Daniel Noboa, heir to banana fortune, seems likely winner in Ecuador’s presidential runoff election

By Regina Garcia Cano And Gonzalo Solano, The Associated Press on October 15, 2023.

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QUITO, Ecuador (AP) – Daniel Noboa, an inexperienced politician and an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, seemed headed to victory in Ecuador’s presidential runoff election Sunday.

With 93% of the votes counted, electoral officials said Noboa held a 4 1/2-point lead over Luisa GonzÃ¡lez, a leftist lawyer and ally of exiled former President Rafael Correa.

GonzÃ¡lez conceded defeat during a speech before supporters Sunday night and said she planned to call Noboa to congratulate him.

Noboa, 35, would lead Ecuador during a period marked by unprecedented violence that even claimed the life of a presidential candidate.

Noboa’s political career began in 2021, when he earned a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission. The U.S.-educated businessman opened an event organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his father’s Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas.

His father, Ãlvaro Noboa, is the richest man in Ecuador thanks to a conglomerate that started in the growing and shipping of bananas – Ecuador’s main crop – and now includes more than 128 companies in dozens of countries. The elder Noboa unsuccessfully ran for president five times.

The president’s 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’s National Assembly in May as lawmakers carried out impeachment proceedings against him over alleged improprieties in a contract by a state-owned company.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) – A young heir to a banana empire held the lead in early returns from Sunday’s presidential runoff election in Ecuador.

Results from the National Electoral Council gave Daniel Noboa had 52.4% of of the vote with about 61% of the ballots counted. Leftist attorney Luisa GonzÃ¡lez had 47.6% of the votes in an election held amid unprecedented violence on the streets and within prisons.

Ecuadorians have a universal demand for the new president – safety. Noboa and GonzÃ¡lez have limited governing experience and will undoubtedly have their work cut out.

The election comes as more Ecuadorians become victims of drug-related violence that erupted roughly three years ago and intensified in August, when a presidential candidate was assassinated in broad daylight. People continuously watch their backs and limit how often they leave home. The uneasiness even pushed Noboa to add a bulletproof vest to his daily outfit.

The election took place without any major incidents. After polls closed, the president of the National Electoral Council, Diana Atamint, said that an “inter-institutional commitment of the National Police and the armed forces” allowed people to vote safely.

“Today, Ecuador has triumphed, democracy has triumphed,” she said.

Whoever wins with a simple majority of votes will govern for only 15 months, until May 2025, which is what remains of the tenure of President Guillermo Lasso. He cut his term short when he dissolved the country’s National Assembly in May as lawmakers carried out impeachment proceedings against him over alleged improprieties in a contract by a state-owned company.

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.” He said voters have the wisdom “to banish demagoguery and authoritarianism as they look toward a tomorrow of peace and well-being for all.”

Under Lasso’s watch, violent deaths soared, reaching 4,600 in 2022, the country’s 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 cocaine trafficking. Mexican, Colombian and Balkan cartels have set roots in Ecuador and operate with assistance from local criminal gangs.

Voting is mandatory in Ecuador for people ages 18 through 64. Those who don’t comply face a fine of about $45. Polls will close in the late afternoon, and results were expected Sunday evening.

“I don’t expect much from this election,” Julio Ricaurte, a 59-year-old engineer, said Sunday near one of the voting centers in northern Quito, the capital. “First, 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.”

Noboa and GonzÃ¡lez, both of whom have served short stints as lawmakers, advanced to the runoff by finishing ahead of six other candidates in the election’s first round on Aug. 22. The replacement of Fernando Villavicencio, who was killed Aug. 9, as he left a campaign rally in Quito, finished in third place.

Noboa, 35, is an heir to a fortune built on Ecuador’s main crop, bananas. His political career began in 2021, when he won a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission. He opened an event organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his father’s Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial industries.

A large group of military and police officers as well as private security guards protected Noboa when he voted in OlÃ³n, a community on the country’s central Pacific coast. He wore a bulletproof vest.

“I believe that the trend is irreversible, and today, we begin to build a new Ecuador,” he said, confidently alluding to a victory.

GonzÃ¡lez, 45, held various government jobs during the decade-long presidency of Rafael Correa, her mentor, and was a lawmaker until May. She was unknown to most voters until Correa’s party picked her as its presidential candidate. At the start of the campaign, she said Correa would be her adviser, but she has recently tried to distance herself a bit in an effort to court voters who oppose the former president.

“We have full faith, hope, that Ecuador is going to take a turn toward dignity, toward a homeland of rights,” she said after voting in the small town of Canuto. She, too, wore a bulletproof vest.

National Police Cmdr. Gen. César Zapata on Sunday said authorities investigated two reports of explosive devices outside Quito and deemed them to be false. He also said that 174 people had been arrested for violating a ban on alcohol sales on Election Day.

Rosa AmaguaÃ±a, a 62-year-old fruit and vegetable vendor, said Sunday that safety “is the first thing that must be solved” by the next president.

“I’m hopeful the country will change,” AmaguaÃ±a said. “Yes, it can. The next president must be able to do even something small.”