Ecuador's Daniel Noboa Cracks Down on Crime, and We're All Better Off For It

Sarah Anderson-Opinion : Mar 17, 2026
PJ Media

This may be Ecuador's largest security operation in history. It's actually reminiscent of Bukele's initial widespread crackdown on gangs in El Salvador. With any luck, it will be just as successful. It's also part of the "new phase" of joint operations with the United States that both countries announced earlier this month. US special forces are providing intelligence and logistical support, while the Ecuadorian commando units conduct the actual raids. The result? A safer Western Hemisphere for all of us.

[PJMedia.com] In my "The New Monroe Doctrine" column on Friday, I mentioned that Ecuador's president, Daniel Noboa, is quickly becoming one of my new favorite world leaders. Even though it's only been a few days since I wrote that, he's grown on me even more. Javier Milei and Nayib Bukele may have some competition soon. (Screengrab image: via 11 La Razon Co)

Noboa was actually born in the United States in Miami. While he grew up in Ecuador, he was also educated in the US He earned his bachelor's degree in business from New York University, briefly studied at Harvard, and earned two master's degrees from Northwestern and George Washington University. On paper, some of this would normally be a turnoff for me, but the guy obviously learned something while he was there.

He has a business background, but he also comes from a wealthy family. His grandfather started a global banana business, and Noboa is the heir.

Noboa began his political career in Ecuador's National Assembly in 2021. In the midst of a political crisis in 2023, he ran for president in snap elections and won in a runoff. In 2025, he ran for president again, and he was elected for his first full term. Have I mentioned that he only just turned 39 in November?

You may hear more about Noboa in the months to come in the media. You'll probably see some left-wing dog whistle words and phrases like "authoritarian" and "human rights violations" in the MSM headlines, too. That's because Noboa is tough on crime—it's why he was elected. He's even been called Ecuador's Bukele.

He's also very pro-Donald Trump and pro-United States. And he's not afraid to deploy the country's military to eradicate the organized crime that has turned Ecuador from one of the safest countries in the Western Hemisphere to one of the most dangerous because he knows drastic times call for drastic measures—all things leftists don't like.

The truth is that Noboa inherited a mess, and it only got worse. Ecuador's murder rate jumped 31.2% between 2024 and 2025, when it reached a record high of 50.9 per 100,000 people. You don't solve that problem with a light-handed approach to crime.

Initially, he declared a state of internal armed conflict in January 2024. It was the first time in the country's history it'd been done. He also labeled 22 criminal cartels and gangs as terrorist organizations. Then he declared a continual state of emergency in areas overrun with crime. He has also mentioned that many of these cartels and gangs have been trained by Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) agents... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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