Last Sunday, a long-awaited debate was held between the candidates for the President of the Republic, Daniel Noboa and Luisa González, who went to the second round of the election.

First of all, I want to congratulate Ruth Del Salto for her impeccable performance as moderator.

And so what happened to a serious and independent press happened: the leftists accused it of being right-wing, and the right-wing accused it of being left-wing. That the Barcelona fans accuse her of being an Emelecista, and the Emelecs accuse her of being a Barcelona fan. And so I can go on. Because people immersed in fanaticism (and the arrogance it creates) mostly see the balanced as enemies (in honor of that unfortunate phrase that is so typical of today’s Ecuador, that “you’re either with me or you’re against me”).

School debates

Surely many anti-correístas intended for Ruth to become a kind of false ally of Noboa in the debate. Let him discard his professional prestige and his ethical and democratic convictions and side with Doña Luisa, as happens with certain television interviewers who do not hide their goals in favor of certain politicians and against others. It is possible that she would be elevated to the category of the heroine of democracy in the WhatsApp chats of our elites. As if Noboa didn’t have (and has) the ability to face the debate equally.

For the Correísto side, Ruth is nothing like the kind of moderator they would prefer; like Carlos Ochoa, for example. And their fight to defend freedom of expression in difficult times, through pure journalism, is, without a doubt, a bad reference for them.

For voting on the 15th

For this reason, at the end of the debate, given the dissatisfaction with the participation of their candidate, by their brave Twitter and WhatsApp groups, they had nothing better than to blame Ms. Ruth for the dead.

Ecuador needs peace… also so we can communicate, relate and live together without hatred…

The thing is that they wanted “blood”, they wanted insults, stigmatization, that on the one hand they swore that they would never talk to Correa, and on the other hand they reached for the shabby phrases of the rotten oligarchy, the elite. , continuity, etc.

They wanted everything that Ecuador is already tired of. That conflict and polarization that turned us into a kind of angry nation.

For this reason, apart from what one or the other candidate could have done better, in this column we welcome the efforts of both parties to try to conduct a respectful debate of ideas, programs and proposals. To look forward to the attempt to rebuild this Ecuador that can no longer bear it.

Ecuador needs peace. And not only what is needed so that we can go out into the streets without fear of dying at the hands of the crime that has taken over the country, despite belated and isolated state efforts, but also so that we can communicate, relate and live together without hatred, without complaints , without stigma, without prejudice and without contempt. (OR)