Incumbent President of Ecuador Daniel Noboa and establishment socialist candidate Luisa González clashed in a heated presidential debate on Sunday ahead of the April 13 runoff election.
In addition to presenting their respective campaign promises, the candidates focused on personal attacks, accusing each other of drug trafficking and corruption, among other charges, instead of directly answering questions.
Ecuador will once again head to the polls on Sunday, April 13, to hold a presidential runoff election between Noboa, a 37-year-old outsider politician with the National Democratic Action (ADN) party, and González, a 47-year-old lawyer and political protégé of socialist former president and fugitive convicted felon Rafael Correa. González will once again represent Correa’s socialist Citizen Revolution Movement party.
Noboa narrowly defeated González by a 0.17-percent vote difference during the first round of the presidential election held in February — an election that featured 16 candidates from across the political spectrum.
Both candidates, who also faced each other in Ecuador’s 2023 snap general election, held a roughly two-hour debate in the capital city of Quito centered around five main topics: education, health and social security, crime and safety, economy and employment, and governance. The debate was a mandatory broadcast as per Ecuador’s electoral law.
“We have seven million poor people who want to take their children to school, but since this government has not fixed the schools, they charge parents who do not have enough to eat to fix the infrastructure and that is a barrier to access,” González said on the subject of education, citing statistics allegedly obtained from the government.
Noboa refuted the claims and accused González of using incorrect statistics. The Ecuadorian president repeatedly told his rival to “calm down” and offered her a scholarship to study economics. González responded to the offer by telling Noboa to “focus,” claiming that the incumbent president had serious “attention deficit” problems — an apparent reference to rumors that Noboa is neurodivergent.
The socialist candidate further called for Noboa to take an “antidoping” test after the debate, to which Noboa responded, “if you want, we do a drug test on the way out of here.”
González claimed that Noboa’s security policies to curb Ecuador’s rampant violent gang crime have been a “failure.” Noboa, for his part, accused González of wanting to “de-dollarize” Ecuador, which adopted the U.S. dollar as legal tender in 2000. The Ecuadorian president reportedly based his accusations on remarks by members of the socialist Citizens Revolution party, including fugitive former President Rafael Correa.
Venezuela’s socialist regime was another main topic of dispute for the candidates during the debate. Ecuador is one of the seven Latin American nations that dictator Nicolás Maduro abruptly cut ties with after their governments questioned the “results” of Maduro’s fraudulent July 2024 presidential election.
Answering to Noboa, González, who avoided referring to the Maduro regime as a “dictatorship,” stated that she would recognize Maduro’s regime and reestablish diplomatic ties with Venezuela if elected president. According to González, Ecuador needs to reestablish ties with Venezuela to deport illegal Venezuelan migrants.
“I need to recognize the government of Nicolás Maduro in order to return the Venezuelans that you allowed to enter my country in an irregular and disorderly manner,” González said.
“I will do the same as the United States, return Venezuelans who do not have a regular income and who take our jobs or who sow violence in my country. My obligation is to protect them [Ecuadorians],” she continued.
Noboa, whose government had preemptively announced it would not recognize any results from a sham election in Venezuela, rejected her statements and affirmed that, under his administration, Venezuelans who have left their country have been treated with humanity.
“We will never recognize a dictatorial and totalitarian government,” Noboa promised.
President Noboa presented a list of 29 campaign promises to the Ecuadorian electorate should he become elected, including implementing school food and scholarships programs; international security cooperation with the United States, France, Italy, Spain, and other countries; and changes to local criminal law, such as reforms to the nation’s Penal Code and constitutional reforms so that law enforcement “can do their job.”
González presented 21 campaign promises, including “fixing” Ecuador’s educational infrastructure, free school breakfast for children in public schools, and school supplies and uniforms through contracts with popular and solidarity economy companies. She also said she would declare an emergency in the public health system and put “capable people” in front of the health units and social security. Additionally, she vowed to coordinate with the Maduro regime for the deportation of Venezuelans, “especially those who do not have a regular income, who take our jobs or who sow violence.”
Upon leaving the debate, González told reporters that Noboa is the “president of lies” and claimed that everything that he said and offered in 2023 has not been accomplished. Noboa also addressed reporters after the debate and stated that he believes that “things are now a little clearer” for those who have yet to decide who to vote for.
“An option of freedom, of justice, an option that is mature and de-dollarized. We will continue fighting day by day to move forward, to give a better life to every Ecuadorian family. Thank you very much,” Noboa said.
The presidential campaign for the upcoming April 10 runoff election started on Sunday at midnight and will run through Thursday, April 10, at 11:59 p.m. During that time period, both candidates are allowed to host events, rallies, meetings, and other promotional-related activities but are forbidden from granting donations, gifts, or presents to their citizens. An electoral silence will be in force from Friday, April 11 until the evening of Sunday, April 13.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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