Noboa takes office, pushing ‘youthful strength’ and the need for cooperation in his inaugural speech

In an inaugural speech lasting only eight minutes, President Daniel Noboa said he will lead a “new Ecuador” guided by new ideas. “We respect experience and maturity; however, youth is synonymous with strength, and this will dictate our path forward,” he said. “Ecuador has gone through very difficult times in recent years, with huge economic and security challenges, as well as a political assassination. It is now time to confront those challenges.”

President Daniel Noboa stands before the National Assembly, flanked by Assembly President Henry Kronfle and former president Guillermo Lasso.

Flanked by outgoing president Guillermo Lasso and National Assembly President Henry Kronfle, Noboa stood for photographs at the National Assembly after his speech, wearing the customary presidential sash.

Noboa, 35, the son of banana billionaire Álvaro Noboa who ran and lost five time for the presidency, faces deep economic challenges that have pushed thousands to migrate out of the country, and spiking violence that reached a crescendo with the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in August.

“To fight violence, we must fight unemployment. The country needs jobs and to create them I will send urgent reforms to the Assembly, which should be treated with responsibility and by putting the country first,” Noboa said during his speech in Quito.

Noboa will serve as president for only 17 months, finishing predecessor Guillermo Lasso’s term after Lasso invoked the so-called cross death to avoid possible impeachment. One of his top objectives, he said in his speech was to avoid the political gridlock that prevented major legislation from advancing in the outgoing National Assembly. “We must put behind us the enmities and selfish political alliances of the past and work for the benefit of all Ecuadorians.”

He added that he and the Assembly may be forced to “take risks and face unpopular positions for the improvement of the country.”

According to editorialist and radio commentator Natali Becerra, Noboa said the right things during his short speech. “That was the easy part; now he has to face the drug mafias, an economy that can’t pay its bills and failing health and education systems,” she said.

“Starting off with a clean slate is an advantage for,” Becerra said. “Within the National Assembly, there seems to be a new spirit of cooperation that we did not see during the Lasso years. The pro- and anti-Correista rhetoric has been toned down. It is good that the new president is avoiding incendiary comments and is pushing the message of working for to achieve common goals.”