If Ecuador didn’t have problems, Daniel Noboa says he would spend his weekends at his beach house, playing with his dogs, making his wife happier and spending more time with his children, but Ecuador has so many problems that this heir to a business empire, that could devote himself to watching life, feels obliged to do something for his country. Something big.
The 35-year-old wants to become the next president of Ecuador. A new face – hardly anyone knew him when he launched his candidacy – for an old surname: that of the poor grandfather who made his fortune with bananas and that of the rich father who dreamed of what is now his son’s dream . Álvaro Noboa tried to become president up to five times, but he was never as close as his student is today.
Daniel Noboa walks the streets of the Ecuadorian capital to end the election campaign. José Jacome (EFE)
Noboa plays the outsider without being one, at a time when these rising figures have managed to change the entire political structure in numerous countries. The businessman not only belonged to one of the most famous and wealthy families in Ecuador, but was also a member of parliament in the last legislative period until outgoing President Guillermo Lasso called for early elections. Noboa’s idea was to run for president in 2025, but Lasso’s decision accelerated his plans. If he wins, he will have barely 16 months to govern, the remainder of his unfinished mandate. Most people don’t realize that the first part of the campaign went unnoticed until two key moments made him the protagonist. The first was the assassination of candidate Fernando Villavicencio, a journalist who directly attacked organized crime and was shot dead at the exit of a rally in Quito ten days before the first round of elections.
The attack showed Ecuadorians that the violence that has grown excessively in recent years knows no boundaries and forced Villavicencio’s voters to look for a new round of voting. Another big moment for Noboa was the presidential debate a week before the vote. For many voters, it was the first time they had heard it. The businessman, wearing a bulletproof vest, spoke calmly and calmly. In the midst of direct arguments between the other six candidates, Noboa easily avoided the darts, also because no one spoke to him sharply.
The fact that he was ignored gave him the opportunity to use his minutes to talk about his issues, which attracted many voters who saw in this well-prepared young man – he studied business administration at New York University and graduated from Harvard – too a newcomer candidate and outside the battle between Correismo and anti-Correismo that has characterized Ecuadorian politics over the last two decades. María Paz Jervis, executive president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recognizes that “it is very difficult to recognize their ideological pattern. It is the anti-Correísta option, but not so much.” For the majority, he embodies that Center-right movement, although he defines himself as center-left. He is a pro-business candidate [tiene unas cuantas] who promises to cut taxes, although he has also spoken of increasing social spending. Regardless of whether he is in the middle or the other, he managed to collect about 20 points in the last seven days of the campaign, which brought him to the second round with 24% of the vote, behind second-place Luisa González. An action that is rarely seen.
The politician has managed to portray himself as an option for change in a country that needs a twist in the script. For years, Ecuadorians have witnessed the collapse of a state that for decades managed to escape the devastating effects of drug trafficking on its neighbors. Today, Mexican and Colombian criminal groups have managed to establish a powerful network of influence and control, from the prisons – where a few days ago they murdered the six Colombian hitmen arrested for the attack on Villavicencio – to a large one Part of the Ecuadorian territory ranges. Especially in the coastal region with its huge mouth into the Pacific, where the city of Guayaquil, the second largest in the country and where the Noboa boy grew up, is at the mercy of violence.
A supporter of Daniel Noboa watches the passage of the candidate’s caravan in Quito (Ecuador). SANTIAGO ARCOS (Portal)
“We need someone who is young and has the courage to do the right things,” the candidate said in one of the few interviews he gave to Logan and Logan, a YouTuber who greets his guests in a car with a relaxed and relaxed atmosphere Humor films. Noboa has declined all interview requests from EL PAÍS since his first round victory on August 20. He has a comprehensive business resume right from the start. At 35, he was already a shareholder in more than 20 companies and currently remains in two, it is said Carolina Mella. Additionally, the family empire has thousands of people working in various fields, which could create a conflict of interest for many if they come to power.
Although violence is the issue that most worries the population, due to insecurity it was not the central theme of the candidates in this atypical election campaign focused on social networks. Neither González nor Noboa gave the issue too much importance. The businessman spoke of a “strong hand” against crime and the possibility of buying prison ships to lock up the most dangerous prisoners in the middle of the sea. The candidate, who has traveled half the world for his business activities and has a penchant for Spain, has attached importance to the recovery of employment, in a country where only 35% of citizens have a job of 40 hours a week and a Salary in excess of the minimum salary of $450. This is his message when he enters his website “#Noboaesempleo”, in the middle of a thunderous song that attacks the site visitor and that generations of Ecuadorians know how to hum: “Ecuador, Noboa is in front; May the future be planted, may the present change… A song that Noboa Sr. made popular on Facebook but that has returned to Tik Tok playlists.
Daniel Noboa walks the streets of Quito. KAREN TORO (Portal)
A pro-life vice president
Among all the unknowns that his character poses, it is his companion on the ballot that stands out the most in the pose of a modern, center-left, simple but confident young man that the candidate wants to portray. Verónica Abad, her vice-presidential candidate, is a right-wing woman who defines herself as “classic and anti-life” and has said things like this: “Women pretend to be ugly, and Marxism has a lot to do with it.” or supported privatization. : “We have to take the government out of the economic part, out of the health part, out of the retirement and pension part.” It is not known whether Noboa, in a strategy to distance these ideas from his project, assured that in case of victory Abad’s priority would be to take care of Ecuadorian migrants and strengthen relations with Caribbean and African countries. The latest polls released give them victory, but by such a narrow margin and with so many undecided that anything could happen this Sunday.
Candidate Noboa gets up every day at four or five in the morning and jogs eight kilometers. Those who have surrounded him in these months say that he is a simple, genuine man and tireless, although in Logan’s interview he admits that he is “shitty”. He does not wear expensive watches or exclusive cars and lives in Guayaquil in an old building in the center, instead of in Samborondón, where the Guayaquil aristocracy to which he belongs usually settles. His candidacy was supported by three women, more than his father. His wife, the influencer Lavinia Valbonesi, 25 years old, with whom he uploads many videos on social networks and with whom he is expecting their third, second child. His mother, the woman who accompanied Álvaro on his political adventure and now does so with her son, is always dressed in her doctor’s uniform throughout the country to provide medical care to those most in need. And his aunt, Isabel Noboa, one of the most respected women in the Ecuadorian business world, who has publicly supported him in finally ending the years-long confrontation with his brother over the inheritance of the empire.
Daniel Noboa with his wife Lavinia Valbonesi, on August 20 in Guayaquil.AP
With this support, the young businessman aims to hand over the presidency to a Noboa after decades of failing to gain power in politics. With the help of Tik Tok and Instagram, the son has managed to create a figure far from the shadow of his father, a populist guy who came to the cities to distribute tons of dollars, with a few complaints about tax evasion and, in the end, converted became years. in meme flesh. If the father was a pure anti-Correísta, the son does not have a bad relationship with the movement of former President Correa. He is one of those people who manage to navigate all waters. He also experienced a period of rapprochement and distancing with President Lasso, a millionaire banker turned politician, which prevents him from being pigeonholed. From their campaign they summarize that their entire success is based on a “pro” and not “anti” proposal. Everything is very modern, very direct, very fresh, very measured. On Sunday, Ecuadorians will decide whether the next Noboa (son, grandson and great-grandchild) will be born in the palace.
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