MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ecuador Declares Correa President

Ecuador s Supreme Electoral Court is officially declaring on Monday economist Rafael Correa.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced that with all the ballots from the Nov. 26 runoff counted, Correa received more than 3.5 million votes, or 57 percent, compared with 2.7 million and 43 percent for banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa.

The vote count had reached 99 percent last Wednesday and victory already was conceded to Correa, who received congratulatory calls from dignitaries such as President Bush.

During the campaign, Correa attacked Ecuador's Congress as a "sewer" of corruption and ran no candidates for the legislature. He now faces a Congress totally in the hands of his opponents but says that's not important.

Correa, 43, who earned his doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois, intends to convene a special assembly to rewrite the constitution to undercut the power of traditional parties.

Correa also says he will cut ties to international lending institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and has threatened a moratorium on foreign debt payments unless foreign bondholders agree to lower Ecuador's debt service by half.