Ecuador votes to limit presidential terms

Voters in Ecuador overwhelmingly voted to limit the number of terms that presidents can serve in a nationwide referendum on Sunday.

Initial results showed 64 percent voted "yes" to changing the constitution to prevent presidents from running indefinitely — capping them at two terms in office.

The result deals a blow to former President Rafael Correa and provides a big boost to his former protege-turned-foe, current President Lenin Moreno.

Correa, who had been eyeing a comeback to power in 2021, approved a law in 2015 that eliminated presidential term limits from the constitution.

"The days of confrontation are behind us," Moreno said in televised remarks at the presidential palace. "It's time to embrace each other."

The rift between Moreno and Correa has led to a deep split in their ruling leftist Alianza PAIS party, with several lawmakers still loyal to the former president.

Read more: Ecuador: The end of the 'Citizens' Revolution'?

Moreno, a wheelchair-bound former vice president elected last year, said a "yes" vote in the referendum would help curb corruption in the oil-rich Andean nation.

He said the result would be "transcendental for the future of the country, so that our children are protected, so that corrupt people do not return to mock us... for the care of the environment, for economic reactivation."

The seven-question referendum also included proposals to limit mining activity in protected areas as well as restructuring a body created by Correa to select authority figures such as judges.

rs/jm (AP, AFP, Reuters)