Correa concedes election will not be overturned but denies his role in the loss, vows to fight on

By Liam Higgins

After a third-straight presidential election loss for his political movement, former president Rafael Correa is not giving up, vowing to “fight on and on to regain control of the homeland.” Although he concedes President Daniel Noboa’s victory will not be overturned, he insists a “mega-fraud” was committed in the defeat of his protégé Luisa Gonzalez.

Former president Rafael Correa

“This is not over and I will oppose the illegitimate government head-on, as will other members of Citizens Revolution,” Noboa said in an interview with the News Wire Service last week. “We will pursue this injustice through international channels to expose the corruption that yielded this result.”

One reason Correa says he will continue the fight is his belief that the movement he began 20 years ago is the only leftist force in Ecuador. “We are the left in Ecuador,” he told the AFP news service. “You may accuse me of being arrogant, but what was there before Citizens’ Revolution? It was little political parties polling two or three percent in elections. We changed the balance of power in Ecuador, and we are not going away.”

In three interviews last week, Correa denied claims that he was responsible for defeat. “No, no, no, that is the shit the neoliberals keep bringing up,” he said. “My part in the campaign was very small — I was simply supporting our candidate, Luisa.”

Correa, who lives in exile in Brussels following his corruption conviction in absentia, also denied that Citizens Revolution had become a “personality cult” around his influence. “This is a movement of ideas and principles, not of one individual,” he said.

He also denied that his strong support of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro was a factor in the defeat, as was Gonzalez’s announcement in the debate with Noboa that she would recognize Maduro for the purpose of repatriating the estimated 450,000 Venezuelans living in Ecuador.

Correa also insisted that comments by his former Interior Minister Ricardo Patiño did not contribute to the defeat. In a television interview, Patina said the U.S. dollar would soon “wither with the collapse of the U.S.,” and Ecuadorians should prepare to move to a digital currency.

Although Gonzalez pledged to maintain the dollar as Ecuador’s official currency, Noboa’s social media advertising warned that the Correistas could not be trusted on the promise, and featured past comments by Correa as well as the new ones by Patiño.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Correa lamented friction within the Citizens Revolution delegation of the National Assembly. “I admit this is a problem and we must work to find a remedy as soon as possible.”

Correa concluded the El Mundo interview with his favorite slogan: “On to victory!”