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South America: 35-year-old scion of banana tycoon wins Ecuador election

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South America
35-year-old scion of banana tycoon wins Ecuador election

Daniel Noboa (M) is considered a center-right politician. photo

© Rodrigo Abd/AP

Daniel Noboa won the runoff election in Ecuador. The entrepreneur will become the youngest president in the country’s history – but only for the next 18 months.

Daniel Noboa has the runoff election in Ecuador won and becomes the youngest president in the history of the South American country. This was confirmed by the head of the CNE electoral authority, Diana Atamaint. After around 91 percent of the votes were counted, the 35-year-old entrepreneur got a good 52 percent. Noboa’s opponent, Luisa González, congratulated him on his victory. According to Atamaint, voter turnout was around 82 percent.

Noboa is considered a center-right politician. He is the son of banana tycoon Álvaro Noboa, who himself ran for president five times. If he wins, González would have become Ecuador’s first female president. She won the first round of elections with 33.6 percent of the vote. González belongs to the camp of ex-president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), who was convicted of corruption and lives in exile in Belgium.

Presidential candidate Villavicencio was shot

However, Noboa will only hold the office for around 18 months from mid-December – until the end of the term of office intended for current President Guillermo Lasso. The conservative dissolved parliament in May after two years in office when it initiated impeachment proceedings against him over allegations of embezzlement. According to the constitution, early elections were necessary.

Eleven days before the first round of elections in August, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who vowed to fight corruption, was shot dead after a campaign rally in the capital Quito. Seven men who were arrested as suspects in the case were found dead in prisons a few days ago.

Violence has increased dramatically in Ecuador in recent years. Gangs that experts say have ties to powerful Mexican cartels are fighting for control of cocaine trafficking routes.