Ecuadorean leader seeks expat vote (in Florida)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald

Ecuadorean leader seeks expat vote
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa meets with the South Florida expatriate community today ahead of the country's elections on a constitutional assembly.
Posted on Sat, Sep. 22, 2007
BY CASEY WOODS
[e-mail]

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa -- young, charismatic, and intent on leftist change -- brings his compatriots in Miami a simple message as he attempts to dismantle his nation's Congress, which he has called a ``sewer of corruption.''

''We are deciding the future of the country. Don't vote for the same as always,'' Correa told The Miami Herald on Friday as he arrived for a whirlwind trip that will take him to the United Nations in New York.

Correa will meet with South Florida's Ecuadorean community Saturday to stump for the country's upcoming elections to the constitutional assembly, which has been granted sweeping powers to change the constitution and the country's political destiny.
(snip)

More than 150,000 Ecuadoreans, including 2,200 in Florida, are registered to vote abroad -- a fraction of the estimated 3 million who live in other countries. The Ecuadorean consulate estimates that about 60,000 Ecuadoreans live in Florida. Those who registered by June 30 will be allowed to vote at the consulate in downtown Miami.

Two of the 130 delegates who will be elected will come from the United States and Canada, and 38 expatriate candidates here and in the northeast are battling for a slot.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/246662.html