Daniel Noboa, the youngest elected president in the history of Ecuador, assumed the presidency on Thursday for a year and six months.
A presidential term in Ecuador normally lasts four years, but Noboa is completing the tenure that the outgoing president, Guillermo Lasso, did not finish.
Last May, Lasso issued a decree dissolving the opposition-controlled legislature a day after it opened an impeachment trial accusing the president of having been aware that his close associates were involved in a corruption scheme stealing funds from state companies.
"I believe in Ecuador, in change and its future. It is difficult for the old political schemes to understand this electoral success," Noboa, the newly elected leader, said.
Millionaire's son
After the assembly was dissolved and early elections were called, Noboa was surprisingly elected in the second round on October 15 over leftist Luisa Gonzalez.
At age 35, Noboa becomes Ecuador’s youngest elected president.
He is the son of millionaire banana businessman Alvaro Noboa, who tried unsuccessfully to become president five times.
He graduated in Public Administration from Harvard University, and was elected to the National Assembly in 2021, the one that was later dissolved.
Divided National Assembly
Although he has achieved the support of some political parties, Noboa must deal with a fragmented National Assembly.
Another big challenge he faces is the violence involving drug gangs, which has left some 3,600 murders so far this year, according to the Ecuadorian Organized Crime Observatory.
He will also have to deal with a prison system in crisis, with jails transformed into battlefields where clashes between organisations have left almost 500 dead since 2021.
Noboa has promised to restore security and create jobs in the South American country, which has faced economic challenges since the coronavirus pandemic.
Unemployment rate
In Ecuador, only three out of every 10 people have a formal job. Poverty stands at 25.2% and extreme poverty at 8.2%, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Census.
Noboa's plan, as he has repeatedly said, is not to govern for a year and a half but to be re-elected in 2025.
He took office in the capital Quito during an event attended by the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, as well as the Vice President of Brazil, Geraldo Alckmin, and the foreign ministers of Panama, Haiti, Peru and Costa Rica.
The National Assembly building, where the ceremony took place, was guarded from the early hours of the morning by a large police and military contingent, including snipers.
