PREVIEW-Ecuador's Correa poised for easy re-election win

* Correa has strong lead ahead of Sunday's vote

* Low oil prices point to tough second term

* Correa likely to keep pressure on foreign investors

* Global crisis may force him to soften bargaining style

By Alonso Soto

QUITO, April 22 (Reuters) - Popular despite a sputtering
economy, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa is expected to win a
second term in an election on Sunday but he faces tougher times
ahead as low oil prices threaten his spending on projects for
the poor.

After only two years in office, the socialist Correa is
considered the most powerful leader in the OPEC nation's
30-year democracy, with a firm grip on the levers of the
economy and on state institutions.

Recent polls show he has about 50 percent support ahead of
Sunday's vote, way ahead of his seven rivals. The 46-year-old
needs to score more than 40 percent to avoid a run-off vote
with the second-placed candidate.

Correa had nearly two years left of his current term, but a
new constitution approved last year lets him start again from
scratch and the new rules allow presidents two consecutive
four-year terms.

Critics fear he is running roughshod over Ecuador's
democratic institutions, but Correa is riding high.

"You can either return to the past or continue with the
revolution ... it is up to you," Correa told hundreds of poor
farmers at a rally on Monday in the Andean city of Ambato.

Voters are also electing members of the National Assembly
and a host of regional and municipal officials.

A European-trained economist, Correa has followed the lead
of other Andean presidents such as Venezuela's socialist leader
Hugo Chavez and conservative Alvaro Uribe of Colombia, who
pushed through constitutional changes to extend their rule.

Although more moderate than his main left-wing allies,
Chavez and President Evo Morales of Bolivia, Correa has raised
spending on education and health, winning the support of a poor
majority that was for long neglected in the world's top banana
exporter.

Correa has a no-nonsense leadership style and has taken a
tough stance with investors, refusing to repay foreign debt.
The policies have fanned national pride in a country where many
blame foreign interests for perennial poverty.

"Correa has been able to exploit the weaknesses of the
opposition and become a leader in a country without any," said
top pollster Polibio Cordova. "He will continue with his
socialist policies depending on how bad the economy gets."

Falling oil income and financing problems after a debt
default in December could encourage Correa to further increase
state control of the economy.

But the worsening global crisis may also force him to court
companies able to develop Ecuador's gold and copper deposits,
and the former Roman Catholic missionary could fast fall from
grace if he is unable to meet his promises to protect the poor
from a sharp economic slowdown.

"SOMETHING IS CHANGING"

Even as the unemployment rate rises and growth slows,
Correa's message of radical change to redistribute oil wealth
has allowed him to outlast his last three predecessors, who
were toppled by street protests and congressional upheaval.

His main election rivals on Sunday are banana mogul Alvaro
Noboa and former president Lucio Gutierrez. They represent a
divided opposition and the traditional political parties blamed
by many voters for the Andean country's vast inequalities.

"He has been the only one who has worked for us," said Juan
Yansapanta, an Indian peasant who climbed down from his Andean
hamlet to see Correa at the campaign rally in Ambato.
"Something is changing."

The opposition says Correa is amassing too much power.

"We are living in a virtual dictatorship in which Correa
holds all power," said Gutierrez, a former army officer toppled
by street demonstrations in 2005. "He is a dictator with really
bad economic policies."

Gutierrez, who was briefly jailed after his overthrow,
accused Correa of ruining the economy by overspending and
undermining the U.S. dollar as the country's legal currency.

Although Gutierrez and Noboa trail Correa by a wide margin
in polls, they could still harm the president if their allies
have a strong showing in the National Assembly elections.

Polls show Correa might not win a outright majority in the
124-member legislature, where traditional political parties
have played a role in toppling presidents in the past and have
often clashed with the leftist leader.
(Additional reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Editing by Frank
Jack Daniel and Kieran Murray)