the economy for 37 days, in 1999. .

For the second round, Lasso integrated questions related to work and gender equity, defense of nature and animals; combat discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The presidential pair is completed with the doctor from Cuenca Alfredo Borrero.

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