Election time in Ecuador

Its election time in Ecuador and if you thought politics in America were too much, just come down here. Since March its been every day in your face, rallies, parades, and talking cars. Out in front we have President Rafeal Correa, big fan of fist pumping, who greeted the crowd in Kichwa the day that he came to Puyo (Correa spent some time volunteering in a Sierran Kichwa town when he was young, and gathers a lot of support from them, by far the most numerous indigenous group in Ecuador). Below is a poster of him that reads, "You decide between the dark past or this marvelous future that is the Democratic Revolution!" On the street post we have Lucio Gutierrez, of Party 3, asking "Vota 3 otra vez", as he was the president before Correa, only to be impeached! Some of his other ads say, we were better off before with Lucio, and things were cheaper with Lucio. I find it interesting that all the parties feature their number much more prominantly than the name. The name is usually some combination of the words independent, alliance, country, socialist, progressive, etc. However, the number is (I`m quite sure) designed for illiterate voters. In fact, in TV ads, they clearly instruct a voter marking a ballot marked with the party number.







¡MOVIE STARS EXPOSED IN PUYO!



I have to say that one of my favorites here is the guy in the middle of this photo, in the black shirt, kind of looking at the camera. His name is German Flores, his slogan is 100% German Flores, leading many foreign visitors to Puyo to ask me, why do I see so many ads for flowers from Germany. The only reason that I really like him is his striking resemblance to Rambo. I was running alongside this parade like a giddy schoolgirl trying to snap a photo of him.





How do you say "thug" in Español?

This candidate for prefecto (governor) makes no attempt to hide that all he wants to do is pave roads. This ad reads, more asphalts for the province. Some of his other ads read "Mas vialidad". Unfortunately, vias means roads, not viability. Once I actually met him in a fancy restaurant in Puyo. It was a rainy afternoon and we were the only two groups eating lunch at 3 pm. An Ecuadorian friend I was with wanted to tell him about our orchid garden, to which he responded, yeah, its raining alot these months so Pastaza is no good for tourists, but we`re busying paving roads to improve the access. A couple weeks later the bridge near my house collapsed.





Or maybe "goon" would be a better word for this guy?

These guys just don`t know how to look good for the camera, or anything else for that matter. Maybe they`re trying to portray the image of security.











No, its not the gay pride parade of Puyo, the rainbow flag is the symbol of the nationwide indigenous party, Pachatutik. This party is acutally supporting the guy in the drawing above.







In Ecuador anyone can be a candidate, and when you don`t know anything about the candidate, you can look at their title to get a little idea about them. A few are Dr. (usually a lawyer), most are Ing. or Lc. (college degree), but a few are more interesting. The young girl in the photo here is an Od, which means Odontologist, or Dentist.

Next we have the Pastor, (on the left)

and finally, my favorite, the cute girl in the poster on the bottom is the waitress at the restuarant where I usually eat lunch! She`s running for the National Assembly, the equivalent of Congress! I hope she loses because she`s the only person who remembers to bring me the hot sauce.