Ecuador votes for a new president after years of violence and blackouts

Ecuadorian voters are preparing to cast their ballots for a new president for the second time in 18 months amid an unprecedented security crisis in the country.

Ecuadorian voters are preparing to cast their ballots for a new president for the second time in 18 months amid an unprecedented security crisis in the country. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, the son of a banana tycoon, was elected in 2023 to finish the term of his predecessor Guillermo Lasso, who had resigned, dissolved congress and triggered new elections to avoid impeachment. On Sunday, voters will decide whether to stick with Noboa’s course against the country’s crime epidemic or seek an alternative voice in his political rival Luisa González. Here’s what you need to know: Noboa, a 37-year-old businessman, was the dark horse candidate of the 2023 election, beating González in that year’s second round vote. He sought to distinguish himself as “center left” during the 2023 campaign but has adopted a hardline approach to fighting crime during his short first term. Noboa has presided over a series of crises in his term. He has declared numerous states of emergency, deployed military units to tackle gang activity in the country’s streets, and began construction on a new maximum-security prison after an infamous criminal leader escaped from custody last year.