On Sunday, former President Rafael Correa celebrated the results achieved by his Citizen Revolution party in the subnational elections held in Ecuador.
Winning candidates Paola Pabon (Pichincha Prefecture) and Pabel Muñoz (Quito Mayor), Feb. 5, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/ @pabelml
“We achieved the impossible: we are the Citizen Revolution again! Until victory, always!” he said in a video where he appears playing the guitar and singing “It Changes, Everything Changes,” (Cambia, Todo Cambia) an emblematic song of Latin American social struggles.
“Do you know what we have achieved after being persecuted for six years of persecution and with just one year of the Citizen Revolution party?,” Correa asked to emphasize the magnitude of the leftist victory over right-wing parties.
On Sunday, over 13.4 million Ecuadorians went to the polls to elect 23 provincial prefects, 221 mayors, and 7 members of the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control, an entity that appoints authorities such as the Attorney General and the Comptroller.
They also participated in a referendum through which President Guillermo Lasso intended to modify the Constitution so as to consolidate a conservative political project.
Amidst skyrocketing crime rates in Ecuador, political assassinations have rocked these midterm elections. Just yesterday a major mayoral candidate for the leftist @RC5Oficial was murdered. https://t.co/RcDeWmONoD
— Machete y Mate (@MacheteyMate) February 5, 2023
Former President Rafael Correa’s tweet reads,
Omar Menendez, our winning candidate for mayor of Puerto Lopez, has just been murdered. The Homeland is falling apart. Hugs to his family and all the comrades from Manabi.
The Ecuadorian right-wing parties, however, suffered a resounding defeat both in the subnational elections and in the referendum. The Citizen Revolution candidates for the prefectures triumphed in the provinces with the largest population.
This happened with Paola Pabon (Pichincha), Marcela Aguiñaga (Guayas), Leonardo Orlando (Manabi), Juan Lloret (Azua), Johana Nuñez (Santo Domingo), Richar Calderon (Imbabura), and Yofre Poma (Sucumbios).
The progressive forces also prevailed in the main cities with Pabel Muñoz in Quito, Aquiles Alvares in Guayaquil, Wilson Erazo in Santo Domingo, Vicko Villacis in Esmeraldas, Pedro Solines in Milagro, and Alexis Matute in Quevedo.
The magnitude of the people’s support for the Citizen Revolution became evident in an unprecedented event: Ecuadorians elected Omar Menedez as mayor of Puerto Lopez, despite the fact that this young man was murdered by hitmen on the day before the elections.
#FromTheSouth News Bits | Sectional elections and referendum are held in Ecuador. pic.twitter.com/sZsYZa9GdZ
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) February 5, 2023