Noboa, 35 years old, surprised in the early elections on Sunday after going through an electoral campaign in which he went almost unnoticed by his opponents. None of them made attacks against him and that, perhaps, was one of the advantages that catapulted him to the next phase. Nor did the polls place him above the fifth rung.
With 93% of the votes counted, Noboa reached 23.66%, to be in second place behind González, from the La Revolución Ciudadana party, of former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017), who added 33.31%. .
It is the first time that the young politician, who arrived in his own helicopter to vote and permanently wears a bulletproof vest, has participated in a presidential contest, and achieved what his father, billionaire businessman Álvaro Noboa, failed to achieve in his five attempts to reach it. to the presidency in the Andean nation.
His political career only began in 2021 when he reached a seat in the National Assembly, where he chaired the Economic Development commission. At the age of 18, he created his own event organization company and two years later he joined the Noboa Corporation, owned by his father, where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas.
He has a degree in Business Administration and another in Public Administration, the latter from the Harvard Kennedy School. In addition, she has a master’s degree in Governance and Political Communication from George Washington University. He is married and has two children.
Although Noboa was around sixth place among the eight candidates according to the polls, something changed after the presidential debate.
“With that same conviction of giving security and employment to the country, we are going to give it sustainability. We are the new generation and we are not and have not been public contractors, nor parts of previous governments, ”he said during the public debate a week before the call to the polls, alluding to the supposed advantages over his opponents.
Without a confrontational and rather serene speech, Noboa made a show of his proposals during the questions and replies on the different topics addressed.
He spoke of returning liquidity to the country, strengthening Social Security, generating more employment and attracting investment, special care for water sources, modernizing agriculture and correctly managing electricity. Like the others, he put security first as a condition for the recovery of the country.
“With employment, we are going to have dignity and tranquility in our streets again and be able to invest and move forward in a country that has everything and cannot get out of the hole it is in,” he emphasized.
He said that he will provide tools to the Armed Forces, through a comprehensive security plan and a reform of the judicial system and the Penal Code. He proposed creating a system of eligible citizen juries and unifying the intelligence system and centralizing it so that businesses and families “can live in peace.”
Juan Francisco Camino, an analyst and professor at the University of Los Hemisferios, said that one of the key factors in Noboa’s surprise advance could be the quiet work he does through a social aid foundation chaired by his mother, Anabella Azín.
The billionaire politician brought medical assistance and food especially to marginal and rural sectors, “in a context in which the State is absent in those areas; It has had a strong impact,” the analyst stressed to The Associated Press.
In addition, for urban sectors the image of a “young, sporty, serene and, above all, with extensive training abroad, obviously attracts attention,” he said.
Noboa received the election results accompanied by his mother at his campaign center in the coastal city of Guayaquil, where his supporters were euphoric.
Ecuadorians came into this early election after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly in mid-May to avoid impeachment and cut his own term in office by almost half.
“We are facing a new polarization in the country, now it is the new against the old, there is a general weariness towards the previous practices of doing politics,” said Esteban Ron, dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the UISEK University.
He indicated that the Ecuadorian voter is now supporting “people and not ideologies” and in this sense Noboa has “an impressive resume… a study model that anyone would like to have had.”
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
