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Daniel Noboa, will become Ecuador’s next president after defeating Luisa Gonzalez in a run-off vote on Sunday.
“Tomorrow we start work for this new Ecuador, we start working to rebuild a country seriously battered by violence, by corruption and by hate, From tomorrow Daniel Noboa starts work as your new president,” Noboa told his supporters.
The son of a banana baron, Noboa has promised to improve the economy and create jobs for the youth, as well as to house prisoners on ships.
Gonzalez conceded defeat congratulating Noboa on his victory and she planned on calling him, while speaking to supporters in Quito.
With more than 90% of votes counted, Noboa was tallying more than 52% of the vote, while Gonzalez had about 48%, with nearly 90% of ballot boxes counted.
The two advanced to the runoff by finishing ahead of six other candidates in the election’s first round on August 22.
Voters’ top concerns largely centered on the economy, which has struggled since the COVID-19 pandemic, and rising crime, including an increase in murders and prison riots
The election took place without any major incidents.
“Today, Ecuador has triumphed, democracy has triumphed,” the president of the National Electoral Council, Diana Atamint, said.
Early election called after president dissolves legislature in May
The election was called after conservative President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the country’s legislature in May to escape an impeachment trial just two years after being elected.
The winning presidential candidate will govern for the remainder of Lasso’s unfinished term, which is a period of one and a half years, or until 2025.
Voting is mandatory in Ecuador for people ages 18 through 64 and 13 million are eligible to vote. Those who don’t comply face a fine of about $45.
Runoff election: Gonzalez vs Noboa
Luisa Gonzalez, 45, was handpicked by former President Rafael Correa and belongs to the left-wing ‘Citizen Revolution’ party.
She has held various government jobs during the decade-long presidency of Rafael Correa, her mentor, and was a lawmaker until May.
At the start of the campaign, she said Correa would be her adviser, but she has recently tried to distance herself from Correa to court voters who oppose the former president.
Noboa, 35, is an heir to a fortune built on Ecuador’s main crop, bananas. His father runs a massive banana company and even tried to run for the presidency on five occasions.
But the elder Noboa has been unsuccessful at his attempts. Daniel Noboa’s political career began in 2021, when he won a seat in the country’s legislature and chaired its Economic Development Commission.
Before that, Daniel Noboa held several management positions in the shipping, logisitics and commercial industries at his father’s Noboa Corp.
A rise in drug violence plagues country
Ecuadorians voted against the backdrop of violence that has intensified in the last few years.
A leading presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, known for his tough stance against corruption, was assassinated at a campaign rally in August, days before the first round of voting.
The law and order situation in Ecuador deteriorated during Lasso’s presidency. The homicide rate quadrupled in just two years, transforming backdrop of violence on the planet.
Rising news reports about criminal violence and murders, both inside and outside the prison, undermined confidence in the government.
Lasso struggled to control conflicts between drug trafficking organizations figting for control of Ecuador’s ports — crucial routes to transport narcotics from Colombia and Peru to the US and Europe.
The expansion of organized crime compromised Ecuador’s judiciary, further harming Lasso’s reputation.
Under Lasso’s watch, violent deaths soared, reaching 4,600 in 2022, the country’s highest in history. The National Police tallied 3,568 violent deaths in the first half of 2023.
rm/msh (AP, Reuters, dpa)
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