QUITO, ECUADOR — In a potential blow to already-weakened U.S. influence in Latin America, leftist economist Rafael Correa appeared to be sweeping to victory Sunday in Ecuador's presidential election.
A native of Guayaquil, Correa received about 65% of the vote, overpowering banana magnate and perennial candidate Alvaro Noboa, who garnered 35%, according to an official count of 20% of the ballots cast. Full results won't be known until today or Tuesday. Noboa has not conceded.
Correa, 43, a career academic with a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois, has promised to pursue a socialist agenda similar to that of his political mentor, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Like Chavez, he has pledged to make sweeping changes to his nation's corrupt and inefficient political system by convening a new constitutional assembly and concentrating power in the presidency.
"After years of living in the darkness, we have a triumph that is a victory for hope -- hope for change, hope for regaining control of the homeland," Correa said in a speech to supporters at a downtown hotel here. "We are nothing but the instruments of hope."
Probably less hopeful are holders of Ecuador's foreign debt, which totals about $11 billion. During his campaign, Correa said he would try to renegotiate the obligations and did not rule out defaulting, saying the money would be better spent on social programs.
Ecuador has defaulted on its foreign debt three times since the early 1980s.
"His comments were reason enough to cause a sell-off in Ecuadorean bonds," said Gianfranco Bertozzi, an emerging-markets strategist at Lehman Bros. in New York. "This was the least market-friendly result. Most investors thought Noboa would win."
Correa would be the fifth left-leaning presidential candidate to be elected in Latin America in a little more than a year. Leftists are in power, or are set to take office, in Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Nicaragua and Ecuador. Venezuela is also governed by a leftist, Chavez.
But not all are opposed to U.S. economic policies.
Throughout his campaign, Correa spoke harshly about the United States and President Bush. But since placing second to Noboa in the first electoral round on Oct. 15, he has softened his stance, and recently had a friendly meeting here with U.S. Ambassador Linda Jewell.
