The United States said on Monday that it is "ready to work" with
a new Ecuadoran government led by Ecuador's leftist presidential
candidate Rafael Correa.
"In terms of the next Ecuadoran government, we're ready to work
with them," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
However, the relations between the United States and Ecuador
would ultimately depend on whether Correa's policies are
"consonant" with US goals for the region, McCormack said.
Pending certification of the election results, McCormack
declined to comment directly on Correa's victory, though he
congratulated the Ecuadoran people for "a pretty transparent, free
and fair electoral process."
Correa, 43, leads right wing rival Noboa by 37 percentage points
with around 54 percent of the vote counted, Ecuadoran Supreme
Electoral Tribunal announced on Monday.
He told reporters on Saturday that he hoped the Ecuador-US ties
"will be the best possible."
However, the future Ecuadoran leader is also a friend of
Venezuela's anti-US president, Hugo Chavez. He said on Sunday that
he would seek stronger ties with Venezuela. He also reiterated his
opposition to a free trade deal with the United States and insisted
he would not renew the lease for a US military air base on
Ecuador's Pacific Coast.
Correa said that Ecuador had credible information that the US
Central Intelligence Agency had made some interference with the
first round of Ecuador's presidential election.
(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2006)
