Latest editorial
ECUADOR will go to the polls again for a second round after authorities announced on Tuesday that the ruling left-wing party’s candidate narrowly missed winning the presidency outright.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) said Pais Alliance candidate Lenin Moreno had fallen a hair’s breadth short of the 40 per cent threshold needed to win Sunday’s presidential election — with more than a 10-point lead over his nearest rival.
CNE president Juan Pablo Pozo told reporters that with 95 per cent of the ballots counted it was “mathematically impossible” for the result to change and a run-off between Mr Moreno and right-wing opposition candidate Guillermo Lasso was unavoidable.
The disputed election of a far-right president, who is also a US citizen, signals further consolidation of Washington’s regional power and represents a threat to the country’s democracy and sovereignty, writes WT WHITNEY JNR
Claims that Nicaragua has abolished elections followed a headline that stripped Daniel Ortega’s remarks of their historical and political context. The full speech tells a different story, says BECCA RENK FOSTER
ENRIQUE SANTIAGO ROMERO says the Colombian far-right’s election victory is deeply suspect — and the United States has its fingerprints all over it
LEE BROWN highlights the latest attempts to undo progressive reforms instated during the presidency of Rafael Correa