QUITO, Ecuador — Daniel Noboa, an inexperienced politician and an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, won Ecuador’s presidential runoff election Sunday held amid unprecedented violence that even claimed the life of a 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.
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.
“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 Assembly in our country is an organization that prevents anyone who comes to power from governing.”
“I believe that the trend is irreversible, and today, we begin to build a new Ecuador,” he said at the voting center, confidently alluding to a victory.