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Noboa Announces Cabinet with Focus on Renewal

Noboa will finish the mandate of his predecessor, Guillermo Lasso, who dissolved the National Assembly in May that gave way to early elections amid a political crisis…reports Asian Lite News

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has unveiled his ministerial cabinet with the first official photo of his work team, three days after assuming power for a short 18-month term.

The cabinet “is mostly made up of women and young people who head strategic departments of the State”, Xinhua news agency quoted a statement issued by the General Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency as saying on Sunday

The president took the official photo wearing the presidential sash beside 24 ministers at Carondelet Palace, the seat of government, in the capital of Quito, it said.

It said that Minister of Women and Human Rights, Arianna Tanca, and Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society, Cesar Martin Moreno, joined the cabinet by executive decree.

In the coming days, Noboa will appoint Juan Carlos Vega as Minister of Economy and Finance, who has already been participating in government meetings with multilateral organizations.

Noboa will finish the mandate of his predecessor, Guillermo Lasso, who dissolved the National Assembly in May that gave way to early elections amid a political crisis.

The 35-year-old former lawmaker and son of banana exporting magnate Alvaro Noboa, has become the youngest president in the history of Ecuador.

Noboa, from the National Democratic Action coalition, won the presidential runoff on October 15.

According to the President, he has been gradually putting together his team to carry out a road map that will prioritize the reduction of criminal violence and poverty, and employment improvement.

Once considered one of the safest countries in the region, Ecuador has seen violence explode in recent years driven by rival drug-trafficking groups. Bloodshed reached an unprecedented crescendo with the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Drug violence has led to some 3,600 murders so far this year, reports the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organised Crime.

Noboa has also said he will implement a state of emergency, suspend some citizen rights such as freedom of movement, and deploy the military to the streets.

ALSO READ-Daniel Noboa: Ecuador’s Youngest-Ever President Takes Office

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Daniel Noboa: Ecuador’s Youngest-Ever President Takes Office

Noboa, now 35, a former lawmaker and son of banana exporting magnate Alvaro Noboa, becomes the youngest president in the history of Ecuador…reports Asian Lite News

Daniel Noboa has been sworn in as President of Ecuador, pledging to move the country forward, reduce poverty and tackle crime during his brief 18-month term in office.

Noboa, now 35, a former lawmaker and son of banana exporting magnate Alvaro Noboa, becomes the youngest president in the history of Ecuador, reports Xinhua news agency.

“I am a free and pragmatic man who seeks with empathy to improve the lives of Ecuadorians … I believe in a state whose primary goal is to reduce violence and make progress a habit,” Noboa on Thursday said before some 600 guests, including Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and international envoys gathering at the National Assembly, the country’s unicameral legislature.

In the brief speech after taking the oath of office, Noboa said that despite the difficult times Ecuador is undergoing, he decided to run for president for the good of the country and with a youthful vision that parts ways with politics as usual.

“The task is hard and difficult and the days are few,” he said, adding he will strive to face the challenges.

He called for national unity and urged political leaders to put aside their differences so as to concentrate on solving the major problems that afflict Ecuador.

Noboa, from the National Democratic Action coalition, won the presidential runoff on October 15, in elections that were moved up after his predecessor, the embattled Guillermo Lasso, stepped down before the conclusion of his term in 2025.

Faced with impeachment, Lasso had dissolved the National Assembly in May and called for early elections amid the political crisis.

Once considered one of the safest countries in the region, Ecuador has seen violence explode in recent years driven by rival drug-trafficking groups. Bloodshed reached an unprecedented crescendo with the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Drug violence has led to some 3,600 murders so far this year, reports the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organised Crime.

Noboa has said he will implement a state of emergency, suspend some citizen rights such as freedom of movement, and deploy the military to the streets.

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Ecuador Chooses New President Amid Rising Violence

More than 10 million people voted in the runoff amid tight security measures in place, with tens of thousands of police officers and army personnel deployed at polling stations across the country…reports Asian Lite News

Amid a wave of violence and a worsening security situation, Ecuador has chosen Daniel Noboa, from the right-wing National Democratic Action alliance, as its new President.

Citing the preliminary official results of the presidential runoff held on Sunday, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said Noboa had obtained 52.29 per cent of the valid votes compared to 47.71 per cent for his rival, Luisa Gonzalez from the Citizen Revolution movement led by former President Rafael Correa, reports Xinhua news agency.

The results were declared after 90.78 per cent of the votes were counted.

On Sunday night, CNE President Diana Atamaint affirmed that the results were “irreversible” and declaring Noboa as be president-elect of the South American country.

More than 10 million people voted in the runoff amid tight security measures in place, with tens of thousands of police officers and army personnel deployed at polling stations across the country.

Noboa, 35, was a lawmaker before outgoing President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the legislature and called for early elections,CNN reported.

He has pledged to create more work opportunities for the young; bring in more foreign investment, using technology to fight crime; and has suggested several anti-corruption measures including sentences for tax evasion.

Speaking to reporters after the result late Sunday night, Noboa thanked his wife, parents, and God for allowing him to serve his country.

“I also thank all those people who have been part of a new, young, improbable political project, a political project whose purpose was to give back a smile to the country,” he said.

“Starting tomorrow, Daniel Noboa, your president of the republic, starts working.”

Meanwhile, his rival Gonzalez has conceded defeat.

Tension remained high during Sunday’s vote which came just months after the high-profile assassination of presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, who was killed days before the August 20 first round of polling, CNN reported.

ALSO READ-Gonzalez, Noboa lead Ecuador’s first round election

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Gonzalez, Noboa lead Ecuador’s first round election

Journalist Christian Zurita was in third place with 16 per cent, Xinhua news agency quoted the poll body as saying…reports Asian Lite News

Preliminary results revealed that Luisa Gonzalez of Citizen Revolution Movement and former legislator Daniel Noboa are expected to beat out six other candidates in the first round of Ecuador’s presidential elections and then face off in the runoff, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said.

With over 60 per cent of ballot boxes counted as early Monday morning, Gonzalez has tallied around 33 per cent support, followed by Noboa of the National Democratic Alliance, who has obtained over 24 per cent of the vote, according to the CNE figures.

Journalist Christian Zurita was in third place with 16 per cent, Xinhua news agency quoted the poll body as saying.

“The results already mark a trend that the elections will go to the second round,” head of the CNE Diana Atamaint said in a televised statement.

She added that voting on Sunday was a “calm, safe and respectful process of the will of the Ecuadorian people” and the counting process was transparent.

The second round of the elections is scheduled for October 15.

The winner will succeed Guillermo Lasso, a former banker who cut short his four-year term (2021-2025) in office following a legislative attempt to impeach him.

Lasso headed off the trial by dissolving the National Assembly and calling for early elections. 

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Ecuadorian Prez candidate Fernando Villavicencio killed in shooting

As a legislator, Villavicencio was criticised by opposition politicians for obstructing an impeachment process this year against Lasso, which led the latter to call the early elections…reports Asian Lite News

Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio has been killed, the country’s president Guillermo Lasso has said, vowing the “crime will not go unpunished”.

Local media had earlier reported Villavicencio, a former lawmaker who had been polling at 7.5 per cent and a leading anti-corruption campaigner, had been shot at a campaign event in Quito, The Guardian reported. 

Videos on social media appear to show the candidate walking out of the event surrounded by guards. The video then shows Villavicencio entering a white truck followed by gunfire.

“For his memory and his fight, I assure you that this crime will not remain unpunished,” Lasso said on Twitter.

Villavicencio, from the Andean province of Chimborazo, was the candidate for the Build Ecuador Movement. He was a former union member at state oil company Petroecuador and later a journalist who denounced alleged millions in oil contract losses. He was one of eight presidential candidates for the late August election.

Villavicencio was one of the most critical voices against corruption, especially during the government of former president Rafael Correa from 2007 to 2017, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison for defamation over statements made against the former president.

He fled to Indigenous territory within Ecuador and later was given asylum in Peru, The Guardian reported.

As a legislator, Villavicencio was criticised by opposition politicians for obstructing an impeachment process this year against Lasso, which led the latter to call the early elections.

Lasso added that he was “outraged and shocked by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. My solidarity and condolences to his wife and daughters”.

He said his security cabinet would meet shortly.

The killing comes amid a startling wave of violence in the South American nation, with drug trafficking and killings on the rise.

“Organized crime has gone too far, but they will feel the full weight of the law,” Lasso said, referring to the perpetrators of the crime.

“Today more than ever, the need to act with a strong hand against crime is reiterated. May God have him in his glory,” fellow presidential hopeful Jan Topic said in response to the shooting.

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Senegal beat Ecuador 2-1 to qualify for knockout stage

The Lions of Teranga, thus will make it to the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time in 20 years…reports Armstrong Vaz

A match winner from Kalidou Koulibaly helped Senegal over the challenge of Ecuador 2-1 in the Group A match of the FIFA World Cup and to qualify for the knockout stage.

At the Khalifa International Stadium, all three goals came from players based in England. Senegal, ranked 18 on the FIFA ranking computer went into the lead in the 44th minute through Watford’s Ismaila Sarr penalty conversion and went into the half time break leading 1-0.

In the second half, Ecuador, ranked 44, hit back through Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo in the 67th minute to draw level. The lead lasted for just three minutes with Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly scoring Senegal’s second goal of the match to give the lead to the African Cup of Nations champions.

The Lions of Teranga, thus will make it to the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time in 20 years.

The African champions, who are in Qatar without Idrissa Gueye and Sadio Mane, are to meet Group B winners, the group which consists of England, USA, Iran and Wales. The last round matches of the group B take place on Tuesday with Iran taking on USA and Wales meeting England in the ‘local derby’.

Senegal, which lost to The Netherlands 2-0, finished their league engagements with six points with two wins and one loss to finish second in the group behind leaders Netherlands. The Europeans completed their league engagements with two wins and one draw, recording identical 2-0 wins over Senegal and Qatar. Their only draw came against Ecuador 1-1.

Senegal first win in the group came against hosts Qatar, while Ecuador had started the proceedings in the 29-day tournament with a 2-0 win over the hosts, and then drew with the Netherlands and lost their last match, to finish third with four points

Hosts Qatar finished at the bottom of the table losing all their matches and conceding seven goals and scoring one goal, the worst record for the World Cup hosts. The hosts’ only goal of the tournament came in 3-1 loss to Ecuador.

The hosts, who never featured in any of the editions of the World Cup but were playing in the current championship on account of being hosts thus joined South Africa as the only hosts which did not make it beyond the first round.

Senegal and Netherlands now join Portugal, Brazil and France into the last 16 stage.

Ecuador, which had played with freedom and creativity in their opening two matches to leave themselves needing only a draw to reach the last 16, paid the price for a passive display. The vibrancy of their earlier performances was nowhere to be seen under the pressure of protecting what they had. Ecuador flopped on the promise of the opening match with Enner Valencia unable to revive himself one last time.

Senegal spurred on by an almost non-stop drumming from their supporters and knowing they needed to win, were uninhibited by contrast.

Aliou Cisse’s side controlled the first half. Senegal found swathes of space in and around the Ecuador area early on as the South Americans began on a shaky note but Idrissa Gueye and Boulaye Dia both failed to finish off the opportunities that came their way and ended up shooting wide.

Senegal did not have to wait for long as the breakthrough goal came when Angelo Preciado and central defender Felix Torres misjudged the flight of a long ball out of the Senegal defence. Sarr read it perfectly.

The Watford winger muscled in ahead of Torres on the left and took one touch inside the area before being clattered by a clumsy challenge from centre-half Piero Hincapie. French referee Clement Turpin immediately pointed to the spot and Sarr, who had missed his two previous penalties at club level, stroked a confident penalty inside the bottom left corner with Ecuador goalkeeper Galindez rooted to his line.

At the end of first half, Ecuador’s Argentinian coach Gustavo Julio Alfaro brought in three changes taking out Carlos Gruezo and replacing him with Jose Cifuentes, Alan Franco making way for Jeremy Sarmiento and Michael Estrada going out and Djorkaeff Reasco taking his place on the turf.

Thereafter, he brought in Jackson Porozo for Angelo Preciado as the South American side tried all combinations to break into the rival defense in pursuit of the equalizer.

On the other hand, Senegal coach Aliou Cisse also brought in a fresh pair of legs in the 74th minute to keep Ecuador at bay with Iliman Ndiaye making way for Cheikh Dieng and Pathe Ciss taking over from Nampalys Mendy.

The introduction of Cifuentes and Sarmiento sparked an immediate improvement for Ecuador and, for the first time in the game, Senegal were on the back foot for a sustained spell.

The equaliser came off a set piece situation. Gonzalo Plata’s delivery was met by a header from Torres and fell to Caicedo, left completely unmarked at the back post and kept onside by Sabaly standing on the goal-line at the opposite post. The Brighton midfielder tucked away a simple finish and the Senegal drums fell silent. But they were beating again within two minutes.

Ecuador’s moment of triumph quickly turned to despair when Gana Gueye swung a free-kick into a crowded Ecuador penalty area. The ball struck Ecuador’s goalscorer on the thigh and looped up for Koulibaly to restore Senegal’s precious lead with a close range volley beyond Galndez.

Senegal were able to hold on to their own amid a nervy six minutes of stoppage time to finish as runners-up in Group A, with Koulibaly’s first international goal sending the Africa Cup of Nations’ champions to the last 16 stage.

Referee Clement Turpin kept the proceedings under control by showing the yellow card to Idrissa Gana Gueye of Senegal in the 66th minute.

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