35-year-old business heir wins Ecuador presidency

Daniel Noboa will become Ecuador’s president after winning the country’s presidential runoff election on Sunday with over 52 percent of the vote, with nearly all the votes counted. Noboa’s term will only run through May 2025. Less than two years remain in the term of former President Guillermo Lasso, who cut his term short after lawmakers pursued impeachment hearings against him. Daniel Noboa is the son of Álvaro Noboa, the richest man in Ecuador, thanks to a banana growth and shipment business that expanded to include 128 companies in dozens of countries.

What did Noboa run on? The biggest issue facing Ecuador is public safety. Over the past three years, drug-related violence has become a part of everyday life. The country has experienced political violence in recent months. Spikes in killings, kidnappings, and robberies have also been tied to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring countries, including Colombia and Peru. Colombian and Mexican cartels operate in Ecuador and work with local gangs. Under Ecuador’s previous president, violent deaths reached an all-time high, with 4,600 reported in 2022.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Onize Ohikere’s report on a prison riot in Ecuador that claimed the lives of 116 prisoners.