Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, declared victory Monday despite his leftist opponent Luisa Gonzalez’s better-than-expected performance in the country’s election’s first round.
Although pre-election surveys gave him a significant advantage, 37-year-old Noboa broke his silence on the outcome, saying, “We won the first round over all the parties of Old Ecuador.”
Noboa, who has been in office since November 2023, received 44.3 per cent of the vote with 92 per cent of the ballots counted, while Gonzalez received 43.8 per cent, according to official figures.
Gonzalez, a 47-year-old lawyer and single mother of two, said to her jubilant supporters in Quito on Sunday that they had won a “great victory” by imposing what she described as a “statistical tie.”
Leonidas Iza, the leader of the indigenous people, was in third place with 5.26 per cent.
Many saw the election, which pitted Noboa against Gonzalez, who had already faced off against him for the top position only 15 months prior, as a referendum on Noboa’s strict security measures in the face of record-breaking murder, abduction, and extortion rates as well as a faltering economy.
Within a few years, Ecuador has gone from being one of the safest countries in the world to one of the most dangerous due to gangs fighting for control of Pacific ports and lucrative cocaine trading routes to Europe and Asia.
Some surveys had projected that Noboa would receive the 50 per cent of the vote required to avoid an April run-off in the second round.
Gonzalez, who is running to be the first elected female president of Ecuador, stated in an interview with the Teleamazonas station that “this has been a battle of David versus Goliath.”
It “shows that people want change,” she said.
– Rights abuses –
Noboa has used his unprecedented executive powers to stop cartel violence, sent the army into the streets, and proclaimed a state of emergency in the South American nation during his 15 months in office.
However, human rights organisations claim that the military’s aggressive use has resulted in atrocities, such as the killing of four boys whose burned bodies were recently discovered close to an army base.
To prevent a recurrence of the 2023 election, in which a prominent contender was slain, a phalanx of special forces followed Noboa and Gonzalez throughout the campaign route.
However, the vote on Sunday went smoothly.
Late on Sunday, Noboa’s supporters were in a celebratory mood despite the close outcome.
“We came to support the president, we want him to support us and change the country,” 52-year-old secretary Myriam Medrano declared while walking through Quito’s streets.
Gonzalez’s victory, according to Noboa, would signal a return to the ideas of her mentor, former president Rafael Correa, a socialist who was exiled and led the nation from 2007 to 2017.
Correa was optimistic about the chances of winning from his exile in Belgium.
He declared, “We are going to PASS Noboa,” in a social media update.
– ‘A bigger challenge’ –
Noboa has staked his political future on a tough stance against crime and a clever social media campaign that highlights his youth and energy.
Both investors and visitors have been turned off by the instability, which has hurt an economy that most likely went into a recession last year.
To establish a $4 billion budgetary war fund, Noboa has been compelled to look to the International Monetary Fund.
Gonzalez told AFP on Saturday that the IMF was “welcome” to assist, provided that it did not impose measures that would negatively affect working families.
Additionally, Ecuador is bracing for the return of thousands of migrants who are anticipated to be deported by the administration of US President Donald Trump, which would result in a decline in remittances, which amount to roughly $6 billion annually.
Gonzalez stated to AFP that she wanted an “appropriate” relationship with Trump.
