President of Ecuador. Born in Miami, the son of a billionaire banana magnate who ran unsuccessfully for president of Ecuador five times. He graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Mr Noboa was first elected president in October 2023 after the government of Guillermo Lasso, a conservative president, fell apart and prompted a snap election. His only prior political experience was a short stint in the National Assembly. At just 35, he was the youngest president ever elected in Latin America. He was re-elected in April 2025.
Mr Noboa has governed through a series of states of exception, using expanded powers to send the army onto the streets and into prisons. After gangs rioted in prisons and attacked journalists live on television in January 2024, he declared a state of "internal armed conflict". He designated 22 gangs as "terrorist organisations" and is building mega-prisons.
After re-election he stepped up the crackdown. He is taking advice from Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, the controversial mercenary group. He wants to bring in foreign troops, mentioning Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and is eager to change the constitution to permit a reopened American military base.
A new law allows rapid raids and asset seizures, increases sentences for organised-crime offences, gives the president greater discretion to declare an internal armed conflict, and reduces the powers of the Constitutional Court.
Homicides fell by about 15% from 2023 to 2024 but surged in early 2025, especially on the coast. The first months of 2025 were among the bloodiest on record.
His social-media posts alternate between pictures posed with seized loot and clips of him working out with his influencer wife. Often compared to Nayib Bukele, he rejects the comparison, saying he is focused on public health and education. He instead compares himself to the presidents of France and Brazil. He emphasises the need to invest in education and create jobs for young men vulnerable to gang recruitment.
Ecuador and Mexico communicate only through Swiss intermediaries after Mr Noboa ordered a raid on the Mexican embassy in 2024 to arrest Jorge Glas, a leftist former vice-president sheltering there after a corruption conviction. He also struggles to work with Gustavo Petro of Colombia, who is pursuing "total peace" with armed groups.
He has cleaved to Donald Trump for security help, though Trump's America-first agenda makes substantial military aid unlikely. Asked about security help from China, he has not ruled it out.
On January 21st 2026 Mr Noboa announced a 30% "security tariff" on Colombian imports, sparking a trade war. He is pressing Petro to take "firm action" on crime and counter-narcotics.
Mr Noboa's allies dominate the National Assembly and the leftist opposition is in disarray. He vows not to stay "one second more than what the constitution allows" and says he will never ignore the importance of parliament or the judiciary.
"I prefer to think that God is not dead, just drunk"