Will Daniel Noboa have enough time to keep his promises? 2:51
(CNN Español) –– During the election campaign for early elections in Ecuador, businessman Daniel Noboa, 35, offered freshness and youth in his government if he won the race. After his victory on October 15, the president-elect has gradually announced some of the profiles that will make up his cabinet. Among them, there are young figures who will have in their hands the complex task of governing and making decisions.
In a country burdened by the security crisis and economic problems, Noboa is betting on young professionals for different state portfolios, even the most conflictive and crucial for the moment it is going through.
There is a lot of expectation in the country for how some of the new ministers with their short experience will face the problems, political pressures and criticism from different sectors that will make a public scrutiny of the officials.
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In other areas such as the Secretariat of Communication and other ministries, Noboa has chosen to appoint professionals with more experience.
Ministry of Energy and Mines: Confronting the Electricity Crisis
In the midst of the electricity crisis that the country has been experiencing since October 27 and that includes daily power cuts, Noboa announced that Andrea Arrobo will be the Minister of Energy and Mines. Arrobo, 33, has a degree in International Relations and is a former official of the ministry she will now lead. He is a specialist in energy and positioning hydrogen as a mechanism for an energy transition.
Ministry of Economy and Finance: urgent economic reactivation
Confronting Ecuador's economic erosion and the numbers in the red in the fiscal box has been entrusted to Sariha Moya, 35, who would be the new Minister of Economy and Finance.
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Moya is an economist and has postgraduate studies in Economics and Management. She was a planning officer at the National Planning Secretariat, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Government.
"I trust in your commitment to the country and Ecuadorians to carry out an effective management of our resources, which improves the quality of life of everyone in Ecuador," Noboa said after his appointment.
Ministry of Education: access and resources
Education, one of the sensitive issues of social policy, will be led by Daniel Calderón, 32. He has worked as a teacher and has held public positions in the Ministry of Education and the Secretariat of Higher Education.
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Calderón has been academically linked to the Casa Grande and Espíritu Santo universities in Guayaquil. It will have to deal with the lack of access, infrastructure, resources and training in public teachers.
Ministry of Production and Foreign Trade: opening the country to new markets
Foreign trade lawyer Sonsoles Garcia, 33, will lead the country's trade policy. He is a specialist in customs and public-private partnerships, according to his resume.
She has had experience as a university professor in the areas of law and international trade and was director of the Federation of Exporters of Ecuador.
Garcia will have to consolidate pending trade deals with the United States, Ecuador's main trading partner, and open the country to new markets.
Environment and Tourism: youth with an environmental perspective
Sade Fritschi Naranjo will be the youngest minister in Daniel Noboa's cabinet. At 26 years old, he will be in charge of directing the country's environmental and ecological sustainability policy.
"Thanks to his knowledge of sustainability programs and environmental management projects, his experience will help us protect the balance of local ecosystems and our natural resources," Noboa said.
Fritschi is originally from the Galapagos Islands and, according to the resume released by Noboa's transition team, helped establish the first recycling system for Isabela Island. She has a bachelor's degree in tourism management with a master's degree in project management. She has worked on the creation of eco-friendly brands.
While Niels Olsen, 35, will continue as Minister of Tourism, a position he has held since Guillermo Lasso's government began in 2021.
Transport and Public Works: transparency to build
Civil engineer Roberto Luque, 36, will be tasked with overseeing the management of public works in Ecuador amid a history of projects that have been marked by corruption and structural damage for several years.
Luque has been a consultant and advisor to the Municipality of Guayaquil in matters of transport and seismic regulations. It will be responsible for reviewing the situation of Ecuador's road system. Luque is a specialist in geoseismic and geotechnics.
Agriculture and Sport: landing on the experience
Franklin Palacios, 52, will be the minister of agriculture and livestock. He has been linked for several years to the banana sector from which Daniel Noboa comes. "He has experience in the areas of agricultural, commercial and industrial production," his curriculum vitae details.
He was president of the Banana Marketing and Export Association.
Andres Guschmer, 45, will be the sports minister. "He is a renowned sports journalist, producer, commentator and interviewer," the statement from Noboa's team said.
Guschmer has a degree in Social Communication and in the public sector he held the position of councilor of the Municipality of Guayaquil, where he chaired the Sports and Environment Commission. He was a candidate for the prefecture of Guayas in February 2023, but failed to get the votes needed to win.
Ministry of International Relations: foreign policy with a nose for business
Daniel Noboa will entrust 52-year-old hotel and tourism businesswoman Gabriela Sommerfeld with the direction of Ecuador's foreign policy for the next year and a half of government.
Sommerfeld has studies in finance and business administration, was the first woman to lead an airline in Ecuador and is part of different corporate groups. He is a member of the Charles Darwin Foundation focused on the conservation of the Galapagos Islands.
President Daniel Noboa has entrusted Sommerfeld with working on the Schengen visa waiver for Ecuadorians, which is a pending task left by the last three governments that have failed in their attempts.
Communications Secretariat: a strategist and academic will lead the relationship with the press
Roberto Izurieta's name is no stranger to political consulting and communication in Ecuador and has been considered as a future Secretary of Communication to direct the communication policy and Daniel Noboa's relationship with the media.
Izurieta is a professor at George Washington University and has worked on political campaigns in several Latin American countries and Spain. He has been an advisor to several presidents. Izurieta was a CNN contributor and until recently served as Ecuador's ambassador to Chile, during the government of Guillermo Lasso.
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Crucial appointments for the country's security, such as the new interior and defense ministers, have yet to be confirmed. As well as the Ministers of Government, Health, Labor and Culture, among others. In addition, it will need to appoint directors and secretaries of key institutions.
The analysis: "It requires not only knowledge but maturity"
Regarding the youth of some of the new ministers, Fidel Jaramillo, former general manager of the Central Bank of Ecuador, university professor and senior IDB official until 2020, told CNN that while it is positive to include young people in the cabinet, there must also be maturity in their future decisions.
"That's positive for the country. I think it's important for young people to start making a political career because otherwise it would be in the hands of the 'wise old men' who know the ins and outs of public affairs for personal gain or for obscure interests. So I think it's very important that a new generation takes on these kinds of challenges and responsibilities. However, the challenges are gigantic and require not only experience, knowledge but also maturity to face all kinds of negotiations with multilateral organizations, markets and political actors in the country. I think that the decisions that await us in the country are difficult, the situation is extremely complicated," Jaramillo said.
Daniel NoboaEcuador Elections