By Alejandra Garcia on October 19, 2023
Daniel Noboa,
Against all odds, businessman Daniel Noboa, heir to a vast business empire, won the elections in Ecuador with 52.1% of the votes in his favor, ahead of the 47.9% of the leftist Luisa Gonzalez. At 35, he assumes the presidency without any major political or state management experience and amid rampant violence linked to drug trafficking that keeps Ecuador’s economy and society in turmoil.
The youngest president in Ecuador’s history had a brief two-year stint as a legislator in the Assembly, which was dissolved in May by President Guillermo Lasso when an impeachment trial was underway to remove him amid allegations of corruption in the country’s energy sector.
More than 13.4 million citizens could go to the polls on October 15. Initial estimates reported a turnout of 80%, an important figure given the wave of violence.
As of December, he will assume the presidency for a short period. Lasso maneuver to avoid impeachment in May to avoid impeachment, means Noboa will only govern until May 2025 when elections for president will be held once again.
The heir to the fortune of an emporium, including the banana business, entered the race with hardly any debate with his opponents. In the first electoral round, he did not appear in the polls nor even the sights of his seven rivals at the time either. He promised security, youth employment, or free admission to public universities. This turned out to be enough for him to unexpectedly slip into the presidential second round.
“This was an improbable political project whose goal was to return peace to a country,” the National Democratic Action party candidate said as he celebrated his victory. But it remains to be seen whether he will be able to achieve anything in his 18 months.
According to experts, straightening out a country overwhelmed by the violence unleashed by criminal groups that have exponentially multiplied with crimes such as extortion, kidnapping, robberies, and murders will be challenging.
The analyst and professor of the private university UTE, Juan Francisco Camino, affirmed that “Noboa should prioritize from the beginning a detailed analysis of the State budget to see the resources available to urgently begin the process of transition by sectors, beginning with the economy, security, and politics.”
Camino went on to say, “he must take corrective measures, but we cannot expect much in such a short time of government.”
According to local media, although Ecuador remained a peaceful country for decades, especially under former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017), that picture changed in recent years, when the country began to be dominated by the increasingly powerful network of drug trafficking, which includes Mexican cartels, and Albanian gangs.
“Through its Pacific coast ports, Ecuador has become a major trans shipment point for cocaine smuggled to Europe. Regularly, news reports feature beheadings, car bombings, police killings, young men strung up from bridges, and children shot to death in front of their homes or schools,” the New York Times reported.
Noboa, son of banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa, who ran unsuccessfully for president five times, receives a hurting country. While Ecuadorians hope to overcome the problems left by former corroupt presidents Guillermo Lasso and Lenin Moreno, skepticism prevails.
“I don’t expect much from this election because the president will have little time to do anything, and because the leaders of the last mandates delivered nothing for the people, and they are the ones who pay the consequences,” Julio Ricaurte said in a Street interview with tthe local press on election day.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English