Powerful mayor challenges Ecuador's Correa

By Alonso Soto

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (Reuters) - Carried on the shoulders of supporters, the mayor of Ecuador's largest city led a march of tens of thousands on Thursday, cementing his new role as the top opposition threat to President Rafael Correa.

Jaime Nebot has leveraged his popularity in the business city of Guayaquil to challenge the leftist Correa's plans for greater state control over the economy.

Thousands of backers waving the city's blue and white flag swarmed the streets of the sultry port city chanting "Long live Guayaquil, dammit," and "Down with Correa.".

"As long as you are alive and I am alive, he will never push us around," Nebot shouted to the crowd. "We will not be guinea pigs of a failed experiment."

One in six Ecuadoreans live in Guayaquil, the country's richest city. It is also Correa's birthplace and has become a key political battleground for the ally of Venezuela's left-wing president, Hugo Chavez.

Last week, Correa gathered a similar crowd of about 40,000 cheering supporters in Guayaquil to mark his first year in office, in which he has wrested most institutional powers from a fragmented opposition but also seen his popularity ebb.

The U.S.-trained economist's popularity dropped to 57 percent this month, near the lowest point of his presidency, with pollsters saying more voters have been turned off by his abrasive style and a flagging economy.

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