Daniel Noboa Wins Ecuador's Presidency

Facts

• Daniel Noboa, the 35-year-old banana industry heir and son of Álvaro Noboa, who ran unsuccessfully for the presidency five times, will become Ecuador's youngest president ever after winning the runoff presidential election on Sunday.¹
• With more than 94% of votes counted, electoral officials stated that the businessman and political neophyte beat his left-wing opponent Luisa González — considered a pupil of former Pres. Rafael Correa — roughly 52% to 48%.²
• Noboa campaigned on a tough-on-crime, pro-business platform to deal with worsening security and economic crises — vowing to house criminals on prison ships and to attract foreign investment and youth employment via tax benefits.³
• Ecuador's president-elect is set to be sworn into office on Nov. 25 but will govern just until May 2025, completing the tenure of outgoing Pres. Guillermo Lasso — who dissolved the country's parliament in May during an impeachment trial and called for snap elections.⁴
• The one-time congressman is the latest of a string of young leaders to be elected heads of state in Latin America in their 30s, following the steps of El Salvador's Nayib Bukele and Chile's Gabriel Borić.⁵
• His victory is also aligned with a rising demand for outsiders to succeed in Argentina's upcoming elections, and also bucks the recent trend of leftist electoral triumphs across the region, such as in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Chile.⁶

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²Bloomberg, ³FT, ⁴The Guardian, ⁵Times and ⁶The New York Times.

Narratives

• Right narrative, as provided by Washington Post. Democracy was on the ballot in the Ecuadorian runoff election, as the Latin American nation desperately needs to tackle organized crime. As Ecuador refrained from electing the candidate picked by Rafael Correa — a corrupt politician and authoritarian who has been criminally convicted — Washington must now ramp up cooperation with Quito and the Noboa administration.
• Left narrative, as provided by Plenglish. It's unlikely that Noboa will be able to find a consensus to push through legislation even though González has offered an olive branch to help him overcome the divided legislature when it comes to benefiting Ecuadorian citizens. The political novice clearly represents the interests of neoliberalism and the business sector despite his claims to be centrist which is ultimately not healthy for Ecuador's society or politics.

Predictions