In Quito, car horns resounded with jubilation on Sunday as Daniel Noboa, a 35-year-old scion of the banana empire, emerged as Ecuador’s youngest-ever president-elect. He pledged to “restore peace” to a nation plagued by a violent drug gang conflict.
Following the declaration of his victory by the electoral authority and the concession of defeat by his socialist rival, Luisa Gonzalez, Noboa expressed his commitment to initiating the work of rebuilding a country that has been severely afflicted by violence, corruption, and animosity starting the next day.
Ecuador, traditionally a peaceful sanctuary situated between major cocaine-exporting nations Colombia and Peru, has witnessed a surge in violence in recent years. Rival gangs, with connections to Mexican and Colombian cartels, have engaged in a power struggle for dominance.
This violent conflict has led to the brutal massacre of over 460 inmates in prisons since February 2021, with many victims subjected to beheadings or being burned alive in massive prison riots.
The turmoil has also spilled onto the streets, where gangs have gone to extreme lengths by publicly displaying headless bodies from city bridges and detonating car bombs outside police stations as a demonstration of their strength.
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