QUITO (AFP) - Businessman Fabricio Correa said since no one else has stepped up to run against Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, he will take on his brother, if the leader seeks reelection in 2013.
Fabricio Correa founded an opposition party in 2010 amid a scandal, and a big row with the president, over contracts his business had with the state.
When the media threw a spotlight on the deals, the socialist president, an economist by training, voided the deals saying he never knew they were businesses owned by his brother because they were signed by front men and firms.
"So today, I am taking up the challenge of doing what the Miami Herald forecast way back in December: in 2013, it will be Correa versus Correa, and it is going to be fun," the candidate told Teleamazonas television.
On September 9, the president said he would not seek reelection in 2013 -- if another party leader could demonstrate that they have what it takes to win.
Fabricio Correa, meanwhile, testified Tuesday to a prosecutor in the case looking into the contracts, which he insists were legal. The contracts, worth a total of $700 million may have given the state a $143 million loss, an investigative team already has found.
He says his brother targeted with a "smear campaign of lies" and that voters can decide at the polls who is the better man.
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