Ecuador president accuses opposition of brewing Venezuelan-style "upheaval"

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa on Saturday accused the right-wing opposition of trying to foment a Venezuelan-style "state of upheaval" through baseless claims of electoral fraud.

"Part of their strategy is to take us towards a state of upheaval similar to the one in Venezuela, to prevent governability. They are desperate," Correa said in his regular weekly report.

An April 2 runoff saw the ruling PAIS Alliance candidate, Lenin Moreno, defeat opposition rival Guillermo Lasso, of the Creating Opportunities-led coalition Creo Suma.

Lasso, a life-long banker who lost his second run for top office, is contesting the outcome. He indicated even before the election he would not accept defeat, and declared victory on election night based on an exit poll.

He has cried electoral foul and called on his supporters to go out into the streets and protest the results.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) has agreed to a partial recount, to take place on Tuesday, and has invited universities, unions, embassies, and political organizations and parties to accompany the process, which is to be broadcast live nationwide.

"We hope to have delegates of the PAIS movement and the Creo Suma coalition" there to observe the recounting, CNE President Juan Pablo Pozo said on Saturday.

Lasso planned to boycott, saying "we will not accept anything less than the opening of all of the ballot boxes to recount all of the votes, that is why we will not endorse any partial opening of the ballots with our presence."

A bitter power struggle between the ruling socialist party in Venezuela and the right-wing opposition has created an economic and political crisis marked by frequent street protests that have occasionally turned violent, shortages of basic goods and a highly divisive society.

"I don't want to frighten (anyone), but recall what has happened in Venezuela through the same right-wing strategy. They want to do the same thing to us here, to discredit the results," said Correa.

"We are faced with ... the capricious whim of an uppity rich boy who wants to buy the presidency of the republic. We will not allow him to destabilize the country in order to do that," said Correa. Endit