Alvaro Noboa, Ecuador’s richest man and the owner and driving force behind its largest banana plantation has thrown an unexpected spanner into the country’s presidential race.
And the smart money says he’s got a good chance of making office when a runoff is held in November.
Polls had predicted that Rafael Correa, a radical leftist, would win the first round of Ecuador's presidential voting. Instead, it looks like the pro-business banana billionaire will be the frontrunner in the second round.
The surprise result came after Noboa wooed voters by handing out free wheelchairs and computers. Analyst Patrick Esteruelas, of the Eurasia Group, described him as: "Somebody who mixes a defence of the poor with a pro-business environment that will look to attract investment as the main buttress for domestic growth."
Noboa's first round victory goes against the conventional wisdom that Latin America's leaning left. "Latin America has not been veering toward the radical left, and if anything has been turning more moderate," said Estruelas.
It remains to be seen what impact the election will have on the powerful Ecuadorian banana lobby, and industry representatives in Europe are under instruction to make no comments on the future of the EU banana import system until the situation becomes clear and a future strategy is formulated.
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