Ecuadorean banker Guillermo Lasso has won Sunday's presidential runoff vote against leftist economist Andres Arauz, putting the country on track to maintain open market policies rather than return to socialism.
Ecuador chose a conservative banker as its next president on Sunday.
It's a surprise result in a runoff election for Guillermo Lasso who won out over leftist economist Andres Arauz.
Lasso ran on a platform promising to jumpstart the economy with free market economics against social welfare plans from Arauz.
''This is a historic day.
It is a day in which all Ecuadoreans have decided their future, they have expressed with their vote the need for change and the desire for better days for all." The results set the country apart in South America in its rejection of socialism, while Argentina, Chile and Bolivia have seen recent, popular leftist movements.
Ecuador instead is set to maintain its open market policies, a move welcomed by foreign investors wary of the country’s weak finances.
The global health crisis has pushed a third of Ecuador’s population into poverty and left half a million people unemployed.
Outgoing President Lenin Moreno, who did not seek re-election, was unable to revive the economy.
United States President Joe Biden says he is “considering” a request from Australia to drop the prosecution of Julian Assange. The WikiLeaks founder has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over his website’s publication of classified U.S. documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars almost 15 years ago. The Australian national was taken to Belmarsh prison in London five years ago, after being dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy, where he stayed while fighting against being taken to the US. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Jorge Glas, Ecuador's former vice president, has been hospitalised following a tumultuous incident involving his removal from Mexico's embassy in Quito, which sparked a diplomatic dispute. Reports indicate that Glas, who had refrained from eating for 24 hours while in prison, was subsequently transferred to the Guayaquil naval hospital after falling ill. According to the SNAI prison authorities, he is now in stable condition. Additionally, it was stated that the former official, who had been provided political asylum by Mexico and had resided in the embassy since December, following two corruption convictions by Ecuadorian courts, will continue to be under medical observation. He is expected to be returned to prison soon.
#Mexico #Ecuador #MexicoEcuadorDiplomaticTies #DiplomaticRelations #VicePresident #JorgeGlas #Arrest #PoliticalTensions #InternationalLaw #Sovereignty #Embassy
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According to protest organisers, hundreds of thousands of Argentines flooded the streets to express their outrage over cuts to higher public education under the newly elected President Javier Milei. Students, professors, parents, and alumni from the country's 57 state-run universities rallied together on Tuesday, uniting in defence of free public university education amidst the economic turmoil plaguing South America. Joined by labour unions, opposition parties, and private universities, the demonstrations spread from Buenos Aires to major cities like Cordoba, marking one of the largest protests against the austerity measures implemented since Milei assumed office in December. While police estimated around 100,000 participants in the capital alone, organisers claimed the number soared closer to half-a-million, effectively paralysing the city centre for hours.
#ArgentinaProtests #EducationCuts #PresidentMilei #ArgentinaEducation #Protests #HigherEducation #PublicEducation #BudgetCuts #EducationReform #StudentProtests
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