Profile: Ecuador's Rafael Correa

Mr Correa says he will strike out at corruption

Pledging a "civilian revolution", Rafael Correa, the man who looks set to lead Ecuador for the next four years, has made much of the fact he is not a traditional political figure.

The 43-year-old economist - who served briefly as finance minister in the outgoing interim administration - is seen as a fresh face in a country which has had eight presidents in the past decade.

Described as charismatic and energetic, Mr Correa appeared at campaign rallies brandishing a leather belt (a play on his name - correa means belt) to show how he would deal with corruption.

During his government, he has said, "the people will have the opportunity to punish the oligarchy and the political parties".

The left-wing Mr Correa did not support any candidates in the congressional election, because he is seeking a referendum to rewrite the constitution and restructure Congress.

Pledges

He is known as an ally of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, but Mr Correa has made clear he is his own man.

Chavez is my personal friend, but in my house, my friends aren't in charge. I am Rafael Correa

"Hopefully we will get much closer to Chavez," he said in a TV interview.

"Chavez is my personal friend, but in my house, my friends aren't in charge. I am.

"And in Ecuador, it will be Ecuadoreans in charge."

However, Mr Correa - who has a doctorate from the University of Illinois - has also established that he will not be following the US line.

He has said he is against a free-trade agreement with Washington, arguing it is damaging to Ecuadorean industry, and has vowed to oppose a local US military base.

If Mr Correa has his way, ties with the IMF and the World Bank could be cut and the country's foreign debt restructured. Its oil wealth, he has said, will go back to the people.

The president-elect has also pledged to build low-cost homes and double the bonus that 1.2 million poor Ecuadoreans receive.

'Christian left'

Mr Correa was born in 1963 in the city of Guayaquil.

He studied Economics in that city's Catholic University and then went on to get two Masters' degrees - one in the US and the other in Belgium - and, in 2001, a PhD.

The father of three speaks fluent English and French and can also speak the indigenous Quechua language, which he learnt while doing voluntary work.

Mr Correa describes himself as "left-wing - not from the Marxist left, but rather a Christian left".

His message - which his opponents condemn as populist - has proved popular among the poor in a country that is one of the poorest in the region.