Daniel Noboa in the New York Times

For generations, the Noboa family has helped shape Ecuador. It controls a vast economic empire that includes fertilizers, plastic, cardboard, the largest container storage facility in the country and, most famously, a gigantic banana business with one of the most recognized fruit brands in the world: Bonita.

Daniel Noboa, the presidential candidate who is leading in the polls, at a campaign event last month in Sangolquí, a city near Quito, Ecuador’s capital.

However, one position has escaped them: the presidency. On five occasions, the head of the family conglomerate, Álvaro Noboa, has been a presidential candidate and has lost, once by two percentage points.

On Sunday, the Noboas could finally become president. Álvaro Noboa’s son, Daniel Noboa, a 35-year-old John F. Kennedy School of Government graduate who has used the same campaign jingle as his father, is the leading candidate in the runoff election. His opponent is Luisa González, the candidate hand-picked by former President Rafael Correa, who defeated Noboa’s father in 2006.

The legacy of the banana company — and its connection to Daniel Noboa — is just one aspect of an election that focuses on issues of employment and security in this country of 17 million people on the western coast of South America, shaken by the extraordinary power that drug trafficking has acquired in the last five years.

International criminal groups working with local gangs have unleashed an unprecedented wave of violence that has sent tens of thousands of Ecuadorians heading to the US-Mexico border, part of an influx of migration that has overwhelmed Joe Biden’s government. .

Noboa unexpectedly emerged from the bottom of the polls to take second place in the first presidential round in August. Experts say that he benefited from a celebrated performance in the debate, as well as the turn the race took when another candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, was unexpectedly murdered days before the vote.

Noboa has activated a base of voters dissatisfied with the promise of change.

“He has been able to say: ‘I am the renewal, I represent it in Ecuador,’” said Caroline Ávila, an Ecuadorian political analyst. That is the message that “people are buying,” she added.

Sunday’s election pits Noboa, a center-right businessman, against González, 45, a leftist establishment candidate, at a time when the country, once a relatively peaceful island in a violent region, is mired in deep unrest. .

Noboa, who rejected several interview requests, has consistently led in several polls since August, although in recent days the gap between the two candidates has closed.

He has positioned himself as “the jobs president,” even including a job search form on his website, and promising to attract foreign trade and investment and cut taxes.

Daniel Noboa is part of the third generation of a family that today operates a large business, but with roots in agriculture.

The Noboa family acquired wealth and prominence thanks to Luis Noboa, Daniel’s grandfather, who was born in poverty in 1916 but built an empire in the second half of the 20th century based on the export of bananas and other products.

Daniel grew up in the port city of Guayaquil, where he founded an event promotion company at age 18. He then moved to the United States to study at New York University. He would later become commercial director of the Noboa Corporation while obtaining three other academic degrees, including a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

In 2021, Daniel ran for Congress and won, positioning himself as a pro-business legislator, until President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the legislature in May and called for early elections.

Noboa has promoted a more left-wing platform and has spoken out against banking and called for more social spending.

Mauricio Lizcano, Noboa’s colleague and close friend, as well as a senior official in Colombia, described the candidate as someone “who respects diversity and respects women, who believes a lot in social issues,” but is also “orthodox in the economy and in the company”.

However, Noboa has not raised social issues in the campaign and Verónica Abad, her running mate, is a right-wing business coach who has spoken out against abortion, feminism and the rights of the LGBTQ community and has also expressed support. by Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right former president of Brazil.

Abad is “a pretty strange choice for someone like Noboa, who is trying to move beyond this left-right divide,” said Guillaume Long, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Economic and Political Research who served as foreign minister. Foreign Affairs in the Correa government.

Despite his family pedigree, Noboa has attempted to differentiate himself by declaring that he has his own business and that his personal fortune does not amount to $1 million.

Although Álvaro frequently referred to Correa as a “communist devil,” his son has avoided directly attacking Correism.

“I never voted for the father, but this boy has a different aura, new blood, new way of thinking,” said Enrique Insua, a 63-year-old retiree in Guayaquil. “He is charismatic.”

But, like his father, Daniel has also attracted criticism from some analysts, who fear he could use the presidential position to help the many family businesses.

“Whether in the manufacturing sector, in services or in agriculture, in one way or another everything is under his control,” said Grace Jaramillo, professor of political science and expert on Ecuador at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

“There is no economic policy issue that will not affect, for better or worse, one of his companies,” she added. “It is a permanent conflict of interest.”

The country’s economy was greatly affected by the coronavirus pandemic and only 34 percent of Ecuadorians have adequate employment, according to government data.

In addition to the economic sector, the country heads to the polls in what may be the most violent electoral season in the country’s history.

Five politicians have been murdered this year, in addition to Villavicencio — who was outspoken about alleged links between the government and organized crime — and last week seven men charged with Villavicencio’s murder were found dead in prison.

Lasso, the outgoing president, called early elections to avoid an impeachment trial over allegations of embezzlement and widespread voter outrage over the government’s inability to stop the violence.

“We will have the same heavy hand with those who have declared war on the Ecuadorian State,” he said.

Noboa has proposed using technology, such as drones and satellite tracking systems, to stop drug trafficking; He suggested prison ships as a way to isolate the most violent inmates.

https://www.nytimes.com/es/2023/10/12/espanol/ecuador-elecciones-noboa-gonzalez.html