35-year-old Daniel Noboa has slim lead in early returns; election comes amid spike in drug-related violence
QUITO, Ecuador — A young heir to a banana empire held the lead in early returns from Sunday’s presidential runoff election in Ecuador.
The election comes as more Ecuadorians become victims of drug-related violence that erupted roughly three years ago and intensified in August, when a presidential candidate was assassinated in broad daylight. People continuously watch their backs and limit how often they leave home. The uneasiness even pushed Noboa to add a bulletproof vest to his daily outfit.
Under Lasso’s watch, violent deaths soared, reaching 4,600 in 2022, the country’s highest in history and double the total in 2021. The National Police tallied 3,568 violent deaths in the first half of 2023. “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.”
A large group of military and police officers as well as private security guards protected Noboa when he voted in Olón, a community on the country’s central Pacific coast. He wore a bulletproof vest. “We have full faith, hope, that Ecuador is going to take a turn toward dignity, toward a homeland of rights,” she said after voting in the small town of Canuto. She, too, wore a bulletproof vest.
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