QUITO, Ecuador (AP) 鈥� Daniel Noboa, an inexperienced politician and an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, won Ecuador鈥檚 presidential runoff election Sunday held amid unprecedented violence that even claimed the life of a candidate.
With more than 97% of the votes counted, electoral officials said Noboa had 52.1%, compared to 47.9% for Luisa Gonz谩lez, a leftist lawyer and ally of exiled former President Rafael Correa. Gonz谩lez conceded defeat during a speech before supporters in which she also urged Noboa to fulfill his campaign promises.
Noboa, 35, will lead the South American country during a period that drug trafficking-related violence has left Ecuadorians wondering when, not if, they will be victims. Their uneasiness has prompted them to continuously watch their backs and limit how often they leave home.
After results showed him victorious, Noboa thanked Ecuadorians for believing in 鈥渁 new political project, a young political project, an improbable political project.鈥�
He said his goal is 鈥渢o return peace to the country, to give education to the youth again, to be able to provide employment to the many people who are looking for it.鈥� To that end, Noboa said, he will immediately begin to work to 鈥渞ebuild a country that has been seriously hit by violence, corruption and hatred.鈥�
The incoming president鈥檚 term will run only through May 2025, which is what remains of the tenure of President Guillermo Lasso. He cut his term short when he dissolved the country鈥檚 National Assembly in May as lawmakers carried out impeachment proceedings against him over alleged improprieties in a contract by a state-owned company.
Ecuadorians 鈥� young and old, rich and poor, city and rural dwellers 鈥� had a universal demand throughout the campaign: safety. Noboa is now expected it to meet it, but the magnitude of the problem coupled with the brevity of the upcoming presidential term might prove an impossible task for the U.S.-educated man who will become Ecuador's youngest president.
鈥淚 think there would be a very slim chance that even the best equipped president could reverse Ecuador鈥檚 security crisis within 18 months 鈥� it鈥檚 such a short period of time 鈥� and neither of these candidates was the best equipped. Noboa certainly not,鈥� said Will Freeman, a fellow on Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. 鈥淗is proposals on security were erratic, and they gave the sense that he was improvising.鈥�
Violence erupted in Ecuador roughly three years ago with a rise in criminal activity linked to cocaine trafficking, and the government's inability to tackle it was laid bare in August with the assassination of presidential candidate and anti-corruption crusader Fernando Villavicencio.
Since then, other politicians and political leaders have been killed or kidnapped, car bombs have exploded in multiple cities, including the capital, Quito, and inmates have rioted in prisons. Earlier this month, seven men whom authorities identified as suspects in Villavicencio鈥檚 slaying were killed while in custody.
Noboa鈥檚 political career began in 2021, when he got a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission. The U.S.-educated businessman had opened an event organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his father鈥檚 Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas.
His father, 脕lvaro Noboa, is the richest man in Ecuador thanks to a conglomerate that started in the growing and shipping of bananas 鈥� Ecuador鈥檚 main crop 鈥� and now includes more than 128 companies in dozens of countries. The elder Noboa unsuccessfully ran for president five times.
The younger Noboa's party will not have have enough seats in the National Assembly to be able to govern on its own. Garnering support from opposing lawmakers will be key to avoid the difficulties that plagued Lasso's term.
Lasso, a conservative former banker, clashed constantly with lawmakers after his election in 2021 and decided not to run in the special election. On Sunday, he called on Ecuadorians to have a peaceful election and think about what is "best for their children, their parents and the country.鈥�
Under Lasso's watch, violent deaths soared, reaching 4,600 in 2022, the country鈥檚 highest in history and double the total in 2021. The National Police tallied 3,568 violent deaths in the first half of 2023.
The spike in violence is tied to the of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru. Mexican, Colombian and Balkan cartels have set roots in Ecuador and operate with assistance from local criminal gangs.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 expect much from this election," Julio Ricaurte, a 59-year-old engineer, said Sunday near one of the voting centers in northern Quito. 鈥淔irst, because the president will have little time to do anything, and second because the (National) Assembly in our country is an organization that prevents anyone who comes to power from governing.鈥�
Noboa and Gonz谩lez, both of whom have served short stints as lawmakers, advanced to the runoff by finishing ahead of six other candidates in the election鈥檚 first round on Aug. 22. The replacement of finished in third place.
A large group of military and police officers as well as private security guards protected Noboa when he voted in Ol贸n, a community on the country's central Pacific coast. He wore a bulletproof vest.
Gonz谩lez was unknown to most voters until the party of Correa, her mentor, picked her as its presidential candidate. She held various government jobs during Correa鈥檚 decade-long presidency and was a lawmaker from 2021 until May.
At the start of the campaign, she said Correa would be her adviser, but she recently sought to distance herself a bit in an effort to court voters who oppose the former president, who remains a major force in Ecuador despite being found guilty of corruption in 2020 and sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison. He has been living in his wife鈥檚 native Belgium since 2017.
Rosa Amagua帽a, a 62-year-old fruit and vegetable vendor, said Sunday that safety 鈥渋s the first thing that must be solved鈥� by the next president.
鈥淚'm hopeful the country will change,鈥� Amagua帽a said. "Yes, it can. The next president must be able to do even something small.鈥�
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Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela.
Regina Garcia Cano And Gonzalo Solano, The Associated Press
