Daniel Roy Gilchrist Noboa Azín (born 30 November 1987) is an Ecuadorian politician and businessman currently serving as the 48th president of Ecuador since 23 November 2023. Taking office at the age of 35, he is the second-youngest president in the country's history, after Juan José Flores, and the youngest to be elected.
Noboa was a member of the National Assembly of Ecuador from 2021 until 2023 when the National Assembly was dissolved following the muerte cruzada constitutional mechanism invoked by President Guillermo Lasso. Before his political career, Noboa served in several positions at Noboa Corporation, an exporting business founded by his father Álvaro Noboa, a billionaire who unsuccessfully ran for president of Ecuador five times. He has been widely described as an heir to his father's company and fortune.
In May 2023, Noboa announced his candidacy for president in the 2023 snap election, running on the National Democratic Action ticket. He advanced to the run-off election in October, facing Luisa González, which many interpreted as an upset given his low polling numbers in the days leading up to the election. Noboa went on to win nearly 52% of the vote in the run-off, defeating González on 15 October 2023.
Noboa is currently the youngest democratically elected serving state leader in the world, and the second-youngest head of government after Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso.
Noboa was inaugurated as president on 23 November 2023, becoming the country's youngest person to assume the office after winning a popular election. President of Colombia Gustavo Petro was the only foreign head of state to attend his inauguration. His inaugural address lasted seven minutes where he criticized the "old paradigms" in the National Assembly. Because Noboa was elected in a snap election, upon his inauguration he only had 18 months to govern and complete the rest of Lasso's term before it will naturally expire before the next scheduled elections in 2025.
Hours after taking office, Noboa pledged reforms to reduce violence and create employment opportunities in the country, even though he had not appointed a Finance Minister. He initially announced he would appoint economist Sariha Moya as Minister of Finance, but ultimately had her lead the nation's planning secretariat instead. Many of the President's cabinet were sworn in on 23 November 2023 including Ivonne Núñez who became the Minister of Labour and Zaida Rovira who became Minister of Inclusion, Economic and Social.
Two days into his term, he ordered the Ministry of the Interior to repeal the Drug Consumption Table, which he believed encouraged "micro-trafficking". He simultaneously instructed the Interior and Health Ministries to create programs to reduce the consumption of narcotics and provide treatment for drug abusers. In conflict with his Vice President, Veronica Abad, from the very first days of his mandate, he decided to distance her by appointing her "peace collaborator" between Israel and the Palestinians, a mission she was to carry out from the Ecuadorian embassy in Tel Aviv. At the same time, he announced the reorganisation of the vice-presidency in order to reduce its powers. Verónica Abad accused him of sending her "to die in the war". In an effort to reduce overcrowding, Noboa proposed deporting 1,500 foreign prisoners who are incarcerated in Ecuador on 15 December. He also said he would consider constructing two maximum security prisons, drawing inspiration from El Salvador.
The same day, Noboa announced he would seek to cut $1 billion in government spending, while raising revenue via gold reserves worth around $300 million.
Noboa addressed the UN Security Council On 9 December, highlighting criminal gang activities and overall security as high priorities. On 10 December 2023, Noboa attended the inauguration of Argentinian President Javier Milei. On the sidelines of Milei's inauguration, Noboa met with Ukrainian President Voloydmyr Zelenskyy, who praised him for his stance on Russia's invasion. The two discussed expanding bilateral relations, primarily surrounding security and trade. Zelenskyy also invited Noboa to visit Ukraine.
On 7 January 2024, Los Choneros leader José Adolfo Macías Villamar escaped from prison in the city of Guayaquil, on the day of his scheduled transfer to a maximum-security prison. The events were reported the next day by authorities, with charges being filed against two prison guards. Following the escape, Noboa declared a state of emergency, to last for 60 days, giving authorities the power to suspend people's rights and allowing the military to be mobilized inside prisons. Riots ensued in multiple prisons across Ecuador. Two days later, mass armed attacks occurred throughout the country, including armed groups storming a television broadcasting station mid-air. The left-wing opposition supports the government: "Now is the time for national unity. Organized crime has declared war on the state, and the state must prevail". Some analysts criticize President Noboa for providing an exclusively security-based response to crime, without making any announcements on possible reforms of the police and judiciary, reputed to be highly corrupt, or on social policies to combat the root causes of violence.
On 5 April 2024, the Mexican embassy in Quito was raided by Ecuadorian police and military forces. Mexico and numerous other countries decried the raid as a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1954 Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum. The raid was carried out to arrest the former vice president of Ecuador, Jorge Glas, who had been sentenced for corruption and had been living in the embassy since 17 December 2023. A few hours before the attack, he had been granted political asylum.
The assault led to Mexico severing its relations with Ecuador. The following day, Nicaragua followed suit in solidarity with Mexico. Venezuela closed its Ecuadorian embassy and consulates due to the raid, condemning Ecuador's actions.
In response to the raid, Noboa said he made "exceptional decisions to protect national security, the rule of law and the dignity of a population that rejects any type of impunity for criminals, corrupt people or narco-terrorists", and that he would "not allow sentenced criminals involved in very serious crimes to be given asylum", arguing that such actions were against the Vienna Convention and other international agreements. Noboa later said that wished to resolve the diplomatic issue with Mexico, but added that "justice is not negotiated" and that "we will never protect criminals who have harmed Mexicans".
In May 2024, Noboa registered to run for re-election in the upcoming 2025 general election.
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