Daniel Noboa, the 35-year-old heir to a banana empire, won Ecuador’s presidential election on Sunday, in a high-stakes campaign driven by voter frustration in a country plagued by violence and an economic crisis.
Noboa, a center-right outsider, defeated Luisa González, the left-wing candidate hand-picked by former President Rafael Correa and who ran on the promise of returning the country to the period of prosperity and low murder rates during the Correísta- attributed to the government.
The voting results show a desire for change in a country of more than 17 million people on the west coast of South America, where violence from international criminal groups and local gangs has increased, making Ecuador a major player in the global drug trade. This has led to tens of thousands of Ecuadorians migrating to the Mexico-United States border.
Like much of Latin America, Ecuador has suffered a severe economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic, and many people are struggling to earn enough money to support their families. According to government data, only 34 percent of Ecuadorians have decent employment.
As of Sunday afternoon, when 93 percent of the votes were counted, the official numbers said Noboa had 52.29 percent and González had 47.71 percent.
González accepted his defeat in a speech and thanked his supporters.
“Congratulations to those who did not vote for us, because the candidate they elected won, and as Ecuadorians we welcome them too,” he said. “And of course our warmest congratulations go to the candidate and current president, Daniel Noboa, because it is democracy.” “We have never called for burning down a city, nor have we loudly cried fraud.”
Noboa, in his first speech as president-elect, thanked voters for supporting “an unlikely political project.”
“Today we close a chapter of the campaign, tomorrow we begin work to rebuild a country badly hit by violence, corruption and hatred,” he said.
Ecuador had been a peaceful country compared to its neighbors, particularly Colombia, but had been affected by violence from armed guerrilla groups, paramilitary forces and drug cartels for decades.
That panorama changed in recent years as Colombia reached a peace deal with the country’s largest left-wing guerrilla group and Ecuador began to be dominated by the increasingly powerful drug trafficking network that includes Mexican cartels and Albanian gangs. Ecuador has become an important transshipment point for cocaine smuggled to Europe via the ports on the Pacific coast.
The news regularly features beheadings, car bombings, police killings, hanging young people from bridges and children being shot in front of their homes or schools.
If Noboa is sworn in, he will serve a term as president until May 2025. During that time, he will have to contend with international corporations that have teamed up with prison gangs to compete fiercely for the lucrative drug market.
And with little experience in government positions and a fragmented National Assembly, it will be a challenge, analysts say.
A governing coalition could take a long time to form and is likely to be ideologically incoherent and unpredictable, said Will Freeman, a fellow in Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, a U.S. research institute.
During the election campaign, Noboa tried to overcome the polarization between left and right. However, the choice of his vice president, Verónica Abad, puzzled many analysts. Abad is a right-wing business coach who has spoken out against abortion, feminism and LGBTQ rights and has expressed support for Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far-right former president.
“If this is any indication,” Freeman said, “I think this administration is going to create real chaos.”
Noboa has promised to stop the violence, although neither he nor González made security a central issue in their campaigns.
Both candidates have mentioned that they will give more resources to the police and deploy the army to guard ports used for drug trafficking and prisons under the control of violent gangs.
Noboa has suggested using technologies such as drones and satellite tracking systems to stop drug trafficking; proposed prison ships to isolate the most violent inmates.
But analysts comment that the two candidates failed because they did not prioritize fighting crime that has destabilized Ecuador and made it one of the most violent countries in Latin America.
Outgoing President Guillermo Lasso called early elections in May because he was facing impeachment proceedings over embezzlement allegations. Lasso has also become increasingly popular among voters angry about the government’s inability to address increasing violence.
The killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in August shocked a nation going to the polls in perhaps the most violent election season in its history.
In addition to Villavicencio, who has been outspoken about alleged links between organized crime and the government, five other politicians have been murdered this year. Earlier this month, seven men accused of Villavicencio’s murder were found dead in prison. These events have only increased Ecuadorians’ desire for change.
Noboa’s likely victory challenges the recent trend of left-wing victories in other countries in the region such as Colombia, Chile, Brazil and Bolivia, but is in line with an emerging demand for figures outside traditional politics in the upcoming elections. Argentina.
González, 45, was Correa’s chosen candidate who led the country from 2007 to 2017. Her close relationship with him helped raise her political profile, but also hurt her with some voters.
In contrast, the Harvard-educated Noboa comes from one of Latin America’s richest families, known to most Ecuadorians for its banana empire, which includes one of the world’s best-known fruit brands, Bonita Banana.
But the Noboa family’s vast assets are diverse and include fertilizers, plastics, cardboard and the country’s largest container storage complex.
Noboa’s father unsuccessfully ran for president five times, but young Noboa’s political career only began in 2021, when he was elected to Ecuador’s National Assembly.
Noboa has branded himself the “employment president” and even posted an application form on his website. He has also promised to attract international investment and trade and reduce taxes.
Despite his family lineage, Noboa has attempted to distinguish himself by pointing out that he runs his own business and that his personal net worth is less than $1 million.
His father, who lost to Correa in 2006, often referred to his left-wing opponent as a “communist devil.” But his son has avoided directly attacking Correismo, and the young Noboa’s victory shows that voters are fed up with traditional political divisions.
Pablo Pérez, 29, a data engineer in the port city of Guayaquil, said he voted for Noboa because “above all, he is a new person who brings new things.”
“The other candidate, on the other hand,” said Pérez, “represents a government that we already had in the country and that had good things, but above all bad things.”
He was also attracted to Noboa’s security suggestions.
“We need to improve security immediately because the way we are, we can’t go out on the streets,” he said. “All stores are closed. “There is a feeling of fear.”
Nelson Ramiro Obando, 60, a retired worker from Quito, said he voted for Noboa because of his youth, business experience and his performance in one of the debates, in which he seemed “much better prepared.”
“We citizens are in danger every day,” said Obando. “Mr Noboa won’t be able to do much – it’s only been a year and a half – but if he can resolve a little of the uncertainty we are experiencing, I would be more than grateful.”
Genevieve Glatsky reported from Bogotá, Colombia; José María León Cabrera from Quito, Ecuador, and Thalíe Ponce from Guayaquil, Ecuador.