Daniel Noboa has been sworn in as Ecuador’s new president, promising to reduce violence and create jobs in the country gripped by a bloody drug war.
The 35-year-old heir to a banana business empire won a run-off vote in October on promises to restore security and boost employment in the South American country, which has faced economic challenges since the coronavirus pandemic, pushing thousands to migrate.
He was sworn in on Thursday at a ceremony attended by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, after former President Guillermo Lasso called snap elections to avoid possible impeachment. He will serve only 18 months, the remainder of Lasso’s term.
“To fight violence we must fight unemployment; the country needs jobs and to create them I will send urgent reforms to the assembly,” Noboa said during his maiden speech in front of National Assembly lawmakers in Quito.
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.
Post from www.aljazeera.com