Ecuador’s President Noboa Reelected in Contest Dominated by Drugs Gangs Threat

Noboa wants the United States to designate several Ecuadorian gangs as terrorist groups, as it has done for cartels in Mexico, El Salvadoran, and Venezuela.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa addresses supporters after early returns show him in the lead in the presidential election runoff at his family home in Olon, Ecuador, on April 13, 2025. AP Photo/Fernando Vergara

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa defeated a leftist opponent on April 13 in an election dominated by the country’s fight against powerful drug gangs.

Figures released by Ecuador’s National Electoral Council (CNE) showed Noboa got 55.67 percent of the vote with more than 96 percent of ballots counted, against 44 percent for his opponent, Luisa González.

CNE President Diana Atamaint said there was an “irreversible trend” in favor of Noboa.

Noboa, 37, told supporters on the night of April 13 that “Ecuador is changing ... and that path will mean our children will live better lives than we did.”

He also turned on the opposition, who have made claims of fraud, and said: “I find it embarrassing that with an 11- or 12-point difference, they come out to question the will of the Ecuadorians. Ecuadorians have already spoken, now we have to get to work.”

González, 47, told supporters that she did not accept the result and demanded a recount, saying that it was “the worst and most grotesque electoral fraud in the history of Ecuador.”

Noboa was the candidate of the conservative National Democratic Action (ADN) coalition, while González represented the leftist Citizen Revolution Movement.

She held various government jobs under Rafael Correa, who was president of Ecuador from 2007 until 2017.

Correa was succeeded by his former vice president, Lenín Moreno, who lost an election in 2021 to businessman Guillermo Lasso.

But Lasso was impeached and ousted in 2023, and in October 2023, Noboa narrowly defeated González and served the remainder of Lasso’s truncated term.

Won Four-Year Term

Noboa has now won a full four-year term and says he will unleash the full force of the government against Ecuador’s drug cartels, who have become increasingly powerful in the past five years.

Last month Noboa said he wanted special forces troops from the United States, Brazil, and Europe to come to Ecuador and help his government fight a war against drug gangs.

In an interview with the BBC, published on March 19, Noboa also said he wanted President Donald Trump to designate several Ecuadorian gangs as terrorist groups, as he has done for several Mexican, El Salvadoran, and Venezuelan cartels and gangs.

On Feb. 20, the State Department officially designated Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, El Salvador’s MS-13, and a number of Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists.

Last month Noboa said he would be glad if Trump designated Ecuador’s Los Lobos, Los Choneros, and Los Tiguerones gangs as terrorist groups “because that’s what they really are.”

Crime has risen markedly since 2021 and is linked to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru and exported through Ecuador’s ports.

Last month, Noboa told the BBC: “We need to have more soldiers to fight this war. Seventy percent of the world’s cocaine exits via Ecuador. We need the help of international forces.”

Noboa pointed to the homicide rate having dropped to 38.76 per 100,000 people in 2024 from 46.18 per 100,000 people in 2023.

But it remains far higher than 2019, when it was 6.85 homicides per 100,000 people.

On March 12, Noboa announced a strategic alliance with Erik Prince, founder of private military contractor Blackwater, to tackle crime and narcoterrorism in Ecuador.

During the campaign González said she opposed the presence of foreign troops in Ecuador and had promised to go after corrupt judges and prosecutors while increasing spending to address social deprivation in areas where gangs recruit members.

Ecuadorian security forces participate in a joint operation to search for drugs and weapons in a low-income neighborhood, in Duran, Ecuador, on March 14, 2025. Santiago Arcos/Reuters

Noboa—whose businessman father Alvaro unsuccessfully ran for president five times—is heir to one of Ecuador’s biggest business fortunes, based on banana plantations.

Prior to entering politics, he was employed by his father’s Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in shipping and logistics.

Atamaint said several people were arrested over ballot anomalies, which included allegations of counterfeit, pre-marked ballots.

She said 17 people were caught taking photos of their ballots, which was banned because of the fear of coercion by criminal groups.

The offense is punishable with a maximum fine of $32,000.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.