Ecuador on Sunday elected a conservative former banker and proponent of free market policy as president over its populist opponent, which put the country on a pro-business path.
Guillermo Lasso, 65, received more than 52% of the vote to win the presidency, which is his third attempt to run for office. He defeats Andrés Arauz, a 36-year-old left-wing economist and protégé of the powerful former president Rafael Correa. Mr. Arauz conceded with more than 95% of the votes counted.
Mr. Lasso will inherit a bruised economy and health crisis as the Covid-19 pandemic rages in South America. From Brazil to Peru and Chile, hospitals are being driven to the brink as infections rise to record levels, shrinking hopes of an economic rebound.
‘I have dreamed for years about the possibility of serving Ecuadorians as the country progresses. “Today you have made it possible,” he said. Lasso said to cheering fans. “We will build a fairer country with more prosperity for all.”
While voters in Ecuador chose a right-wing candidate, in the first round of presidential elections in neighboring Peru, voters chose to go all the way to the left. An Ipsos exit poll showed that presidential candidate Pedro Castillo, a socialist who prefers the undoing of three decades of market-friendly policies, gives a lead on 17 other candidates. Peru will hold a second round between the two leading contestants in June.