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Ecuador closes campaigns ahead of second round of presidential election

Xinhua, March 31, 2017 Adjust font size:

Both candidates in Ecuador's presidential race, ruling party candidate Lenin Moreno, and the opposition's Guillermo Lasso, closed their campaigns on Thursday with political rallies, ahead of a runoff on Sunday.

Moreno, who is wheelchair-bound and was vice-president from 2007 to 2013, held a massive rally in Quito after a three-week cross-country travel.

The chosen candidate of the ruling PAIS Alliance called on his supporters to help "continue building Ecuador of the future."

"We move toward dialogue...with tolerance and respect. We will return our gaze to the countryside and we will boost for young people to start businesses," said Moreno, who is popular among the supporters of the socialist policies of incumbent President Rafael Correa, in power since 2007.

However, Lasso cast himself as the candidate of "change," closing his campaign with a rally at a sports arena in his native coastal city of Guayaquil.

"This Sunday, we vote for change," he said, calling on his supporters to end a decade of Correa's model.

"We will be a government of gathering, of unity between all Ecuadorians," said the former banker, who is supported by the business community and wealthier citizens.

This is Lasso's second attempt at the presidential election after losing to Correa in 2013.

Polls last week gave a slight edge to Moreno, with polling firm Cedatos putting him on 52 percent ahead of Lasso's 48 percent. Endi