Daniel Noboa is one of the candidates who aspires to become President of Ecuador. Center-right candidate Noboa, heir to a banana empire, was boosted by voters eager for change in a country plagued by violence and with an economy in crisis, to a surprise second place in the first round in August.
Noboa faces Luisa Gonzalez, the leftist candidate from the Congress Party institution In her bid to become the country’s first female president-elect, she promised voters a return to a time when violence was low and oil prices, a major industry, were high.
At stake in Sunday’s election is the future of this Latin American nation of more than 17 million people, once a quiet backwater disrupted by international criminal groups, turning Ecuador into a major player in the international drug trade.
International criminal groups working with local gangs have unleashed an unprecedented wave of violence that has sent tens of thousands of Ecuadorians heading to the US-Mexico border, part of a migration flow that has overwhelmed Joe Biden’s government.
Like most Latin American countries, Ecuador has taken a heavy financial hit from the coronavirus pandemic, and many workers are struggling to earn enough money to support their families.
Here’s what you should know about voting.
What makes this election different from others?
Outgoing president Guillermo Laso called early elections in May to avoid an impeachment trial over embezzlement charges. Lasso has also become increasingly unpopular among voters angry at the government’s failure to stop the violence.
The killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio as he was leaving a campaign event in August has shocked a nation heading to the polls during what may have been the most violent election season in its history.
Five politicians have been murdered this year, as well as Villavicencio – who has been outspoken about alleged links between the government and organized crime – and last week seven men accused of Villavicencio’s murder were found dead in prison.
Whoever wins will hold the presidency for only a year and a half. Noboa has enjoyed a steady lead in various polls since August, although that lead has narrowed slightly in recent days and some polls show him very close to Gonzalez.
What is at stake in this election?
Ecuador used to be a peaceful country compared to its neighbors, especially Colombia, a country that has been plagued for decades by violence between armed guerrilla units, paramilitary groups and drug trafficking organizations.
But all that changed in recent years, when Colombia reached a peace deal with the country’s largest left-wing guerrilla group, and Ecuador began to come under the control of an increasingly powerful drug trafficking network that included Mexican drug cartels and Albanian cartels.
With its ports on the Pacific coast, Ecuador has become a major transit point for cocaine smuggled into Europe. Some international organizations have joined prison gangs in fierce competition for the lucrative drug market.
The news regularly shows beheadings, car bomb attacks, police killings, young people strung up on bridges, and children killed in front of their homes or schools.
Who is Luisa Gonzalez?
Gonzalez, 45, is the handpicked candidate of former President Rafael Correa, who led the country from 2007 to 2017. Gonzalez held several positions in his government before being elected to the National Assembly in 2021, a position she held until Lasso Dissolving the party. Legislature in May.
His campaign sought to appeal to voters’ nostalgia for low homicide rates and the commodity boom, which had lifted millions out of poverty during Korea’s government. Gonzalez’s campaign slogan in the first round was “We’ve already done it and we’ll do it again.”
But Gonzalez’s close relationship with the former president also carries risks. Korea’s authoritarian style and corruption accusations have deeply divided the country. Correa lives in exile in Belgium, escaping a prison sentence for campaign finance violations, and many Ecuadorians fear that Gonzalez’s presidency will pave the way for Correa to return and run for president again.
Gonzalez pledged to draw on central bank reserves to stimulate the economy and increase funding for the public health system and public universities.
“We know he is with the people, not the rich, and that is why he will make things better for us,” said Oswaldo Proaño, a 40-year-old street vendor in Quito, the capital, who spoke. Amid shouts and whistles at a recent campaign rally for Gonzalez.
“With Luisa, we will have security, as was the case under Rafael Correa,” said Luisa María Manteca, 65, who works at a cosmetics distributor in Quito. “With him, the country performed well and we have to continue on this path.”
The prospect of Gonzalez becoming the first woman to win the presidency of Ecuador also attracts many voters.
“He’s a very humble person,” said Deborah Espinoza, a 19-year-old college student. “As a woman, she understands us.”
Who is Daniel Noboa?
Noboa, 35, comes from one of Latin America’s wealthiest families, known to most Ecuadorians for their banana empire, which owns one of the world’s most famous fruit brands, Bonita bananas.
But the Noboa family’s vast assets are diverse and include fertilizer, plastics, cardboard and the country’s largest container storage complex.
Noboa’s father ran for president five times without success, but Noboa’s young political career only dates back to 2021, when he was elected to Ecuador’s National Assembly.
Noboa has described himself as an “employment president”, even adding a job application form to his website, promising to attract investment, international trade and lower taxes.
But like his father, Noboa has also come under fire from analysts who fear he may use his presidency to benefit his family’s growing business empire.
At a recent campaign event, hundreds of university students lined up in the coastal city of Guayaquil, the country’s most populous city and one of the hotbeds of violence, where they waited more than an hour to see Noboa.
Noboa took off his bulletproof vest and slowly and calmly answered the students’ questions, repeating his talking points about making Ecuador an attractive market for international banking. He was greeted with applause and cheers and teenagers ran to take selfies with him.
“I’ve been watching his interviews and I like his proposals on issues like dollarization, education and labor,” said Derek Delgado, a 17-year-old electrical engineering student who plans to vote for Noboa. (The minimum voting age in Ecuador is 16, and it is compulsory for those over 18.)
Many voters also support Nobua because he represents an alternative to the Correa Party. Valeria Vasquez, 33, who runs a local beauty products company in Guayaquil, said she was impressed that Noboa was “not a socialist.”
Another Noboa advocate, Natasha Villegas, a 19-year-old college student in Guayaquil, said she believes “it’s time to give young people a chance.”
What do the candidates say about security?
Noboa and Gonzalez have promised to stop the violence, but neither has made security a central part of their campaigns.
The two candidates talked about providing more money to the police and deploying the army to secure ports used to smuggle drugs out of the country and prisons controlled by violent gangs.
Gonzalez pointed to the arrest of several criminal gang leaders during his time in Correa’s government as evidence of his intention to use hard force.
Noboa has proposed using technology, such as drones and satellite tracking systems, to combat drug trafficking, and has suggested building prison ships to isolate the most violent inmates.
However, analysts say neither candidate has done enough to prioritize fighting the crime that has destabilized Ecuador and turned the country into one of the most violent in Latin America.
Thaly Ponce collaborated with reports from Guayaquil; Emilia Paz y Mino and José María Leon Cabrera from Quito teamed up.
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