Majority Also Say that Noboa Has Used the Presidency to Advance Family Business Interests

Washington, DC — Sixty-one percent of Ecuadorians say their economic situation and personal security have not improved since President Daniel Noboa took office, a new YouGov poll commissioned by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows. Less than a quarter of respondents replied “yes” to either question — 19 percent and 23 percent, respectively, in the poll conducted March 28 to April 7, 2025. A majority also said that they believe the Ecuadorian economy overall has not improved under the Noboa administration.

“On the most important issues in this election — security and the economy — those polled overwhelmingly responded that they believe Noboa has failed to help them in a time of crisis,” CEPR Co-Director Mark Weisbrot said. “This could easily be a game changer in a very close election.”

A majority — 58 percent — responded that they believe that Noboa has used the office of the presidency to advance his family’s business interests. A recent investigative report by CEPR shows that Noboa’s family holds a significant share in a major Canadian mining company that would benefit from a planned trade agreement with Canada — especially if controversial investor-state dispute settlement provisions are included, as Noboa has repeatedly sought, despite their unconstitutionality and defeat in a popular referendum last year.

Most Ecuadorians polled said Noboa has not done enough for communities affected by a massive oil spill March 13 in the province of Esmeraldas. Half a million people lost access to potable water as a result. Noboa has been criticized for not traveling to the area, especially after he traveled to Florida to attempt to meet with Donald Trump at the end of March.

A plurality said they do not believe that Noboa has disposed of offshore assets in tax havens. A 2023 investigation by Brazil’s leading newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo revealed that Noboa at least partially controlled two shell companies based in Panama. A new investigation, reported widely in South American media, shows that Noboa also is part owner of another offshore company based in Panama, Lanfranco Holdings, which is majority shareholder of Noboa Trading — the Noboa family company at the center of a recent scandal after bricks of cocaine have been uncovered in banana shipments multiple times in recent years.

Respondents also largely opposed Noboa’s plans to privatize the Sacha oil field development, and said they believe that Noboa’s efforts to remove Veronica Abad from her elected position as vice president is politically motivated. Fifty-four percent of those polled said they believe that Noboa has broken the law by not taking a leave of absence to campaign in the election’s first round. The same percentage also opposed the Noboa government’s raid on the Mexican embassy a year ago in order to apprehend former vice president Jorge Glas, to whom Mexico had granted asylum.

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