Ecuador president declares victory

Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president, has declared victory over renegade police officers he said were part of an attempt to overthrow, just days after violence that left eight people dead and 274 wounded.

"This was a great victory for the government," Correa said in a nationally broadcast address from the presidential palace on Saturday.

Correa blamed supporters of Lucio Gutierrez, a former army colonel who was president from 2003 to 2005, for the chaos on Thursday, when he was trapped in a hospital by police protesting over plans to cut their benefits.

Airports were closed down, roads were blocked and renegade police officers clashed with supporters of the president before the army stepped in to bring the unrest to an end.

In his televised address, Correa said that Thursday was "surely the saddest day of my entire government and one of the saddest of my life".

"Lives were lost, there were dozens of injured, Ecuadoreans against Ecuadoreans. How could it happen?" Correa asked after ordering three days of mourning for the victims.

Police investigated

Three police colonels have been placed under criminal investigation for failing to stop their subordinates from staging the protests, which spread to police stations in at least five of the country's 24 provinces.

Officials did not name the three detained police colonels, but local media identified them as Manuel Rivadeneira, Julio Cesar Cueva and Marcelo Echeverria.

Correa on Saturday urged the public to support the police, saying the rebellion was the work of just "a few dozen bad elements".

Reporting from Quito said that Correa has said that there would be "no forgiveness" for those involved in the violence.

"As they say here, heads are expected to roll, and obviously there will be a purge of the police and certain small factions of the military forces as well," she said.

Despite plans to punish those responsible for the uprising, Doris Soliz, the Ecuadorean policy minister, told the Reuters news agency on Saturday that Correa was planning some changes to the austerity measures that prompted the violence. She said that the law would be rewrite to clarify it, but ruled out any major changes.

Soliz also said that Correa had backed off the idea of dissolving congress and ruling by decree.

Correa, 47 was re-elected last year to a second term as president of the South American country of 14.5 million people.

Ecuador has a history riddled with violent political upheaval. Three of Correa's predecessors from 1996 to 2006 - including Gutierrez - were ousted before completing their terms.

The US-educated economist has taken a tough stand with foreign investors and refused to repay some foreign debt, in moves welcomed by supporters who have blamed the effects of the economic crisis on foreign liberalism.

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Brazil set to pick Lula's successor

Brazilians are preparing to go to the polls to pick a successor to the hugely popular Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, the outgoing president.

Opinion polls suggest that Dilma Rouseff, the candidate from Lula's Workers' Party and the president's former chief of staff, will win Sunday's election, but some obsevers have said that she could need a second round run-off to defeat Jose Serra, her main challenger.

Rouseff needs more than 50 per cent of the vote in the first round to avoid facing her closest challenger in another poll on October 31.

Lula has dominated campaigning despite being barred by the constitution from running for a third consecutive term and Rouseff joined the outgoing president in his hometown of Sao Bernardo do Campo on Sao Paulo's southern outskirts on Saturday ahead of the election.

The president enjoys an 80 per cent popularity rating unprecedented in Brazilian politics and many voters are prepared to support Rouseff on his endorsement. For her part, Rouseff has pledged to continue many of her mentor's investor-friendly policies.

Reporting from Sao Paulo, said that the main change in Brazil after the election was likely to be the gender of the president.

[Rouseff] is very much the candidate of continuity. She is promising no more, no less, than to President Lula's economic, social and foreign policies," she said.

'Lower politics'

However, her domination of the polls has been threatened by allegations of ethics violations by a former aide and internet rumours.

In Sao Bernardo do Campo, the former leftist rebel who has never held an elected office hit out at what she said were underhand tactics by her rivals.

"In this campaign there have been sneaky lies that came from the lower world of politics, from those who didn't have the courage to appear in public," she told reporters. "But the population is mature."

Two opinion polls released on Saturday indicated that Rouseff, who would become the country's first female president, would just sneak home in the first round but the margin of error meant that victory on Sunday was far from ensured.

Rousseff had 51 per cent of valid votes, compared with 31 per cent for former Sao Paulo state Governor Serra in a survey by pollster Ibope, according to the Globo network's website. A survey by the Datafolha firm showed her winning 50 per cent, compared with Serra's 31 per cent.

"Candidate Dilma Rousseff has a chance of winning on Sunday as the latest Data Folha poll has shown. This victory is likely to happen with a small advantage, with a margin of two to four percentage points," Ricardo Ismael, a political analyst, said.

"But there is also another possible scenario. Fifteen days ago we were not considering it, but now it is a possible outcome, that there may be a second round."

Serra and Marina Silva, a former environment minister who is running third in the polls, have found themselves unable to get within striking distance of Rousseff in the polls laregly because of Lula's enthusiastic stumping for his candidate.

Lula's farewell

Lula himself had tears in his eyes on Saturday as he accompanied Rouseff.

"He is very moved because he did so much for us ... He suffered what we suffered," Cleila Santos, a 54-year-old health worker wearing the red of a Lula campaigner, said.

"We sure are going to miss him. He was everything in our lives, and we will never have another president like him," she told AFP.

Programmes initiated by the outgoing leader are credited with lifting 20.5 million people from poverty since 2003 and boosting another 29 million into the middle class, creating new consumers who help drive the economy.

Voters in the world's fourth most populous democracy will begin voting at 8am (11:00 GMT) on Sunday. They will also select candidates for congress and state governorships.

The nearly 20,000 candidates in Brazil's 26 states and Federal District are identified by a number which they have been drumming into voters' heads for the past months.

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