On Monday, February 3, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa sprang a surprise by announcing that his country would apply a 27% tariff on imports from Mexico, a country with which Ecuador is currently experiencing a diplomatic crisis. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum saw no need to react officially to this decision. She merely pointed out that Ecuador accounts for little of her country's foreign trade. "0.4% of our imports, that's all there is to it," she replied to a journalist who asked her about the issue.

And economists are puzzled by the decision. Ecuador mainly imports medicine from Mexico. Observers noted that the president is campaigning. "Daniel Noboa apparently thinks that imitating Trump [who imposed 25% tariffs on Mexico on February 1, before suspending them two days later] strengthens his strongman image," explained researcher Franklin Ramirez Gallegos from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences.

At 37, Noboa will stand for re-election on Sunday, February 9. He has only been in power for 15 months, the last general elections having been called following the resignation of former president Guillermo Lasso and the dissolution of the National Assembly. The 2023 campaign was disrupted by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. The country's dramatic five-year security crisis that has plagued the country for five years is now compounded by a serious energy and economic crisis. "Nothing can be solved in a year," repeatedly claimed the young president. Despite his disputed record, Noboa is dreaming of a first-round victory.

You have 77.19% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.