After the vote in Ecuador, which was overshadowed by a murder, the left-wing candidate González and the entrepreneur Noboa are moving to the runoff. Who will succeed in freeing the South American country from corruption and gang warfare?
It is perhaps the most surprising, but above all hopeful result of this election in Ecuador: Despite the climate of fear, people went to the polls. Voter turnout was higher than in previous years. “It means that Ecuador is brave, that Ecuador has a feeling for its homeland,” says Luisa González of the left-wing Civic Revolution party. “The country mobilized itself, went to vote and broke fear.” That gives even more weight to the hope for change. After the first results were announced, González entered the runoff as the favorite.
It was anything but an ordinary vote: Candidates came to the polling stations in bulletproof vests and Kevlar helmets, and 100,000 security forces were on duty. The brutal murder of one of the presidential candidates, Fernando Villavicencio, just a week and a half before the ballot, had overshadowed the vote – security was therefore also the central issue: “Ecuador needs peace again, it needs security again,” says González. “We want to be free again.” They want a home country with security again, but also employment, education and medicine.
Longing for the golden noughties
González got around 33 percent of the votes. The lawyer was backed by the left-wing Civic Revolution, the powerful party of ex-President Rafael Correa, who ruled Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. González now promises to connect to that time in the mid-nineties. At that time, Ecuador was experiencing an economic boom, supported by oil revenues. Millions of people managed to escape poverty back then.
But Correa’s authoritarian style of government, and above all the allegations of corruption, for which he was sentenced to eight years in prison, are dividing the country. The murdered candidate and investigative journalist Villavicencio was one of the harshest critics of Correa, who has been in exile in Belgium for years.
Entrepreneur Daniel Noboa comes second in the run-off election in Ecuador.
A banana producer in second place
“All those who want change have won,” explained Daniel Noboa. The 35-year-old entrepreneur from the banana sector surprisingly came second in the runoff. The right-wing conservative presented himself as a candidate who wants to prevent another “Correismo” government, as a pragmatist who can finally bring a breath of fresh air into the dusty and matted political system.
“Security and employment are the two things I’m going to focus on,” said Noboa. Since time is short, radical changes must be made in these areas very quickly.
Corruption and bloody gang wars
Ecuador, once considered a stable country, now has a higher homicide rate than, say, Mexico or Brazil. The country is considered a new hub in international drug smuggling. Colombian and Ecuadorian gangs are fighting bloody proxy battles in the name of international cartels, and many state institutions have been undermined by corruption.
The murdered journalist and candidate Villavicencio had denounced this again and again. Christian Zurita, also a journalist and close friend of Villavicencio, replaced him. Zurita had probably received death threats in online networks shortly before the vote – he came in third place. Followed by Jan Topic. The right-wing entrepreneur, nicknamed Rambo, is considered a hardliner. He promised to crack down on drug gangs in the style of El Salvador’s authoritarian President Nayib Bukele. He declared his support for Noboa. The runoff will take place on October 15th.