August 18, 2020
In a video conference call former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa confirmed on Tuesday that he has accepted the candidacy for the Vice Presidency of his country in the next elections, to be held in February 2021. He will be running on the same ticket with Andrés Arauz for President.
The former president said he accepted to participate with the aim of “rescuing a country from the ruins left by the worst government in history,” referring to the administration of Lenin Moreno. “Here we are, in spite of all the immoral obstacles to prevent us from participating,” Correa said, before beginning to list some of the obstacles to presenting his candidacy.
He recalled that he has several legal proceedings pending, the last being the so-called ‘Bribery Case’, whose sentence was ratified on July 20 by the Court of Appeal of the National Court of Justice, although there is no enforceable sentence that prevents his participation. He also mentioned the changes they have made to the regulations at the National Electoral Council (CNE), which include a face-to-face process prior to the registration of candidates, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
He also referred to the decision – which was later reversed – to ban from the National Election Commission (CNE ) the movement Fuerza Compromiso Social, in which the Correa followers have taken refuge in, after several unsuccessful attempts to register his own party with the electoral authority.
“Traps, traps and more traps […] Don’t waste your time, you won’t be able to defeat us,” the former president stressed in his address.
Who is Andrés Araúz?
“Comrades, you honor me with this nomination, count on me to recover the homeland, count on me to recover the future,” said Araúz in the video conference, he turns 36 on February 6, 2021, one day before the elections. If he wins, he’ll become the country’s youngest president, after Juan José Flores, the first president of the Republic of Ecuador, in 1830, who took office before his 30th birthday.
“He is one of the most brilliant young men I know,” Correa said of Araúz.
Arauz has a degree in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Michigan.; a master’s degree in Economics of Development from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO); and is currently studying for a doctorate in Financial Economics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
Araúz has already had extensive experience in public administration, having been a civil servant during Correa’s government (2007-2017), where he held several positions including, Minister of Culture and Heritage, Minister of Knowledge and Human Talent (2015-2017), Director General of the National Public Procurement Service, Assistant Secretary General of Planning for Good Living at the National Secretariat of Planning and Development and General Banking Director of the Central Bank of Ecuador (2009-2011).
“In February 2021 we will be at the polls, for more life, for more jobs, for better salaries, for more country, for unity and hope, for freedom and justice,” added Araúz in his statement.
Source: RT, translation Resumen Latinoamericano, North America bureau