Ecuador before an empty chair

The hall was ready. On the right side, of course, Guillermo Lasso of the Creo-Suma alliance, soberly dressed, with his legs crossed like someone who gets tired of waiting. In the middle, the Ecuadorian journalist Andrea Bernal. The moderator had boarded a plane bound for Ecuador with the possibility of conducting a debate with no counterpart. To the left, of course, the empty chair that has become the logo of the campaign of Lenin Moreno, the candidate of Alianza PAIS. As a professional escapist, Moreno has turned this into the third failed attempt for the Ecuadorian Democracy to have a face-to-face between its two finalist hopefuls to the presidency.

It will not be possible at this point. Three days before the closure of the official campaign and the entry into force of the electoral silence, the only thing the country can expect is what it has had in recent months: a cross of inert accusations.

The only difference in that script took place the evening of March 27, 2017, when instead of a canceled event, there was an empty chair.

CNN had previously tried without success. The Government Network of Teachers had promised, although with malice, to retract at the last minute. And until this morning Moreno maintained the silence that has characterized him before any uncomfortable subject. That’s why he gave press conferences without questions. That is why he ignored the direct questions about his incense. That’s why he delegated the task of telling the country that he would offend Democracy through the mouth of his press team.