Creating Opportunities

Creating Opportunities (Spanish: Creando Oportunidades, CREO; the acronym means lit. 'I believe', and also means lit. 'I create') is a centre-right political party in Ecuador.[16] In the 2021 general election, its leader, Guillermo Lasso was elected for president.[17]

Creating Opportunities
Creando Oportunidades (CREO)
AbbreviationCREO
PresidentGuido Chiriboga
SpokespersonLuis Pachala
FounderGuillermo Lasso
Founded20 August 2012 (2012-08-20)
HeadquartersAv. Quito 2502 y Gomez Rendon, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Membership184,299 (2016) [1]
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right[12][13][14]
Regional affiliationUnion of Latin American Parties[15]
Seats in the National Assembly
12 / 137
Prefects
1 / 23
Mayors
25 / 221
Website
creo.com.ec
This article is part of
a series about
Guillermo Lasso
  • Federal Government
  • Presidential campaigns
  • Referendums
  • 2023 (constitutional)
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Ideology

Generally considered a centre-right conservative outfit, CREO's candidate in the 2021 presidential elections ran on a more centrist platform: his economic development model was mainly market-oriented and favoring entrepreneurship, but also promised state support to micro-enterprises and upgrading of education.

Lasso promoted an independent judiciary and free speech (the opposition and civil rights organizations consider judicial autonomy and press freedom to be threatened under the administration of President Rafael Correa).[18]

History

In the 2013 presidential election, Lasso was placed second with 22.7% of the votes, having been endorsed also by the Social Christian Party and the Madera de Guerrero movement of Guayaquil's mayor Jaime Nebot. In the simultaneous election for the National Assembly, the party won 11.4% of the votes and 11 out of 137 seats. Hence, it is the major opposition force in parliament.

In the 2014 local elections, CREO obtained 22 mayorships, including those of provincial capitals such as Azogues, Riobamba and Tena, besides the Loja prefecture. In that same year, CREO lead the creation of "Ecuador Compromise" (Compromiso Ecuador) formed by various opposition groups and guilds, including the Migrants Movement led by Luis Felipe Tilleria, and supported by several political figures from across the Ecuadorian political spectrum. The context of its creation was a government-sponsored project for a series of constitutional amendments by the National Assembly, which led to the opposition collective to unsuccessfully ask for a referendum on the matter, with special focus on the amendment that would pave the way for elected incumbents to seek indefinite reelection. In September 2016, CREO was admitted as member of the Union of Latin American Parties, the regional subsidiary of the International Democrat Union.[19]

For the 2017 general elections Lasso and his movement agreed with the SUMA party to form the "Alliance for Change" (Alianza por el Cambio) to run on an anti-Correa platform, along with several other smaller groups.[20]

Lasso ran as a candidate again in the 2021 general election.[21] In the first round, Lasso was slightly behind indigenous rights activist Yaku Pérez Guartambel, but eventually garnered enough votes to secure a narrow second-place finish.[22] Lasso would face socialist and Rafael Correa ally Andrés Arauz.[22] He defeated Arauz in the April run-off election, with many news outlets noting the conservative shift among the Ecuadorian electorate.[23] Lasso's victory was also seen as a win for free-market advocates in the country.[9][24] President-elect Lasso finished second in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections.[25] On 24 May 2021, Guillermo Lasso was sworn in as the new President of Ecuador, becoming the country's first right-wing leader in 14 years.[26]

Election Results

Presidential Elections
Year Candidates First Round Place Second Round Place
President Vice President Votes % Votes %
2013 Guillermo Lasso Juan Carlos Solines 1,951,102 23% 2nd
2017 Guillermo Lasso Andrés Páez 2,652,403 28% 2nd 4,833,389 49% 2nd
2021 Guillermo Lasso Alfredo Borrero Vega 1,830,172 20% 2nd 4,656,426 52% 1st

References
  1. Telégrafo, El (September 6, 2016). "3,5 millones de firmas avalan a 16 grupos políticos". El Telégrafo.
  2. Profiles: Ecuador's leading presidential candidates, Xinhua, February 17, 2013
  3. Glickhouse, Rachel (February 15, 2013), In Ecuador, an Expected Third-Term Win for Correa, Americas Society – Council of the Americas
  4. Guillermo Lasso, un conservador que promete cambios, El País, April 11, 2021
  5. "El conservador Guillermo Lasso ganó y será el próximo presidente de Ecuador". April 11, 2021.
  6. "Conservador Guillermo Lasso asume las riendas de Ecuador". La Nación. May 24, 2021.
  7. "Remontada histórica del conservador Guillermo Lasso y varapalo al correísmo en las elecciones de Ecuador". April 12, 2021.
  8. "Guillermo Lasso: Mi vida me hizo liberal". El Universo (in Spanish). May 9, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  9. "Ecuador's Guillermo Lasso Wins Presidential Election". The Wall Street Journal. April 11, 2021.
  10. "El liberal que puede tumbar el socialismo en Ecuador... Si no hay 'pucherazo'". February 22, 2017.
  11. "Ecuador inicia un giro liberal".
  12. Beittel, June S. (July 2013), "Ecuador: Political and Economic Conditions and U.S. Relations" (PDF), CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service, p. 3
  13. Terryn, Tristan (February 26, 2013), In Ecuador, a decisive victory for President Rafael Correa consolidates the 'Citizen's Revolution' (PDF), Policy Department, Directorate-General for External Policies, p. 1
  14. "Lasso, el conservador que giró al centro político para presidir Ecuador".
  15. "Partidos Miembros".
  16. "El CNE habilitó al movimiento CREO". El Universo. January 23, 2012.
  17. Dube, Ryan (April 11, 2021). "Ecuador's Guillermo Lasso Wins Presidential Election". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  18. Palacio, Gustavo (February 12, 2013), Ecuador: An Election Primer, Center for Strategic and International Studies, archived from the original on December 3, 2013
  19. "CREO se incorpora a la Unión de Partidos Latinoamericanos | La República EC". September 11, 2016.
  20. "Alianza por el Cambio, nueva plataforma electoral de Guillermo Lasso". El Universo. October 29, 2016.
  21. McDonnell, Patrick J.; Jaramillo Viteri, Pablo (April 11, 2021). "Shadow of COVID-19 and economic downturn hovers over elections in Ecuador and Peru". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  22. "Leftist Arauz, conservative Lasso advance to Ecuador presidential run-off". Buenos Aires Times. February 22, 2021.
  23. "Ecuador goes with conservative banker in presidential vote". Associated Press. April 11, 2021.
  24. "Ecuador's Lasso pledges deficit cuts, new oil deals after election win". Reuters. April 12, 2021.
  25. "Guillermo Lasso: Conservative ex-banker elected Ecuador president". BBC News. April 12, 2021.
  26. "Lasso inaugurated as first right-wing Ecuador president in 14 years". France 24. May 24, 2021.
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