Presidential Candidate Speech

The presidential election will be held in February of this year. Although few people seem to think the opposing candidates have a chance to win against the incumbent, it is still interesting ot see the developments. When I went to the Centro Histórico on Sunday, there was a small protest. (Rest assured, I won’t be protesting, given that it’s illegal for international visitors to do so.) On Wednesday at USFQ, one of the presidential candidates was giving a speech. I had the chance to listen to what he was saying, thought I didn’t quite understand it all.

The CREO candidate, Guillermo Lasso, spoke at USFQ to tell about himself and to respond to some questions about his positions on certain issues. One thing that stood out to me initially and that he emphasized was his lack of a university degree. This is very different from the backgrounds of most US candidates for office. Another difference was his background as a banker, without extensive political experience or knowledge. Now clearly, part of this difference arises from the difference in expectations of a candidate and in what appeals to the populace.

As a candidate, a friend and I realized that Lasso has a very conservative platform. In addition to opposing abortion and same-sex marriage with reference to his Catholic heritage, Lasso proposes a significant cut in taxes and tariffs, with private entities entering the country to increase market output and to decrease the oil reliance of the country. Listening to the views of this candidate made me realize the distinctions between each of the approximately eight candidates, as must occur for a multi-party system, to distinguish themselves from their opponents.

However, upon asking my host-mother about the elections, she indicated that many of the candidates only run with hopes of power and money. Although this happens on some level in the US as well, it seems to be more prevalent in Ecuador, creating a certain sense of frustration about the process. This was also evident in the responses of some of the students along the edges of the speech, as they quietly expressed doubt about some of the promises and proposals of the candidate. 

Hopefully I’ll be able to understand the system a bit, with the help of my Temas de América Latina class. In addition, I'll be interested in following the  developments in Venezuela, trying to keep in mind both a US and an Ecuador perspective.