Ecuadorians have a new president. An unconventional one: a businessman, only 35 years old, with no experience or political background, who is surrounded and advised by his mother, a former lawmaker, and his aunt, the woman with the most wealth in Ecuador. He rarely speaks to the press and is not very talkative when he appears in public. A few minutes after learning that he had won the election, he gave a speech at his beach house that lasted no more than a few minutes. It is therefore a mystery for a country that largely did not know him well but chose him to prevent Correism from coming to power.
Daniel Noboa receives a disastrous inheritance from outgoing President Guillermo Lasso, who, despite working as a banker, has failed to balance the country’s accounts. It has also failed to prevent the collapse of institutions, which has led to the rise of drug trafficking, which poses a direct challenge to the state. Nor did they investigate the crime of one of the candidates, Fernando Villavicencio, a ruthless journalist who denounced corruption at all levels and never tired of denouncing that criminals had infiltrated the state apparatus.
Marjorie Clavijo, 53, believes Noboa is the only hope a troubled country has. However, he does not forget to give him homework: “I ask him for two important things: employment for young people, in Ecuador they have no work, and that insecurity improves.” “We have become accustomed to kidnappings, murders and massacres .” The building manager is holding a burgundy umbrella in case it rains in Quito this afternoon, which wouldn’t be at all surprising. She changes her mind and says that more than love for Noboa, the vote was to reject Correa. whom He competed through the candidate Luisa González. “He was a friend of Chávez, of Maduro, of Cuba. That’s enough to believe that if they won we would get there.”
Marjorie Clavijo, 53 years old.KAREN TORO
María José Campos, 21 years old.KAREN TORO
A few meters away appears María José Campos, a 21-year-old education student with a wide, shy smile on her lips. These were the second elections in which he took part. It was not his intention to vote for Noboa first, but since he was the candidate going to the second round along with González, he thought that his vote should go to him. “That was the best option,” he says. He asks him to promote the employment of young people who suffer the penalty of unemployment. And one last thing: He wants the new president to allocate a budget to shelters. She is interested because she works in one. Lasso has cut the budget for this type of social work.
An elegant man appears on the horizon, dressed in the style of the nineties: shirt over a brown sweater, tapered trousers and polished shoes. The beard, very careful. Néstor Díaz, 75 years old, is retired; he was previously a land surveyor. He says he’s in “Electoral Chuchaqui,” or tomcat, guava, as they say. He believed in the victory of Correism and was therefore disappointed. He believes the Ecuadorians were in Guatemala and are going “to Guatepeor.” Or what is the same, that Noboa is nothing more than a sequel to Lasso, a banker and heir to a banana empire who passes the baton. While her aunt is the richest in Ecuador, her father is the richest among men. “I hope things go well for Noboa, but I have a bad feeling. At my age, I doubt I’ll be very wrong. First, pay your workers well and pay the taxes your companies owe. I hope he will not privatize healthcare, education or social security…,” he concludes.
José Escobar is talking to his partner about politics on a pedestrian bridge. Is there another topic today? He is a chef and is currently designing a project for a Japanese restaurant/Japanese street food. It has never been in the Asian country, but has been in the United States and Canada, where it is very developed. Of course, he voted for Noboa, the winning horse, because he believes Ecuador needs “a change.” “He acted cleanly in the election campaign. He didn’t mess with anyone and moved on. This attitude meant that he had a lot of young voters,” he believes. He believes that Correismo, which he calls socialism, has used “social resentments” to divide Ecuadorians and the country no longer needs it. “I know that it is difficult to reduce murders in the shortest possible time, insecurity is increasing rapidly, not even Bukele could do it, but if he manages, for example, to control the prisons as quickly as possible, that would be a relief “Security,” he suggests.
Néstor Díaz, 75 years old.KAREN TORO
José Escobar, 34 years old.KAREN TORO
Andrea Vega, 35 years old.KAREN TORO
His partner, Andrea Vega, 35, is the managing director of a construction company that focuses on metal structures. He listened impatiently to Escobar, he wanted to say what he thought, which was no small thing. “Noboa,” he begins, “is dedicated to selling his project and not to the fight between rich and poor.” The elected president does not diminish his achievements by being the son of a tycoon, “he has never bragged about that.” Now he is targeting Latin American socialism, specifically Maduro. The poor man didn’t have a candle at that funeral, but he ended up in chaos: “This man teaches socialism, but you see him well eaten, well dressed.” What if people? Migration. If we continued in Correismo, Ecuadorians would end up emigrating, although it is true that they are already emigrating,” he says.
She asks Noboa, just like her friend, to control the prisons. The mafia, he continues, is involved in politics, as Villavicencio said. “Noboa is asked to cut this, otherwise no president will be able to bring about real change in this country,” he concludes.
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