The highly anticipated presidential debate between Luisa González, candidate for the RC (Citizen Revolution), and Daniel Noboa, current President of Ecuador and candidate for ADN (National Democratic Action) took place on Sunday, March 23.
The two politicians will face off for the office of president on April 13 as they received the most votes in the first round of the elections. Noboa obtained 44.17% of the valid votes, while González obtained 44% (almost a tie). The high vote total for first and second place in the first round of elections was something unprecedented in the country’s history and saw the third place, Leonidas Iza, far behind with 5.25% of the vote. These results show a certain political dichotomy in the country.
Before the debate began, the moderator asked the candidates to shake hands. Both approached and posed in front of the cameras, offering one of the most emblematic images of the night – the serious, almost annoyed expression of González, next to Noboa who maintained a smile. In a way, this was a prelude to the almost two hours of the nationally broadcast debate. The debate developed around several accusations (many of them of a criminal nature) between both candidates.
Noboa: “Luisa will eliminate dollarization”
Noboa constantly resorted to the alleged link between González and the RC with criminal groups, as well as calling her political program “totalitarian”. In addition, Noboa accused González’s party of links to a corruption scheme in which members of the Citizen Participation Council (Consejo de Participación Ciudadana) sympathetic to Correísmo allegedly tried to appoint several key oversight authorities to benefit themselves. González dodged this issue throughout the debate.
Similarly, Noboa said directly that the financiers of González’s campaign are “gangs” that have been behind several corrupt deals in the country. He called them “Narco-correístas” who seek to destroy the financial system of dollarization in the country. The President’s slogan all night was “Luisa will eliminate dollarization”, even though González affirmed that she did not intend to eliminate the dollar system from the Ecuadorian economy but to strengthen it.
González: “Noboa, no. Don’t lie”
González began her intervention by affirming that Noboa lies and that he will lie during the entire debate. She repeated the slogan throughout the debate: “Noboa, no. Don’t lie”. She constantly accused Noboa of having benefited his economic group, mainly members of his family, through the State during his 15 months of administration. The Correista candidate said that the contract for the school breakfasts, which the State distributes in schools in low-income areas, were awarded to the Noboa family group. She also said that the president’s brother is involved in illicit enrichment in the sale of gasoline.
Her most serious accusation, due to the security crisis caused by the struggle between drug gangs in the country, was to accuse the company Noboa Trading of being involved in the export of drugs and that the Executive allegedly hindered the corresponding investigation. In this context, she affirmed that the President of the ADN party, María Moreno, who according to González runs several of the President’s companies, is currently being investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office for drug trafficking. Finally, in this line of argument, González invited Noboa to take an “anti-doping test” to rule out drug use, but Noboa did not respond.
Likewise, González accused Noboa of deliberately not collecting the debt that his family group owes to the Treasury (something like 90 million dollars). She asked the President directly if he would collect that debt, to which Noboa affirmed that he would not since it would be up to the Internal Revenue Service to do so. González took advantage of this as a blow in her favor.
Using Venezuela as a political weapon
The case of Venezuela was used by both candidates all night long, thanks to the great social prejudice that weighs on the Caribbean nation, to gain more votes. Noboa claimed that the historic leader of the RC, Rafael Correa, receives a salary from the government of Nicolás Maduro and that, by extension, the RC is a party that works for the Venezuelan Executive.
Noboa asked González if she would recognize Maduro’s government, to which the RC candidate said yes, although her explanation surprised some. González affirmed: “I need to recognize the government of Nicolás Maduro to be able to return the Venezuelans that you [Noboa] allowed to enter in an irregular and disorderly manner through Decree 370… I will do the same as the United States: I will return the Venezuelans who do not have a regular income, who take our jobs and provoke violence in my country.”
Government proposals
The most notable aspect of the debate were the accusations between the candidates, which appeared to be intentional. Personal attacks tend to generate the most impact in Ecuadorian debates. However, among the candidates’ diatribes, it was possible to get a glimpse of actual government proposals.
González proposed the strengthening of the State to face the economic, political, social, and security crises that the country is going through. In this sense, she proposed better management than that of the Noboa administration, which, she said, has failed miserably in all aspects of public policies. She proposed to:
- rehire the dismissed teachers
- respect the rights of workers
- improve public skills
- expand state-owned companies
She also said that during Noboa’s government, unemployment, educational desertion, and insecurity increased (although the last one decreased by more than 10 points during 2024, it increased in 2025, breaking records for murders). González said, “Noboa’s Security Plan is a failure”. In this sense, she offered a “hard fist” to confront crime without resorting to “mercenaries”, referring to the collaboration between Noboa’s government and the security company Blackwater. Regarding the solution to the economic crisis, she proposed strengthening dollarization, promoting foreign investment, and investing in the electric system to avoid the blackouts of more than 12 hours a day that plagued the country last year.
In this sense, Noboa’s economic proposals did not differ too much from those of González. Both promised not to increase the retirement age, although González accused Noboa’s government of publicly contemplating this possibility. Noboa also proposed strengthening dollarization and improving foreign investment and the capacity of the State in public management. He proposed to deliver thousands in loans to students, single mothers, and retirees.
Noboa also stated that it was necessary to convene a new Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution to replace the one that was drafted and approved during the presidential term of former President Rafael Correa. Noboa considers the current constitution of 2008 “outdated”. He also promised free entrance to the university, although this unfulfilled proposal was already made before taking office as president.
However, little or nothing was said by the candidates about how they would implement these proposals. Basically, they argued that each one is more capable than the other to carry out the measures required by the country, and for this reason, they requested that Ecuadorians place their trust in them in the next elections to be held on April 13.
