Police remove protesters contesting Ecuador election results

QUITO, Ecuador – Authorities have removed the last remaining protesters stationed in front of Ecuador’s National Electoral Council calling for a vote-by-vote recount of the presidential election results.

Police officials ordered the demonstrators to leave early Tuesday after more than a week of protests in support of candidate and former banker Guillermo Lasso.

Lasso lost the presidential election to Lenin Moreno by less than 3 percentage points. He has refused to recognize the official results, citing ballot irregularities and fraud.

The election was closely watched around Latin America as an indicator whether the region would continue to shift to the right following conservative wins in countries like Peru and Argentina.

Moreno was the official candidate supported by current President Rafael Correa.