Trump, China face off in Ecuador elections

First test for right-wing candidates in Latin America

(Michael Molinski is a senior economist at Trendline Economics. He’s worked for Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Wells Fargo, and previously as a foreign correspondent and editor for Bloomberg News and MarketWatch.)

QUITO, Ecuador (Callaway Climate Insights) — In a country grappling with environmental issues and with a conservative party in power, next month’s elections in Ecuador could prove to be a trial for China’s big push into Latin America and the first true test for President Donald Trump to build new allies in the region.

An energy crisis, a newly elected president, oil and China’s involvement in energy production “are all at stake,” said Ludovico Feoli, professor of political science at Tulane University and director of the Center for Inter-American Policy and Research.