Corruption scandals weigh on Ecuador's leftists ahead of vote
A former oil minister's accusations that Ecuador's leftist government is involved in graft at
state-run Petroecuador is raising the ire of voters as the ruling party seeks to extend
its 10-year hold on power in a presidential election on Sunday.
Carlos Pareja, a fugitive accused of accepting $1 million in bribes to secure Petroecuador
contracts for companies, has been tweeting theatrically produced videos that accuse officials
of President Rafael Correa's administration of wrongdoing.
Vice President Jorge Glas, the running mate of ruling party presidential candidate Lenin
Moreno, is among those targeted in the videos, which are divided into episodes with dramatic
music and even a lie detector test.
"He is the ringleader," Pareja said in a video posted this month, although he has yet to
provide specific details.
Glas, who oversaw the oil and infrastructure sectors while serving as strategic sectors
minister, has denied any wrongdoing.
Pareja has not implicated Moreno, a paraplegic former U.N. envoy on disability.
The saga, coupled with the emerging scandal that Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht paid
$33.5 million in bribes to secure contracts, has transfixed the oil-rich Andean nation
of 16 million people and cast a shadow over Sunday's election.
Correa has slammed Pareja as a corrupt coward who is trying to deflect blame for graft during
the construction of the Esmeraldas refinery.
Correa says authorities opened a probe as soon as irregular payments were detected.
But the mud-slinging is bad news for Ecuador's leftist government, analysts say, in a close-fought
election that could spill over into an April runoff if Moreno fails to garner enough votes
on Sunday.
Driving school director Fermin Olmedo was planning to vote for Moreno but was so turned
off by the scandals that he now supports conservative ex-banker Guillermo Lasso.
"There was no control and they were all accomplices," said Olmedo, 37, in the coastal city of Guyaquil.
"They don't want the truth to come out because it would be a big blow to the government and
these elections."
With polls showing Ecuadoreans now see corruption as one of the top problems alongside the economy
and unemployment, Moreno has repeatedly said at campaign rallies that "major surgery" is
needed to clean out graft.
But pollsters warn it is tricky to measure how graft is affecting the campaign.
Although Moreno remains the candidate best poised to win the election, his popularity
has been slipping: Some 32 percent of Ecuadoreans said this month they would vote for him, down
from 37 percent in October, according to top pollster Cedatos.
While the country's economic downturn is the top issue for voters, corruption has become
a growing concern, said Polibio Cordova of Cedatos.
"As Mr. Moreno is the government candidate he is the one who would be affected," said
Cordova, adding that the corruption cases may also have increased the number of undecided
voters.
'WHERE IS THE MONEY?'
Ecuador is the first South American country to hold a presidential election since Odebrecht
[ODBES.UL] admitted in a leniency deal in December that it doled out hundreds of millions
of dollars in bribes from Peru to Panama to pocket contracts.
Ecuador has not made any arrests, although authorities are investigating.
"Unfortunately the modus operandi of these companies is to give tips to those in charge
of managing contracts, and that's hard to detect," Correa said during a recent press
conference in the coastal city of Manta.
Observers are scrutinizing Ecuador to see whether it will follow Argentina, Brazil,
and Peru in swerving right after a decade-long "pink rule" in much of the region.
While Correa brought stability to the politically volatile OPEC nation and launched popular
social programs, many are fed up with his confrontational style and rising unemployment.
"These scandals are one more little drop in the glass that was already full," said systems
engineer Ines Cueva, 42, who is torn between Lasso or opposition rival Cynthia Viteri.
Some ruling party supporters, however, are unfazed by the bribery revelations.
"Not all of them are perfect but they have done more than those before them," said business
student Genesis Mariscal, 22, who added that she might have deserted Moreno had the opposition
been less "retrograde."
Disillusioned Correa supporters have little faith in Lasso, whom they see as a stuffy
elitist linked to the 1999 financial crisis when hundreds of thousands lost their savings.
Lasso has defended himself saying Banco de Guayaquil, which he presided over for almost
two decades, was solid and survived the meltdown.
At a recent rally to support Lasso, who promises thorough graft probes, a man dressed as a
rat held up wads of dollars and a sign that read: "Where is the money?"France warns the
United States against the weakening of Europe JDD
Any U.S. attempt to divide Europeans is doomed to fail as Washington lacks the capacity to
offset the benefits the European Union offers its members, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc
Ayrault said in an interview with newspaper Journal du Dimanche on Sunday.
Asked about the lack of unity of Europeans with regards to U.S. President Donald Trump's
worldview, Ayrault said that the situation was changing, essentially because of Trump's
"repeated attacks" against Europe.
"(...) I bet that any attempt to divide and rule Europeans will not work," Ayrault said.
"For the United States absolutely do not have the capacity to offset the benefits the European
Union offers to its members."
"Even (British Prime Minister) Theresa May felt compelled to say, despite Brexit, that
it was in the interest of the United States to have a strong Europe as a partner," Ayrault
added.
He also said that France will not accept any foreign interference, whether Russian or American,
on its April and May presidential election.
"Some attitudes or statements may imply" that the United States and Russia want to weaken
Europe, Ayrault said.
As an example, he said that Russia expressed its preferences for French right-wing candidates
such as conservative Francois Fillon and far-right leader Marine Le Pen, while pro-European independent
centrist Emmanuel Macron suffered cyber attacks.
"This form of interference on the French democratic life is unacceptable ... France will not accept,
the French will not accept to have their choices dictated," Ayrault said.U.S. carrier group
patrols in South China Sea U.S. navy
A United States aircraft carrier strike group has begun patrols in the South China Sea,
the U.S. navy said on Saturday, amid renewed tension over the disputed waterway.
China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday warned Washington against challenging its sovereignty,
responding to reports the United States was planning fresh naval patrols in the South
China Sea.
The navy said the force, including Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, began routine
operations in the South China Sea on Saturday.
The announcement was posted on the Vinson's Facebook page.Back on the campaign trail already,
Trump touts promises kept
President Donald Trump, after a rocky first month in office, returned to the campaign
trail on Saturday to deliver another attack on the media and tout his White House accomplishments
in the friendly and familiar atmosphere of a rally with supporters.
Landing on Air Force One as the sun set near a hangar filled with thousands of people,
Trump reveled in the crowd and listed promises he had kept, including starting the process
of building a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, deporting immigrants, and pulling
the country out of a trade agreement with Asian nations.
"Life is a campaign.
Making our country great again is a campaign," he told reporters on Air Force One when asked
about criticism that he was starting to campaign so early.
The rally marks an especially early start to the 2020 election campaign.
Trump filed re-election papers with the Federal Election Commission five hours after he was
sworn in as president on Jan. 20.
The businessman-turned-politician told the crowd he wanted to speak to them without the
filter of "fake news," his standard critique of the journalists and media organizations
that cover him.
The White House has been unhappy with stories portraying Trump's first weeks as chaotic.
His short tenure has been marked by turmoil over a contentious executive order limiting
immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries and the resignation of his national security
adviser.
The abrupt departure of Michael Flynn followed revelations that he had discussed U.S. sanctions
on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office and
misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.
"I want him to know that we support him," said Carmela Rocheleau, 33, a registered nurse
from Port St. Lucie, Florida, who attended Trump's rally.
"Everybody is going against him and I want him to know that we care about all the hard
work that he's doing because it seems like everybody attacks him for anything and nobody
shows him any good credit," she said."
Gene Huber, 47, a car salesman from West Palm Beach, Florida, had been waiting in line to
see Trump since 4 a.m.
"His excitement and the love that he shows us, the people, that's why each day brought
me stronger and closer to him," Huber said.
In an unusual move, Trump allowed Huber to join him on stage and address the crowd during
the rally.
He acknowledged later that the move probably did not please the Secret Service.
At one point, Trump also read aloud the federal statute at issue in the litigation challenging
his immigration executive order, while again criticizing the appellate panel that blocked
its enforcement.
He pledged a revised order would come in a matter of days.
"We don't give up," Trump said.
"We never give up."
Trump also heavily criticized Senate Democrats for holding up confirmation of his cabinet
nominees.
"They're doing the wrong thing for the American people," he said.
He decried public-opinion polls that show him with a high disapproval rating as "phony"
and urged his supporters to pay no attention to them.
But after a speech filled with attacks on the media and his opponents, the president
tried to close on a unifying note.
"Let us move past the differences of party and find a new loyalty rooted deeply in our
country," Trump told the crowd.
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