As per the Ecuadorian constitution, the Presidential candidate for straight winning, will have to get one vote more than 50 per cent or minimum 40 per cent with a difference of 10 per cent over his rival. Otherwise, there will be a run off where a simple majority will be enough for victory.

So, following the elections, the Left candidate 36 year old economist Arauz will be contesting again for run off on April 11 this year and his possible rival will be the next candidate Guillemore Lasso which is backed by the US companies which have active business interests in Ecuador. Indications are that Arauz will be having clear victory as Lasso’s popularity is declining and even the rightwing media is reporting that Lassois no match to the leftist economist who served under the former President Rafel Correa as the finance minister and implemented a number of pro-people measures.

Even if the third candidate Perez stands against Arauz, the left candidate will face little problem since Lasso supporters, in most cases, will not transfer their votes to the rightwing indigenous candidate.

But as in the past, the entrenched foreign corporate interests are making plans to cook up some conspiracies so that the leftist candidate can be debarred from the run off on April 11.In this bid, the anti Left forces are taking help from the pro-U Columbia.There are attempts to link Aurez with the activities of the Columbian guerrillas.

Colombian Attorney General Francisco Barbosa arrived in Ecuador on Saturday claiming to have “intelligence” proving that the Union for Hope (UNES) electoral coalition, MrArauz’s party and the vehicle of supporters of former president Rafael Correa, was funded by the National Liberation Army (ELN).

He alleges that the ELN contributed $80,000 (£57,800) to MrArauz’s presidential campaign which won the first round with 32.06 per cent of the votes. Ecuadorian Attorney General Diana Salazar is collecting information on the alleged financing by the Colombian guerilla group. She has requested files found on the computer of Andres Vanegas, alias Uriel, an ELN commander killed by Colombian security forces at the end of last year.

Mr Barbosa’s arrival was confirmed by the Ecuadorian authorities “as part of the bilateral co-operation of the two entities in joint work against criminal organisations that affect the two countries.” But Mr Arauz has cried foul, insisting it was “fake news” designed to derail his campaign ahead of a second round of polling scheduled for April 11. Former president Rafael Correa also dismissed the claims as “part of a show” to try and damage the leftist candidate’s campaign.

Last week a video purporting to be footage of ELN guerilla fighters endorsing MrArauz ahead of the February 7 turned out to be a fake, given away by the call of a bird in the background. The clip showed masked men holding rifles in front of the red and black ELN flag, with a caption suggesting they were in the Colombian jungle. But ornithologist Manuel Sanchez recognised the sound as that of a pale-browed-tinamou, which is not native to that South American country. “I recognised the whistle instantly and I knew that the video could not have been filmed in Colombia,” he said.

“Tinamous are quite primitive birds. They live on the forest floor and they don’t sing; they have short, inflected whistles,” Mr Sanchez explained. “It was just luck that this particular species lives in a very small and rare dry forest ecosystem in western Ecuador and north-west Peru.” The US and the Organisation of American States (OAS) have also been accused of “meddling in Ecuador’s internal affairs” after the National Electoral Council (CNE) decision to carry out a recount in 17 of the country’s 24 provinces. The CNE said a recount was needed “for the benefit of the country’s democracy and with the purpose of guaranteeing the transparency of the electoral process held last February.

During Trump administration, the policy was totally against the left regimes of Latin America and the US embassies directly interfered in the elections to ensure the defeat of the left candidates. The US administration openly supported the rightwing candidate Bolsonaro in the last Presidential elections in Brazil. In 2021, apart from Ecuador, in six more countries in Latin America, general elections will be held.

President Biden has shown a left wing trend in his domestic policy but he is yet to show any change in his stance in foreign policy. The leader of the left group in Democratic Party Bernie Sanders ass also his supporters many of whom are now elected in Congress, have called for a shift in foreign policy from the Trump era. Sanders is the chairman of the finance committee in senate. He and his group have to intervene now to ensure that there is n intervention by the Biden regime to distort the verdict of the Ecuadorin people. The Biden regime has to delink it from the moves of the Columbian Government to involve the front runner leftist Auraz with Guerilla activities.

That way, this is a big challenge to the US left also. They have to assert on the Biden administration as they did on domestic policy to ensure that the Latin Americans get the freedom to choose their own governments. Ecuador will that way, will be the first test for both Biden and Sanders. (IPA Service)