The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, and the candidate of ‘Correism’, Luisa González, the presidency of the country is held this Sunday in a second electoral round that both arrive in technical draw, with favorable surveys for each applicant and in a context of political and social instability, also economic for the tariffs imposed by the United States.
Noboa and González achieved the pass to the second electoral round both with 44 percent of the votes, distanced by just over 16,000 ballots in favor of the current president. Now, the surveys are divided between both candidates, and the most favorable for each one barely mark differences of two percent of the votes.
In the more than two months of margin between the first and second round of the elections, the candidates have starred in an intense electoral campaign with themes of security, social justice and economy at the table, the latter even with more reason after the announcement of the US president, Donald Trump, of imposing 10% of tariffs on Ecuadorian products.
Noboa: Solutions for the crisis in his mandate
During his scarce 17 months of mandate, Noboa has had to face a growing security crisis, which culminated in the assault of a group of hooded to a television network during a live broadcast in January 2024. In addition, the escape of the drug trafficker ‘Fito’ ended up making the alarms jump and the government advocated by decreeing the state of emergency due to the “internal armed conflict” in which the country lives in which the country lives.
Thus, the Noboa electoral program revolves around four main axes that have meant a problem during their first mandate and has given wings to the opposition. One of them are social policies, an issue on which the president has committed to “improve the quality of benefits”, as well as guarantee the access of the entire population to the main basic services of the State.
Regarding economic issues, the president will seek to promote “sustainable economic development” through the strengthening of technological innovation in the main productive sectors, while facilitating foreign investment. In the institutional panorama, the president proposes to promote the transparency of his administration and strengthen citizen participation.
The energy situation is one of the main challenges that Noboa has had to face, which throughout its mandate has been forced to schedule nighttime blackheads due to the lack of supply. In order to prevent this from producing again, he proposes to create an infrastructure nationwide that “promotes equitable development and reduces vulnerability to risks.”
Noboa has opted for María José Pinto as an aspiring vice president, with whom she will try to turn the page to the disagreements with what was her ‘number two’ in the previous elections, Verónica Abad. Almost from the beginning of the mandate, both evidenced strong tensions that have resulted in the abbot exit of the vice presidency and a complaint for “political violence” against him.
González, the successor of Rafael Correa
On the other hand, González postulates as a candidate for Citizen Revolution (RC) by Diego Borja and with the aim of certifying the return of ‘Correism’ to the presidency of Ecuador after this brief mandate of Noboa, the years of Guillermo Lasso in the power and the last stage of Lenín Moreno, who was designated as the successor of Rafael Correa.
Covered in her experience as a legislator and public worker during the decade of Correa, González seeks to become the first woman to reach the presidency of Ecuador, with the exception of Rosalía Arteaga, who served as a president commissioned for just five days in February 1997.
Its electoral program is also based on four pillars, with the economy also as a spearhead to differentiate Noboa. The progressive candidate advocates a stronger state and a greater intervention in the economy with which it will seek to reduce public indebtedness through the renegotiation of debt; as well as reinforce national production with the strengthening of the local industry.
It will also seek to reactivate credits so that social investment is more affordable and has also promised to implement a universal basic income. Like Noboa, he has promised to fight the security crisis that plagues the country with violence prevention policies accompanied by a National Police reform with an approach based on respect for human rights.
González has also set the fight against corruption as one of his main work areas, and for this he has committed to promoting specialized units in the fight against crimes such as money laundering, cybercrime and human trafficking. Regarding the administration, the aspiring ‘Correísta’ will seek to implement transparency policies to end corruption at the institutional level.
