In Quito

The official Cuban media have been paying much attention to the election count in Ecuador – and it doesn’t look good. For Havana, at least.

Prior to the polls, the Castro regime all but predicted a sweeping victory for Rafael Correa, a self-styled left-wing populist who has spent much of the campaign attacking "neo-liberalism" and talking about closer relations with Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia. You know the type.

Of course, voters in true democracies have a habit of making up their own minds.

And so, the latest count shows that Alvaro Noboa, who happily describes himself as a capitalist, is ahead of Correa - although neither candidate will get enough votes to avoid a second round election.

This has prompted an almighty dummy spit by the Castro media, with newspapers such as Granma claimimg “massive” electoral fraud by Noboa, who is invariably described as a “demagogue”, a heartless mogul, an American stooge, etc, etc.

This over-the-top reaction may have something to do with the fact that Noboa has made it clear he is not a fan of the 80 year-old dictator, promising to break diplomatic relations with Cuba if elected.

“I am not a hypocrite,” he told voters. “I don’t like double standards.”