Ecuador's new president sets age record
The new Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa is now officially the youngest democratically elected head of state in the history of the South American country. The 35-year-old took the oath of office in the capital Quito on Thursday. "Many are trying to pigeonhole the new government into old political or ideological categories, but we are focusing on change and the future," said the son of banana tycoon Álvaro Noboa, who himself ran for president five times. Daniel Noboa will only hold office until May 2025 - until the end of the term of office originally planned for the prematurely departing President Guillermo Lasso.
Many Ecuadorians consider the security situation to be the biggest problem in the country. The murder rate of around 25 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants last year was the highest in the history of the Andean country and one of the highest in Latin America. Shortly before the first round of elections, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who promised to fight corruption, was shot dead after an election rally.
Several gangs with links to powerful Mexican cartels are fighting for control of the drug trafficking routes. Ecuador is an important transit country for cocaine from South America, which is smuggled to the USA and Europe.
The Ecuadorian Government, led by President Daniel Noboa, is currently focusing on change and the future, as expressed by Noboa during his inauguration. The responsibility of maintaining order and addressing the high murder rate falls under the jurisdiction of the Ecuadorian Government and its law enforcement agencies.
Source: www.dpa.com
