MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ecuador chooses new president to complete Lasso's term

González could become the first woman president of the South American country

Arguably one of the most violent countries in the world, Ecuador will pick its next President on Sunday in a runoff between Lawyer Luisa González and businessman Daniel Noboa.

 Leading up to this showdown was the attempted impeachment of Conservative President Guillermo Lasso, who in response triggered the constitutional crossed-death mechanism and its subsequent snap elections to fulfill his term plus the assassination of candidate Fernando Villavicencio during his first-round campaign, among other landmark events.

González, 45, is the political protegé of former President Rafael Correa, who lives in exile in Belgium to avoid incarceration after being found guilty of corruption.

Noboa, 35, is the millionaire son of a banana businessman who has already tried unsuccessfully to become president.

They both represent a potential first. In the case of González, there was never a women president before and Noboa would become the youngest person to ever hold such an office.

González was the favorite in the Aug. 20 first round when she garnered 34% of the votes.

On the other hand, Noboa collected 23% of the votes. Although he is supported by a right-wing constituency, he defines himself as center-left.

The winner will rule until May 2025 to complete Lasso's four-year term after the mechanism also involving the dissolution of Congress in May was enacted to avoid an impeachment trial for corruption.

Hence, the new assembly members and President and Vice-President will have shorter terms, just to cover the nearly two years remaining from previous ones.

González, a lawyer with master's degrees in economics and management, has admitted that her main advisor will be Correa, who for a decade installed a personalist government, with technocratic touches, intolerant of press criticism, and aligned with “national-populist” regimes such as those of Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales, and Néstor Kirchner.

The former Correist assemblywoman is also a cyclist, a marathon runner, and a lover of tattoos and animals. Her personal history as a single mother of two children aged 9 and 29 was also part of her campaign. “When they attack me for being a single mother, for having succeeded, for having studied, they are not attacking me, they are attacking each one of you, women of my country”, said González, who speaks with pride of her humble origins in the coastal town of Canuto, in the southwest of the country.

With a projected rate of 40 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, Ecuador's problem of violence ranks among the voters' top priorities. González has promised to spend US$ 500 million to strengthen the police and reinforce control of the country's prisons. She blames crime on the governments of Lenín Moreno (2017-2021), who was Correa's vice president but broke with the former president, and Lasso, who “prioritized an agenda of political revenge and hatred over the welfare of the people.” González is also concerned about poor health and education services in post-Correa Ecuador.

González, who defines herself as an evangelical Christian, has been questioned by feminist groups due to her opposition to abortion even in cases of rape when she was an assemblywoman.

Ecuador closed 2022 with the highest homicide rate in its history: 26 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants and rising despite Lasso's state of emergency decrees. And 2023 does not look any better, with 4,200 violent deaths recorded until early August. At this pace, it is estimated that it could reach 40 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, among the most violent countries in the world.

Almost unknown in politics except for being a deputy in the dissolved Assembly, Noboa sneaked into the runoff with a hard-handed speech against crime. The presidential debate in the first round, to which he presented himself with a bulletproof vest alleging death threats, catapulted his candidacy just days after Villavicencio's murder.

Son of tycoon Alvaro Noboa and also heir to his political capital, he focused on winning votes through social networks. A few days before the elections, he was trendy in X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok thanks to videos made with dozens of cardboard dolls with his life-size image.

Regarding insecurity, he outlined the so-called Fénix plan, a strategy focused on citizen vigilance. Noboa, who is married and has two children, plans to promote a popular consultation to implement a jury system for corruption cases. He also favors the militarization of borders and transferring the most violent inmates to prison ships.

The young Noboa, who has degrees in business and administration from prestigious foreign universities, presents himself as a figure of change against González, who based her campaign on the alleged achievements of Correa's ten-year tenure. His father tried five times unsuccessfully to reach the presidency, advancing to the runoff on three occasions. In 2006 he lost to Correa.

An unprecedented telematic voting system was tested abroad during the first round, but a series of technical problems have led the Ecuadorian authorities to backtrack and resort again to the ballot boxes and the presence of voters.