The Americas | Crime and justice

A Harvard man turned narco-gang-buster

Daniel Noboa assures The Economist he can save Ecuador without hurting democracy

Portrait of Daniel Noboa
Illustration: Fede Yankelevich
|GUAYAQUIL|7 min read

The president loves jogging. Yet so determined are gangsters to kill Daniel Noboa that his runs require a military operation. As his motorcade of black SUVs and outriders sweeps back to his apartment after a morning run in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s biggest city, a swarm of heavily armed soldiers surrounds him. Mr Noboa and his wife, incongruous in colourful lycra, slip swiftly inside. “We’ve had death threats on a daily basis for two years,” he tells The Economist, matter-of-factly.

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This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Make it safe while respecting the law ”

From the June 14th 2025 edition

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