Ecuador: Who is Alvaro Noboa?

Ecuador: Who is Alvaro Noboa?



Five time presidential candidate and right-wing billionaire Alvaro Noboa | Photo: Reuters

Published 15 September 2015

The right-wing perennial presidential candidate is a billionaire who made his fortune in part by employing child labor and violently repressing workers.


In recent weeks, Ecuadorean business magnate and right-wing politician Alvaro Noboa has played a key role in organizing opposition demonstrations against the progressive policies enacted by Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa.

On Wednesday, anti-government protests will be held across the country, which have been called for by various members of Ecuador’s political opposition, including Noboa.

Noboa, who placed fifth in the 2013 presidential elections with just 3 percent of the vote, has also repeatedly called for President Correa’s resignation. The five-time Ecuadorean presidential candidate ran unsuccessfully during the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2009 and 2013 presidential elections as a member of the Ecuadorian Institutional Renewal Party of National Action (PRIAN). When Noboa ran against Correa in 2006, he said the current president was a “communist devil” who would turn the country into Cuba.

The Prian party relies heavily on financial, infrastructure and media assistance from the Noboa Group (Noboa’s multibillion dollar family-owned business) in order to participate in electoral campaign, according to scholar and author William T. Barndt.

More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Ecuador-Who-is-Alvaro-Noboa-20150915-0033.html