Ecuador experienced the electoral debates once more

From 1984 to 2006 there were no presidential debates in Ecuador. What is the reason?

According to consultant Antonio Tramontana, there are several possibilities, one that explains that since the debate of Rodrigo Borja and Leon Febres-Cordero, a stigma was created and the second is a strategy. “There is always a characteristic: the one who wants to debate, the one who invites to debate, the one who proclaims the debate is the one who at a certain point has lost popularity and this is part of a strategy,” he said.

However, for political analyst Oswaldo Moreno, that depends on the conjuncture. “It depends a lot on the times, the conjunctures, the characters, the scenarios, it depends a lot on the current historical context,” he said.

After 22 years, the Ecuadorians were protagonists of another encounter. Very distant and different from the others. On August 22, 2006, presidential hopefuls Rafael Correa, of the Alianza PAIS (AP) party; Cynthia Viteri, of the Social Christian Party (PSC), Leon Roldos, of the RED-Izquierda Democrática (ID) party; Fernando Rosero, of the Ecuadorian Roldosista Party (PRE); and Alvaro Noboa, of the Institutional Renewal National Action Party (PRIAN); participated in a forum organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Guayaquil, led by Andres Oppenheimer.