Facing a packed room at the capital Quito’s Hilton Colón, where Ecuador’s electoral body (CNE) has set up a bustling command center, twenty special forces—balaclava-clad and armed to the teeth—flank a table of five empty seats where results will soon be certified. It’s past 8 p.m. on election night, amid a militarized, state-of-emergency presidential run-off, and polls closed three hours ago. To the surprise of regional observers, left-populist runner-up Luisa González just said she won’t assent to Daniel Noboa’s re-election, which by this point has become all but assured. With 80 percent of nearly 14 million votes counted, ubiquitous screens beam the incumbent’s lead in all but five of the country’s 24 provinces, surpassing the million-vote mark nationally and reaching an impressive 12-point lead.
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