In Ecuador’s highlands, an Indigenous community faces choice between 2 candidates they don’t trust WSOC TV [Video]

COCHAPAMBA, Ecuador — (AP) — The two candidates vying for Ecuador’s presidency in a second-round run-off never campaigned in Cochapamba. Their faces are nowhere to be seen in this remote Indigenous community in the Ecuadorian highlands. Yet, their eyes are set on this and other small towns across the Andean country that will be key in the April 13 election, which will give the winner a full four-year term.

People here are loyal to Indigenous leader Leonidas Iza, who appeared on Sunday’s ballot but finished a distant third after receiving half a million votes. In April, however, they will have to decide between President Daniel Noboa or leftist lawyer Luisa González.

The run-off will be a repeat of the 2023 snap election, prompted by the dissolution of the National Assembly, in which Noboa earned a truncated 16-month presidency after the wealthy businessman campaigned on controlling Ecuador’s crime wave of recent years.

Situated at more than 3,600 meters (12,000 feet) above sea level, Cochapamba is home to approximately …