Ecuador
Luisa González, chosen by Rafael Correa as his successor, loses to the 35-year-old who promises a tough line against violent crime and cocaine trafficking
Daniel Noboa, the heir to a banana fortune who promises a tough line on soaring violent crime, employment for young people and foreign investment, will become Ecuador’s youngest ever president at 35 after winning by about five points over his rival, the left, won by lawyer Luisa González.
With 90% of votes counted in Ecuador on Sunday night, Noboa had 52.29% of the vote compared to 47.71% for González, according to the Ecuadorian Electoral Council.
Luisa González, former President Rafael Correa’s hand-picked candidate, accepted her election defeat on Sunday evening and pledged her support to the new president.
“Today we made history,” Noboa said in one News on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Ecuadorian families have chosen the new Ecuador, they have chosen a country with security and employment.”
He added that election promises would not simply remain in the election campaign and corruption would be punished.
“People are dying on the streets”: Election in Ecuador overshadowed by violent crime
This election took place against the backdrop of a surge in violent crime fueled by drug trafficking that has made the country one of the most violent in the region, with the fourth highest murder rate – even higher than Mexico.
Noboa, the millennial son of Ecuador’s richest man and five-time presidential candidate Álvaro Noboa, was the surprise entry into the second round in August. His calm and non-confrontational style made him particularly popular with voters between the ages of 18 and 29, who make up a third of the electorate.
The Harvard Kennedy School graduate focused his campaign on job creation and the economy, recommending tax breaks and incentives for new businesses and promising to attract more foreign investment.
“We should treat it like a war”: Ecuador’s descent into drug gang violence
On the issue of crime, Noboa suggested housing the most violent criminals on ships off Ecuador’s Pacific coast. He also suggested increasing the military presence on the borders and coast, both of which are cocaine transit points.
Arianna Tanca, an Ecuadorian political analyst, said there was a lot at stake and urged the former congressman to think about the “future of the country and not about preserving his square meter of power.”
Noboa is scheduled to be sworn in on November 25 but will only rule for 17 months until 2025 – completing the term of outgoing President Guillermo Lasso, who dissolved Congress in May during an impeachment trial and called early presidential and legislative elections.
“It is a short time, but it is a precious time that can be used for good. Let’s see if politicians can rise to this bar,” Tanca said.
“Ecuadorians need peace, we can no longer endure the violence and this war,” Carla Espinoza said during Sunday’s vote in Quito.
The presidential campaign was marked by unprecedented violence, including the assassination of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio in broad daylight as he left a campaign rally in August. This month, seven Colombian suspects in the attack were themselves murdered in prison.
Luisa González, who former President Rafael Correa had hoped would succeed him. Photo: Luisa Gonzalez/Portal
Ecuador’s Pacific ports are the target of drug traffickers who smuggle cocaine, usually in shipping containers containing bananas, the country’s main export. About 80% of the cocaine smuggled from Ecuador went to Europe, the country’s interior minister, Juan Zapata, told the Guardian, where a kilo of cocaine fetched a street price of about $50,000 – twice as much as in the United States.
Zapata said Ecuador, located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest cocaine producers, needed international help to fight a “common transnational enemy.” According to the Ecuadorian Organized Crime Observatory, murder rates have increased fivefold since 2019, driven by violence between local gangs allied with Mexican drug cartels, Colombian guerrilla groups and drug traffickers in the Balkans.
The president-elect will lack a parliamentary majority and could struggle to find consensus to enforce laws among Ecuador’s divided political class.
“There’s so much to do,” Zapata said. “I hope that the new Congress will address this issue [dealing with the security situation]unlike the previous one which wasted so much time and harmed the country.”
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