Noboa wins Ecuador presidential runoff, rival claims fraud

Noboa wins Ecuador presidential runoff, rival claims fraud

Ecuador's leftist Presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez speaks to supporters under heavy security after learning the first results of the presidential runoff election in Guayaquil, Ecuador on April 13, 2025. Ecuador's election authority declared incumbent Daniel Noboa the winner of the presidential runoff vote, after the 37-year-old leader defeated his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez by a bigger-than-expected margin.

Ecuador's president reelect Daniel Noboa faced the herculean task of uniting his violence-struck nation Monday, after his leftist rival called his victory into question.

With almost 98 percent of the votes counted after Sunday's election, Noboa won 56 percent of the vote, against Luisa Gonzalez's weaker-than-expected 44 percent.  

The result appeared to be a thumping endorsement of Noboa's "iron fist" approach to drug gangs and a stinging rejection of Gonzalez's links with an exiled, populist firebrand ex-president accused of corruption.

The once-peaceful nation averaged a killing every hour at the start of the year, as cartels vied for control over cocaine routes that pass through Ecuador's ports.

In the volcano-ringed capital Quito, Noboa's supporters celebrated his victory late into the night with fireworks and amped-up conveys of cars blaring infectious tecnocumbia.

US President Donald Trump was among the first to congratulate the 37-year-old president on his reelection, calling him a "great leader" and telling Ecuadorans "he will not let you down!"

During the campaign, Noboa suggested US special forces should be deployed to Ecuador to tackle drug violence, and he floated legal reforms to allow US bases to reopen.

Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown Olon, Noboa claimed a "historic victory."

"A huge hug to all those Ecuadorians who always believed in this young president!" he said. "Ecuadorians have spoken. From tomorrow morning we will go to work."

But the results were clouded by Gonzalez's refusal to concede defeat.

Seemingly shocked by her weak showing and perhaps the end of her dream of becoming Ecuador's first woman president, she immediately questioned the results.

The pair had been virtually tied in the first round of voting.

Gonzalez accused Noboa of "the most grotesque electoral fraud" and called for a recount of the ballots. She did not immediately provide evidence for her claims.

- Security first -

The campaign was dominated by worries about the lackluster economy and cartel violence that has transformed Ecuador from one of the safest countries in Latin America into the most deadly.

Noboa, the guitar-strumming son of a billionaire banana magnate, has staked his political fortunes on tough security policies designed to snuff out the gangs. 

He has deployed the military to the streets and captured drug lords.

On the eve of the ballot, Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency in Quito and several provinces.  

Rampant bloodshed has spooked investors and tourists alike, fueling economic malaise and swelling the ranks of Ecuador's poor to 28 percent of the population.  

Noboa's win is likely to see him double down on hardline security policies and further nurture a budding bromance with Trump. 

"The security issue needs to be addressed first" said 42-year-old Jacqueline Medrano. 

"That's why tourists don't come anymore. People don't go out, people are afraid to travel, and that also affects the economy".

Analysts said that Gonzalez's close ties to ex-president Rafael Correa may have hurt her at the polls.

Correa lives in exile in Belgium, avoiding a corruption conviction he claims is politically motivated. But he remains a deeply polarizing figure in his homeland.  

"There is a strong anti-Correa sentiment" among some voters, said Ruth Hidalgo, a political scientist at the University of the Americas.

Gonzalez and her party "didn't manage to overcome that. They didn't manage to convince people. They didn't connect, so this is the result."

bur-arb/dw