Ecuador election could determine Julian Assange's fate

Ecuadorians go to the polls to elect a new president, a choice that could have repercussions thousands of miles away for the fate of Julian Assange.

Sunday's vote pits the government-backed leftist candidate Lenin Moreno against a conservative former banker, Guillermo Lasso.

Both candidates have spoken during the campaign of how they would deal with Mr Assange, who is holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Mr Lasso has said if he is elected he will evict the WikiLeaks founder within 30 days of taking office.

Mr Moreno, who is aligned with outgoing President Rafael Correa and was hand-picked by him, has said he would let Mr Assange stay in the embassy.

Mr Assange sought asylum in the embassy in 2012, fearing he would be deported to Sweden to answer allegations of sexual assault.

He says he is innocent, and fears that from Sweden he might be extradited to the United States, where he is wanted on espionage charges.

The election is expected to be tight.

Mr Moreno is seen as continuing Mr Correa's "Citizens' Revolution" while Mr Lasso is promising to deliver a jolt to the nation's beleaguered economy.

The country is heavily dependent on oil and its economy is suffering a downturn as oil prices remain low. It is expected to shrink by 2.7% this year.

Surveys show a majority of citizens are keen for change after 10 years of Mr Correa's iron-fisted rule.

But in the final weeks of the race Mr Moreno has inched ahead amid an aggressive campaign to cast his rival as a wealthy, out-of-touch politician.

A victory by Mr Lasso would further tilt Latin America toward the right following a series of conservative election victories.

The vote is a run-off between the two top candidates.

In the first round of balloting, held on 19 February, Mr Moreno fell just short of the required percentage of votes to avoid a runoff election against Mr Lasso.

The process was marred by accusations of fraud from both sides and angry protests, as the vote count dragged on for several days before the official results were announced.