The electoral campaign in Ecuador continues today amid allegations of actions by the ruling party to discredit the Citizen’s Revolution (RC) movement, whose candidate, Luisa González, is one of the favourites, according to polls.
The mayor of Guayaquil, Aquiles Álvarez, published images on his X account to show that González’s team was not the one that put up a poster in the RC colours in that city to promote the alleged construction of a prison complex in the Yeyo Úraga baseball stadium.
The president and candidate for re-election for the National Democratic Action (ADN) movement, Daniel Noboa, used the same social network to claim that, if his main rival wins, the sports centre in the coastal city would become a prison.
The founder and leader of the RC, former president Rafael Correa, criticised this type of right-wing strategy in an attempt to hinder support for González.
«Only a fool could believe that a prison would be built in the park we built during my government. It is another desperate lie by Noboa. He is the one who is going to destroy tourism in Santa Elena with the Anconcito prison,» Correa wrote.
This controversy comes 10 days before the election, less than a week before the campaign closes and shortly after the publication of several polls that point to a probable run-off between Noboa and González, similar to what happened in 2023.
Virgilio Hernández, candidate for the Andean Parliament and member of the RC, pointed out that there is still a high margin of indecision and, in his opinion, this keeps the president-candidate uneasy, which is why he did not rule out disrespect for the will of the people.
«There is a dangerous cocktail and anything can happen (…) There are elements that leave doubt as to whether or not the will of the people will be respected», Hernández added in an interview with Radio Pichincha.
The politician urged citizens to defend democracy and watch their votes, as the country is facing a president with all the money in the world, who pays millions in advertising, makes abusive use of the state and the electoral authorities do not fulfil their role.
Political consultant and strategist Daniel Ivoskus affirms that he has never seen before the magnitude of the dirty campaign and false news that is circulating these days in Ecuador, and assures that 90 percent of what is circulating is false.
Although it is now forbidden to publish poll results, the campaign will continue until 6 February, and until that day the 16 presidential candidates will intensify their tours of various provinces to present their proposals on how to tackle the country’s main problems.
We will have to wait until 9 February to find out what the polls say, which will ultimately decide whether there will be a run-off vote or whether the next president of Ecuador for the period 2025-2029 will be known on the same day.