Another candidate enters the presidential race

The list of candidates for president in the August cross death election grew by one over the weekend while previously announced candidates consolidated their support with new endorsements.

Eduardo Maruri

Guayaquil business leader Eduardo Maruri, sponsored by the Democratic Center, added his name to the list of contenders Saturday, saying he believes voters need an alternative to the “extremes of the political spectrum.”

“We have candidates who represent the communist and socialist parties,” he said, referring to Leonidas Iza and Yaku Pérez. “We will see others in the race who would abandon the poor and indigenous. My plan is to promote a middle ground that serves all Ecuadorians.”

Among the announced candidates, Pérez strengthened his support Friday by gaining the endorsement of the Ecuadorian Socialist Party.

Meanwhile, Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities President Iza said he would be a candidate of Conaie and the indigenous Pachakutik party if the Conaie candidate to head Pachakutik is officially recognized. He said his interest was to consolidate the support of Conaie and Pachakutik against the challenge of Pérez for indigenous voters.

In the 2021 election, Pérez represented Pachakutik and came within two percentage points of making the runoff election.

In another weekend development, former assemblywoman Luisa González has been added to the list of possible Citizens Revolution candidates, which already includes Carlos Rabascal and 2021 presidential candidate Andrés Araúz. In TikTok and Twitter posts, her supporters claimed the Correista movement needed a “new face and new ideas”, and that González met those requirements. A spokesman for the Citizens Revolution said the party would announce its presidential candidate “probably this week.”

The other announced presidential candidates include former vice president Otto Sonnenholzner, sponsored by the Suma movement; former assemblyman Fernando Villavicencio, supported by a consortium of four parties; economist Jan Topic, supported by the Social Christians; and businessman and former assemblyman Daniel Noboa, supported by the Equality and Democracy movement.

In announcing its support for Perez, the Socialist Party said it was dropping its endorsement of previous favorite, Elsa Guerra.