Despite blackouts, Noboa remains the candidate to beat; Panama deports more Ecuadorian migrants; Ecuadorian liqueur wins international awards

Political consultant and former advisor to president Rafael Correa Carolina Jaramillo, says Daniel Noboa remains the man to beat in the February presidential election. “Despite the energy crisis and his questionable handling of gang and cartel violence, he remains in a strong position entering the campaign,” she said in an Ecuavisa interview Sunday.

Describing what she says is a “fractured political landscape,” Jaramillo says Noboa will almost certainly face Citizens Revolution’s Luisa González in a runoff election. “The elimination by the court of Jan Topic’s candidacy has set the table for a second round,” she says. “Because of the electric blackouts and the government’s poor communication about scheduling, the suggestion that Noboa would win in the first election is no longer possible, in my opinion.”

The flow of migrants through the Darien Gap has dropped 95% according to Panamanian authorities, since the adoption of new immigration policies.

Based on the average of three recent polls, Noboa holds a one-to-two-point lead over González, Jaramillo says, both polling in the low-30s. “González made a strong advance in the polls in early October as the blackouts began but her position has not changed since then. Although her numbers appear to be good, we know she must carry a large lead into the first election to have a realistic chance in the second. As we recall, she and Andrés Arauz led by 10% going into the first round of the last two elections and still lost runoffs to Lasso and Noboa.”

Jaramillo admits she is surprised at Noboa’s strength given the energy crisis, a weak economy and continuing high crime rates. “At this stage, it appears that much of the public is not holding him accountable for his failures, particularly in the area of communication regarding power suspensions,” she says. “This could change, of course, especially if his prediction of the end of the blackouts is wrong.”

She adds: “We are almost two months from the election and, as we learned last year, anything can happen with Ecuadorian politics.”

Panama returns more Ecuadorian migrants
Nearly 200 Ecuadorian migrants have been deported from Panama since August, according to the Foreign Ministry. Those deported through an agreement between Ecuador, the United States and Panama have returned to Quito aboard seven charter flights.

The Panamanian government reports that “irregular migration through the Darien Gap has decreased by 95%” since the country implemented a new policy of detaining foreign migrants. Most of those detained under the program are Venezuelans, Colombians, and Ecuadorians, according to Marlen Piñeiro of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Central American attaché’s office.

The Foreign Ministry anticipates that the number of Ecuadorian migrants being deported will increase in the coming months due to stricter immigration policies expected to be enforced by the incoming U.S. government.

Ecuadorian liqueur wins awards
The Ecuadorian Drakon liqueur, made from red dragon fruit, has quickly become a world-wide star, earning 13 international awards since it was introduced earlier this year.

Developed by Sebastián Vélez Reyes, a young Quito entrepreneur, Drakon has won awards in Australia, China, Singapore, the United States, South Africa, the United Kingdom, as well as in Ecuador.

Made from 100% natural ingredients, the liqueur is sold in a uniquely designed and patented bottle and is now a popular choice in bars and restaurants in several countries. It goes on sale later this month in Ecuadorian supermarkets and liquor stores.