Ecuador re-elects its president

With a little over half the votes counted on 18 February, President Rafael Correa Delgado was declared winner in Ecuador's general elections of 17 February, leading his rivals by a wide margin, Europa Press reported. The agency cited provisional figures given by the state electoral agency CNE, which stated that with a little under 4.76 million votes counted that day - a little over half of all votes cast - Correa had won 2.49 million or 56.93 per cent of the votes. The second candidate in terms of votes was Guillermo Lasso with 23.7 per cent of votes counted thus far. The president said the night before speaking in northern Quito that "there is no stopping the citizens' revolution" and that his victory belonged to "all Ecuadoreans." Several Latin American leaders congratulated Correa on his victory, as did Spain's Foreign Minister, Europa Press reported. The elections were for 143 public offices, and a little over 11.6 million Ecuadoreans voted inside and outside the country, the daily El Universo reported on 18 February.