Just 18 months after the last general elections, Ecuadorians are once again heading to the polls Sunday for a high-stakes vote. President Daniel Noboa is seeking reelection and, based on polls, is likely to face a rematch against leftist Luisa Gonzalez in an April runoff. (AP)
Our Take
Noboa’s victory in Ecuador’s snap presidential election in 2023 surprised many observers, since he was an outsider candidate who had been polling relatively poorly before the first round. As a result, his win—to be sure, a close victory—spoke to voters’ desire for new ideas and fresh faces in the middle of multiple crises.
Most notably, that vote came at a time when the extent of a crime surge that began in 2020 was becoming visible to many Ecuadorians. Just two months after Noboa took office, the surge exploded last January into a full-blown security crisis, prompting Noboa to declare an “internal armed conflict” and a state of emergency. Since then, he has adopted a “tough on crime” approach that has largely involved using the military to patrol the streets and fight criminal networks.
