 For more videos on people's struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. On February 7th, 13 million Ecuadorians will vote in the general elections. They will elect the country's president, vice president, and 137 legislators, as well as five members of the Andean parliament for the period 2021 to 2025. According to the Ecuadorian constitution, in order to win the presidential elections in the first round, the frontrunner has to obtain more than 50% of the votes, or more than 40% of the votes with a 10% lead over the runner-up. In case no candidate manages a clear victory, a runoff will be held between the two leading candidates on April 11th. The social, political, and economic situation in Ecuador has seen a drastic deterioration under President Lenin Moreno. Moreno, who served as vice president under progressive president and leader of the Citizen Revolution, Rafael Correa, did an egregious vote with us after being elected president of the country. Who are the leading candidates in the presidential elections? A record number of 16 candidates are contesting in the presidential elections. Andrés Arauz, of the Progressive Union for Hope UNESCO Alliance, is the current frontrunner in the general elections. The alliance is made up of left-wing democratic center and social commitment force parties. According to most other polls, Guillermo Lasso of the right-wing Creating Opportunities, Creo Party, will likely come in second behind Arauz. Andrés Arauz is a protégé of former president Rafael Correa. The 35-year-old Arauz is an economist and he served the country various positions during Correa's government in 2007 to 2017. Correa's project, the Citizen Revolution, still enjoys strong popular support in the country. This project was characterized by large-scale social welfare programs and public infrastructure projects. During Correa's 10-year tenure, Ecuador's economy saw an average annual growth of about 3%. Experts suggest that Correa's devoters may see Arauz as a return to the good times of Correa's decade in office. Guillermo Lasso is a conservative banking millionaire. He served the government first when he was appointed as governor of the Guayas Providence in 1998, then as an interim economic minister in 1999. This is his third bid to become president. Lasso has the support of business elites, social conservatives, and other anti-Correa's corporates. What do the opinion polls say? Various opinion polls suggest that Andrés Arauz and his running mate Carlos Ravascal are the preferred candidates in the general elections. Meanwhile, right-wing and corporate pollsters, which having consulted workers, peasants, and indigenous people, show Arauz in a close race with Lasso, with neither of them having enough support to win in the first round. According to an opinion poll conducted by the Latin American Strategic Center for Geopolitics Celag between November 25 and December 13, 2020, Arauz is leading the voter intention with 36.5% of the votes. What are some of the main challenges for the income in government? Ecuador is witnessing an extremely severe economic recession caused by mismanagement on the part of President Lenín Moreno's government and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreno's anti-people, pro-corporate neoliberal policies have forced a section of the population to resort to loans to be able to meet their daily expenses. Moreno's popularity rating has crashed to single digits. He is not running for re-election, but even the candidate he is endorsed, Jimena Peña, according to the Celag's opinion poll, only has the support of 1.2% of the voters. In addition to the economic crisis, the country is also facing a health crisis. The coronavirus is spreading in all of the 24 provinces of the country. Ecuador is registering over 1,000 positive COVID-19 cases per day, with an increased demand for intensive care unit beds. The number of dead rose so rapidly in the early days of the pandemic that even the funeral services were so overwhelmed that families resorted to putting the bodies of their loved ones on the streets. Additionally, Moreno himself and several of his ministers and officials are being investigated for various corruption cases. The incoming government faces the challenge of alleviating the economic crisis, generating employment opportunities, improving health care, and keeping a check on corruption, among various other issues. How does Arauz plan to address the crisis? During the campaign inaugural events of the UNES on January 11th, Arauz reiterated his commitment to roll back Moreno's neoliberal policies. He promised to create more employment opportunities and provide social security to low-income and vulnerable populations. He stressed that he will continue to invest in public infrastructure projects such as the construction of bridges, roads, hospitals, and schools. He also promised to guarantee free, quality, and universal higher education. In December 2020, Arauz met with Argentine President Alberto Fernández to negotiate the contract to acquire 4.4 million doses of the vaccines developed at the Opera University, which will be produced in Argentina with support from Mexico. Arauz assured that the vaccines will be available in Ecuador on May 24th, the day the new head of state will take office, and the first phase of immunization will begin on June 21st. Arauz also committed to stop Ecuador from becoming an international money laundering center and strengthen dollarization. He also promised to consolidate the national financial system and end corruption in banks and capital flights. As part of his proposal to improve international relations, Arauz said that it is essential to recover regional integration through the Union of South American Nations, UNASUR, to regain a negotiating strength. Arauz has vowed to work for the people, recover the economy, and return Ecuadorians their dignity.