On Oct. 15, Ecuador elected its youngest president in history, Daniel Noboa. A 35-year-old businessman, Noboa founded the centrist National Democratic Action party to support his candidacy. On the campaign trail, he promised Ecuadorians a future free from corruption and extortion.
Ecuador faces many challenges, and among them is extreme violence: Citizens are terrorized daily by high levels of crime, and many have lost faith in Ecuador’s democratic institutions due to allegations of corruption and extortion. But that’s not all. The climate consequences of the El Niño weather pattern have also caused droughts that compromise hydroelectric power plants and force Ecuadorians to ration energy. (Ecuador relies on hydropower for nearly 80 percent of its electricity.) The government faces a large deficit, and the economy has undergone a de facto dollarization. The nation’s pension system will also soon become financially unsustainable due to a declining number of contributors from the formal workforce.
Since Sunday, Noboa has been in Washington for his first visit as president-elect. Focused on securing financing mechanisms to implement his campaign promises, he has met with representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, the Organization of American States, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Inter-American Development Bank. Once Noboa is inaugurated on Dec. 1, his partnership with the United States will be key to combating all the above issues—especially organized crime in the Americas.
