Seeking re-election, President Daniel Noboa centres Ecuador’s crime wave
The son of a billionaire banana magnate, Noboa came to power under unprecedented circumstances.
In May 2023, his predecessor, President Guillermo Lasso, made the drastic decision to dissolve both his government and the National Assembly rather than face impeachment hearings.
No president had ever exercised that power before. And it cut short Noboa’s very first term as a legislator in the National Assembly.
But he launched a dark-horse presidential bid that very same month, building a coalition of centre and conservative-leaning parties.
The clear leader in that race was Gonzalez, a seasoned politician who had previously served a decade in the administration of President Rafael Correa.
But in the first round of voting, Noboa gathered enough votes to advance to the run-off. And in the final face-off with Gonzalez, he pulled off an upset, defeating her 52 percent to 48.
That victory allowed Noboa to serve out the rest of Lasso’s term: 18 months. At age 35, he had become the youngest elected president in Ecuador’s history.
Experts, however, say that his inexperience showed.
“He arrived without a plan, without a proper team,” said Sebastian Hurtado, president of Profitas, a political risk consultancy firm in Ecuador. “He improvised decisions.”
Garcia Nice also observed a lack of political finesse, particularly in times of crisis.
“You immediately see the inexperience in his management,” Garcia Nice said, pointing to the way Noboa handled Ecuador’s electricity crisis last year.
A historic drought had depleted Ecuador’s ability to generate hydroelectric power. Still, Noboa assured the nation that power outages would cease — but the blackouts continued for months, eroding public trust.
By November, frustrated residents flooded the streets in Quito, shouting “Fuera Noboa”, a slogan that translates to “Out with Noboa”.
Source: Apps Support