Ecuador Exit Polls Show Leftist Correa Wins Presidential Vote

By Helen Murphy

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuador's former Finance Minister Rafael Correa, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, likely won today's presidential election, exit polls show.

Correa, 43, who has advocated defaulting on the nation's debt, led the race with 56.8 percent of the vote, based on an exit poll by Quito-based Cedatos/Gallup International. Alvaro Noboa, 55, Ecuador's largest banana exporter, had 43.2 percent, the pollster said. Two other exit polls also showed Correa in the lead.

Ecuador's benchmark bonds fell to a six-week low Friday on concern Correa, who served a four-month stint as finance minister in 2005, would win today's election. Since leading the first-round vote last month, Noboa, 55, has used Correa's ties with Chavez to paint his opponent as a socialist and puppet of Venezuela.

``The attacks on Correa were excessive and probably backfired, leaving Correa appearing victimized,'' said Gianfranco Bertozzi, a Latin American economist at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in New York. ``Suddenly he became an underdog, which is often a good place to be in Ecuador in an election.''

Social Unrest

The winner in today's election, who will take office on Jan. 15, will replace President Alfredo Palacio and become the eighth president in 10 years in Ecuador, where corruption and social unrest have toppled several administrations. Ecuador's 13.3 million citizens, most living in poverty, are demanding a greater share of the country's oil wealth. Ecuador is South America's fifth-largest producer of crude.

``It won't be Rafael Correa who assumes power in January; it will be the people,'' Correa said after claiming victory at his campaign headquarters in Quito.[ MORE ]