Ecuador presidential campaign opens amid drug war, internal power struggle

The campaign, with 16 presidential candidates including leftist Luisa Gonzalez and Indigenous leader Leonidas Iza, will end February 6, three days before the election. The National Electoral Council (NEC) called on all candidates to conduct campaigns of "tolerance and mutual respect that promote reasoned debate (and) a culture of peace." Despite drug-related violence and a serious drought that led to prolonged blackouts, Noboa leads in early opinion polling, at 33 percent. Gonzalez, a 47-year-old...