Ecuador's president may stand for re-election

Rafael Correa Delgado, president of Ecuador since 2007, said on radio in Quito on 9 October that there was a "high probability" his followers would ask him to be a candidate in presidential elections due in February 2013, EFE reported. Correa spoke in an interview with a broadcasting association, Asociación Ecuatoriana de Radiodifusión (AER). He said he had not yet decided to be a candidate but his family backed him and it was likely the Movimiento Alianza País (AP) would name him their candidate. EFE listed certain politicians cited as possible contenders so far, including the left-wing Alberto Acosta, former president Lucío Gutiérrez Borbúa, a former banker Guillermo Lasso and the "banana magnate" Álvaro Noboa Pontón. Correa said he would not fall into the "mediocrity" of discrediting aspirants but observed that some mentioned so far were an "embarrassment;" the country he said, "would have to be mad to send bankers back into power." A first round of elections was to be held on 17 February 2013 and a possible second round on 7 April, EFE reported.