By Oliver Griffin
(Reuters) – Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa is betting that his pledges to push crime-fighting initiatives begun under his truncated first administration and to tackle power cuts will secure him a full term in Sunday’s presidential election.
Two recent opinion polls have pointed to a possible first-round win for Noboa, raised in Guayaquil and heir to his father’s vast business fortune, which includes holdings in banana plantations, packaging and shipping. Other surveys suggest the vote will go to a run-off in April, where he would likely notch a victory against leftist Luisa Gonzalez.
Noboa also faced Gonzalez in the 2023 snap election, where he was the surprise victor to finish the term of his predecessor, winning over voters with pledges to tackle Ecuador’s spiraling drug trade-related crime.
Noboa, who says his 15-month presidency has resulted in a 15% decrease in violent deaths, safer prisons and the capture of major gang leaders, is campaigning on promises to follow through with his so-called “Phoenix Plan” to fight insecurity.
He has used presidential decrees to deploy the military on the streets, beefed up security at ports, declared 22 criminal organizations terrorist groups and won legislative approval for longer sentences for drug crimes and terrorism.
“The time of the old Ecuador is over, the new Ecuador is beginning – with your vote we’ll reach it,” Noboa said at a recent rally in Machala.
Supporters say Noboa needs a full four-year term to be able to deliver on his promises – including more cooperation with the U.S., which has imposed sanctions on major Ecuadorean gang Los Lobos.
Detractors say he has not done enough to curtail the violence, although his 15 opponents have struggled to paint him as ineffectual.
He has also had a public falling-out with Vice President Veronica Abad, who the Labor Ministry suspended from office in a move she said was a violation of the constitution.
Noboa has pledged to avoid a return of rolling blackouts of up to 14 hours per day that affected Ecuador during the latter half of 2024, caused by a regional drought that sapped the country’s hydroelectric dams. He pleaded with Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro – who he once called a “leftist snob” in an interview – to renew electricity imports.
His administration has increased power generation capacity and restarted work on a stalled hydroelectric dam, Noboa says.
The 37-year-old president rarely gives interviews or makes speeches but he posts on social media, and is popular with many younger voters. In December, he posted a photo on Instagram of the tattoo on his left arm of four phoenixes. The largest bird is guiding the other three, he said, who represent his children.
Life-sized cardboard cutouts of Noboa have taken on a life of their own on social media, with supporters posting jokey videos of themselves ‘eating lunch’ or ‘going shopping’ with the president.
“He’s someone who knows what he wants for the country, not someone who’ll just enter the presidency and improvise on the fly. He’s got a clear path to follow,” said Marlon Caraclas, 27, a recent university graduate.
(Reporting by Oliver Griffin in Bogota; Additional reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
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