In Ecuador, politics creates more problems than it can solve. The two transitional governments will add less than one every four years due to the lack of continuity of governance. The era of President Guillermo Lass, who had serious problems in political action and execution of time, ended with a modest legacy despite so many expectations. Correísmo’s efforts to return the troche and moche to power is once again the guiding thread that marks the country’s agenda.

The smiles shared by candidates on the campaign trail barely manage to instill hope in a disbelieving populace. Bargaining bids have the face of fraud in the face of the reality of a bankrupt state that is at the same time governed by an inoperative bureaucracy; Not to mention one-off institutions, such as the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (CCCCS) or pocket judges who acquit drug dealers and corrupt people at their own discretion for allegedly violating their constitutional rights.

The death of the cross left the Ecuadorian economy in ruins. It grew just 0.7% year-over-year in the first quarter, and tax revenues fell by more than $1 billion in the first half, projecting a $5 billion shortfall in the 2023 budget.

The ballot is not there to create new illusions. Eight candidates who, on average, fall short of what might be expected of the Socratic ideal of virtue, much more important in a public man than in an ordinary citizen. As for proven experience and ability, the rating is discreet.

The favorite in the polls, Luisa González, is the stereotype of the attractive young professional who is so much to the taste of the clever marketing of the Alvarado brothers. His well-studied speech clings to an arcadia or an earthly paradise lost after decades of correísmo. “We were better before” is his crutch.

(…) I hope that we will learn from the mistakes made so that bigger ones do not happen.

Yaku Pérez, who should be second – followed by Otto’s team, Don Villa and Topic – had to come out to clarify with his constant smile (which does not fade) that he is not gay and that it is false that he had mining concessions, as which is abundantly confirmed in the sector media. In a demagogic outburst, he announced that he would ban all forms of extractivism, oil or mining, whose loss of income would have a solidary compensation of three VAT points, which would increase from 12 to 15 percent. The indigenous version of “the country is me”.

Otto is young and structured; serving as vice president gave him equal or more than his recent academic degree from Harvard. Don Villa, thanks to his courageous fight against corruption and being the anti-Koreist candidate par excellence, even though they point fingers at him as a “cover” for the outgoing government. Topic, also young and with a good academic background, is betting that he will be Ecuador’s Bukele, at a time when violence between drugs and criminals has reached unprecedented levels.

In this stumbling towards the next transition, the moral is to hopefully learn from the mistakes made so that bigger ones don’t happen. Although bad, it could always be worse. (OR)