Ecuadorians will go to the polls on Sunday to choose between a presidential candidate who runs with promises to improve the prospects of young people and another who proposes a return to left-wing social programs.
Banana heir Daniel Noboa, 35, has led recent polls, although at least two polls place voting intentions for him and leftist Luisa González, a protégé of former President Rafael Correa, within the margin of error.
The campaign has been marked by violence, including the assassination of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio in August. Seven suspects in the case were also subsequently murdered.
González, 45, who won with 34% of the vote in the first round, says he will recover the social spending that characterized Correa’s decline in power and use $2.5 billion in international reserves to shore up the economy.
Noboa won a surprise entry into the second round and has said he will attract foreign investment and create jobs, especially for young people.
“Unlike other elections that were carried away by a demagogue promise, in this election the undecided – which are the young people – are trying to understand which of the two figures can solve their personal problem,” said Francis Romero, president of the firm. Click Research.
For Sunday, a little more than 13 million Ecuadorians are eligible to vote, of which a quarter corresponds to young people between 18 and 29 years old.
The number of undecided people still remains high a few days before the elections, which could define the winner of the runoff at the last minute, according to Romero. Voting is mandatory in Ecuador.
Both candidates have tried to court young people with promises of jobs, free education and economic benefits, as well as avoiding political confrontation in their tours of universities in the final stretch of the electoral campaign.
“What is expected of any candidate is that he improves the country,” said David Vilaña, a 21-year-old university student in a popular neighborhood in the south of Quito, without saying who he will vote for. “Think about young people, we want to have decent employment.”
tough challenges
The outgoing government of President Guillermo Lasso, which called early elections to avoid impeachment, has blamed drug gangs for growing violence on the streets and in prisons but has struggled to combat them.
Meanwhile, the economy – which will grow just 0.8% in 2024 according to central bank estimates – is one of voters’ main concerns.
Ecuador is the world’s leading exporter of bananas and the fruit has been among the exports affected by drug trafficking, as smugglers hide narcotics in shipping containers.
González has promised to build a new prison on the outskirts of Guayaquil and take back the country from criminals, while Noboa has said the most dangerous convicts should be held on offshore prison ships and that he will use technology to fight crime.
In recent days González has called for unity, saying the country needs to “stop the dirty campaign, stop the attacks, stop the hate.”
For their part, some voters hope for change.
“We have the opportunity to elect a different party, we have been on the same line for a long time and we are dissatisfied,” said José Rosero, a 61-year-old pensioner in the south of Quito, without saying who he will support. “We want something new and let’s hope we don’t make mistakes.”
The winner will govern from December of this year until May 2025.
