Lasso says that Moreno has chance to put Ecuador on ‘road to prosperity’

Breaking three weeks of silence, Guillermo Lasso said Monday that Lenin Moreno has a chance to “change the course of history and put Ecuador back on the road to prosperity.”

Guillermo Lasso

Lasso, who lost a close presidential runoff election to Moreno in April, conceded for the first time that his challenge of election results had failed. Lasso, of the center-right CREO party, and his campaign had claimed that voting irregularities and possible fraud had swung the election in Moreno’s favor. A partial recount of the vote late last month turned up no major problems.

To put the country on the “right path,” Lasso said that Moreno must first make an “iron-clad” commitment that Ecuador will continue to use the U.S. dollar. He also urged Moreno to eliminate the electronic money system established by President Rafael Correa. “This could undermine the integrity of the country’s financial system and the program should be stopped,” he said.

Lasso also urged Moreno to reject Correa’s communications law that he says restricts freedom of speech and to take steps to encourage private investment in Ecuador’s private sector.

“A new political cycle begins this week in Ecuador,” Lasso said. “The situation is critical. We have a country that has been divided by a decade of insults and infamy and we have now have the opportunity to make corrections.”