With barely two weeks until the second presidential round in Ecuador, the candidates to occupy the Carondelet Palace, Luisa González and Daniel Noboa, met in a new debate to establish their campaign proposals and country project. According to the latest survey published by the polling company ‘Comunicaliza’, the businessman scores more than 11 points in voting intention for the Correísta, so the confrontation could have been crucial for the appointment with the polls.
Luisa González or Daniel Noboa. The more than 13 million Ecuadorians called to the polls on October 15 in the electoral runoff had a new opportunity to see the two presidential candidates contrasting their proposals on national television. Security was once again at the center of the discussions.
A meeting that started at seven in the afternoon, local time, and lasted for two hours in which both candidates discussed Economy, Society, Security and Politics
The candidate of the National Democratic Action alliance (ADN), Luisa González, started at a disadvantage in the debate, according to the latest voting intention polls, in which businessman Daniel Noboa, of the Citizen Revolution party, leads her by more than 11 points.
According to analysts, the debate could have been crucial to define the vote of the undecided or formalize that of the most loyal electorate. A face to face that took place after the electoral campaign of the second round started last Sunday that will determine who occupies the Carondelet Palace and will replace President Guillermo Lasso until May 24, 2025, the date on which the next elections will be held. .
The current elections were brought forward after Lasso decreed what is known as “crossed death”, when he dissolved the National Assembly, led by the opposition. Last May, this proposed opening a political trial against Lasso for alleged embezzlement.
Now, González, heir to the Correismo of former president Rafael Correa, and Daniel Noboa, business magnate and outsider, are called to open a new political space in the Andean country, at least for the next few months. All of this in the midst of a campaign dominated by political violence and the prison crisis, which took a unique turn after the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio just a few days before the first round on August 20.
This Sunday, both candidates arrived at the EcuadorTv facilities wearing bulletproof vests. González, in statements to the press, denounced an alleged failed attack against him.
Below, we leave you the key moments in this face to face in relation to the thematic blocks that were discussed:
Economy
Daniel Noboa began his speech by stating that two fundamental pillars to improve Ecuador’s economic situation are the reduction of prices in both the electricity and fuel sectors.
For her part, Luisa González reproached her for what her plan would be regarding the Foreign Exchange Exit Tax (ISD), and the correísta affirmed that her government approach involves increasing oil activity and overcoming the deficit of 5,000 million dollars.
After the crossing, the candidate of the Citizen Revolution stated that to develop his plans, a technical analysis of economic policies must first be carried out, and he attacked González with the de-dollarization plan led by the Puebla Group, meeting in Mexico and of which former president Rafael Correa is part of it.
However, González stressed that among his proposals is the strengthening of dollarization.
As the debate progressed, the economic impact of the El Niño phenomenon was on the table, which according to Daniel Noboa, could reach 8 billion dollars. An extreme that González stated that he will address by refinancing the debts of those affected and providing low-interest loans.
Security
In terms of security, one of the backbones of the campaign, González started by promising 500 million dollars to strengthen the Police and shore up control of prisons as well as airports and ports as passageways for criminal gangs.
“The first thing is for a government that let organized crime to infiltrate the country to leave,” the correista snapped in reference to Guillermo Lasso’s Executive.
For his part, Daniel Noboa presented his ‘Fénix’ plan to guarantee security; a project based on citizen surveillance together with the government of Israel, the establishment of an Intelligence Center as well as the creation of prisons on ships to isolate detained people or the scanning of Ecuadorian ports.
In another moment, both contenders clashed over mining concessions and how illegal groups use these resources to benefit. González cornered Noboa when he asked him if his company has mining interests, to which the Citizen Revolution candidate answered bluntly that he had “none.”
Social
In the social axis of the discussions, there were agreements but also disagreements.
In relation to educational policies, Noboa proposed declaring the Internet as a basic resource with universal access as well as the creation of technical schools and facilitation in obtaining university places.
This last aspect aroused the suspicion of Luisa González, who asked how she would get 20,000 students to enter universities. Then, Noboa responded: “Money is enough when there is no corruption.”
For her part, the ADN Alliance candidate said that she would return school breakfasts, that she would facilitate university access, including virtual courses, as well as the provision of 10 gigabytes of internet so that students can carry out their studies electronically. In addition, among her Government program is the investment of 180 million dollars in higher education.
Policy
In the last thematic block, González began by emphasizing that under his eventual Presidency he will not allow under any circumstances that companies do not enroll their employees in Social Security. In contrast, Noboa said that his country’s project includes returning liquidity to the institution, which was affected by the sale of bonds. In addition, he stated that the retirement pension should be set at the minimum wage, which is currently $450.
In foreign policy, it was González who led the way when she maintained that she will respect Ecuadorian international trade agreements and that she will make approaches with both Colombia and the United States to strengthen their strategic ties. She also referred to her relations with governments such as that of Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba and that of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.
In his turn to speak, Noboa once again stressed that his government’s backbone is security and the reduction of violence, which is why he wants to carry out a popular consultation in his first 100 days in office to approve the most urgent measures in this matter thanks to popular support.
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