Ecuador: The return of hope

Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa will accompany Andres Arauz as vice presidential candidate in the electoral ticket the Union for Hope Coalition (UNES) designated for the 2021 elections.

The UNES candidacy was welcomed by political movements Compromiso Social, or Social Commitment, and Centro Democrático, Democratic Center, and will participate in the general elections slated for February 7 by List 5.

Political parties in Ecuador wound up their primary elections on Sunday, setting forth their candidates for the 2021 vote.

At the presentation event, the leader of the Citizen's Revolution alliance Paola Cabezas said that the team, proclaimed as ‘Ticket for Hope', rolls up Ecuador's intercultural richness.

For his part, Correa stressed that his country is experiencing one of the hardest moments in its history. ‘It is time,' he said, ‘to unite for hope. We are here in spite of all the immoral hurdles to prevent us from running'. He mentioned that until 72 hours ago they did not know whether they could be registered as candidates.

Likewise, he congratulated the rest of candidates for the upcoming elections, who, he assured, will have the historical responsibility, not only to fight for victory, but also to rescue the country.

‘We will come out ahead, there is light at the end of the tunnel if we all, together, fight to recover the homeland that has been taken away. We already did it in 2007, when we received a country that was still not recovering from the serious consequences of the banking crisis in 1999', he said.

Correa warned that he accepted the candidacy for vice president with joy, but also with sadness, in the face of the tragedy of the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as growing unemployment, young people without adequate education, and other social ills.

He described Andres Arauz as one of the most brilliant young people he knows, having been involved in the government of the Citizens' Revolution since he was 22 years old.