Ecuadorian President Nobo Appoints Interim Vice President Amid Controversy | Politics News
Noboa has been at loggerheads with Vice President Veronica Abad over the issue of insubordination as fresh general elections approach.
Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa he appointed an interim vice president amid an ongoing spat with the current incumbent.
Cabinet Minister Jose de la Gasca announced the decision Thursday, after Noboa’s administration accused Vice President Veronica Abad of an alleged disciplinary violation.
In her place, Noboa appointed Planning Minister Sariha Moya as interim vice president.
De la Gasca said Abad’s actions constituted “force majeure” — an extraordinary circumstance that required extraordinary action.
Abad served not only as vice president, but also as Ecuador’s ambassador to Israel. But according to de la Gasca, she refused an order to move to Turkey because of security concerns amid Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.
Ecuador’s Ministry of Labor finally suspended her from her position in November.
“To date, she has not appeared to perform her duties in Turkey,” de la Gasca said at a press conference on Thursday.
A court overturned Abad’s suspension in December, but Noboa still chose Moya to serve as interim vice president until Jan. 22, or until Abad arrives in Turkey.
Abad denied any wrongdoing. She and Noboa had been in a stormy relationship for months.
The dispute is just one of the challenges facing Noboa, who faces re-election in February.
Noboa, the youngest president in Ecuador’s modern history, was elected to office in October 2023 under unprecedented circumstances.
Faced with impeachment debates, Noboa’s predecessor, Guillermo Lasso, invoked a never-before-used constitutional power: “muerte cruzada,” or “crucified death.”
He allowed Lasso to dissolve the National Assembly in exchange for an early end to his mandate. A snap election was held to determine who would serve the remaining 18 months of Lasso’s term.
Since taking office for a shortened term, Noboa — heir to a banana industry fortune — has faced protests, including over blackout series which disrupted the lives of millions of inhabitants.
A prolonged drought has disrupted the hydropower system the country relies on, and Noboa’s government has ordered blackouts for much of the last quarter of 2024.
Ecuador’s economy is also struggling to recover from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. And then there is the issue of crime.
Once considered the “island of peace” in South America, Ecuador has experienced a boom violent crime while gangs of drug smugglers are moving into its territory, seeking to take advantage of routes to the Pacific Ocean from the cocaine-producing regions of neighboring Peru and Colombia.
In response, Noboa took a tough approach to crime, including expanding the powers of the police and military and increasing the severity of criminal penalties.
But these tactics have come under scrutiny in recent months, with critics denouncing military overreach and abuse of power.
Earlier this week, authorities announced that four bodies had been burned the missing boys they were found near the military base in the town of Taura.
Surveillance footage appears to show they were taken by members of the military, and protesters have questioned the delay in launching an investigation.
The incident sparked outrage and protests.
