Luisa González Candidate for Manabi

Understanding Luisa González: Why Is She in the News?

Luisa González is back in the headlines because she is attempting an unusual political comeback: after twice running for president as the candidate of Rafael Correa’s movement, she now wants to become prefect of Manabí. However, an electoral report recommends rejecting her candidacy because she does not meet the internal membership rules of the party sponsoring her.

Who is Luisa González?

González is one of the best-known figures in Ecuador’s correísta political movement—the political current associated with former president Rafael Correa.

She previously:

• Served as an assembly member representing Manabí.
• Ran for president in the extraordinary 2023 election, losing to Daniel Noboa.
• Ran against Noboa again in 2025, receiving approximately 44.4% of the second-round vote.
• Became a leading figure in the Revolución Ciudadana, or Citizen Revolution, movement.

Although she is nationally prominent, González has strong political connections to Manabí, which helps explain her decision to seek the provincial prefecture.

What position is she seeking?

González wants to become prefect of Manabí in the sectional elections scheduled for November 29, 2026.

A prefect is the elected head of a provincial government. The position is somewhat comparable to a provincial governor, although an Ecuadorian prefect’s responsibilities focus primarily on:

• Rural roads and bridges
• Irrigation and drainage
• Environmental management
• Agricultural and rural development
• Coordination among the province’s cantons

It is therefore a powerful regional position, particularly in a large province such as Manabí.

Why isn’t she running under Revolución Ciudadana?

This is where the situation becomes complicated.

González originally belonged to Revolución Ciudadana, but that movement was suspended and could not register its candidates normally. She then planned to run with the support of the Amigo movement, List 16.

Amigo was also temporarily suspended by the Electoral Disputes Tribunal amid an investigation involving alleged money laundering. That left González without an organization legally able to place her on the ballot.

Shortly before the registration deadline, Pachakutik, List 18, agreed to sponsor her candidacy. Pachakutik withdrew its original candidates for prefect and vice-prefect and substituted González and Gabriel Giler.

That was politically surprising. Pachakutik is the electoral movement historically connected to Ecuador’s Indigenous movement, while González is closely identified with Correa. The relationship between correísmo and major Indigenous leaders has often been confrontational, although Pachakutik supported González during the second round of the 2025 presidential election.

Why does the CNE report recommend rejecting her?

Pachakutik’s own internal rules reportedly require a candidate to:

• Belong to the movement; and
• Have been an active member for at least two years before candidates are selected.

The Manabí electoral delegation checked the CNE’s political-membership records and found that neither González nor Giler appeared as Pachakutik members or adherents during that period.

The report therefore concluded that they did not satisfy Pachakutik’s own eligibility rules. It cited articles 52, 57 and 92 of the movement’s internal regulations.

Two of the four objections filed against the ticket were recommended for acceptance, including one from the governing ADN movement and another from the ABC alliance.

What is González’s argument?

González says the two-year rule should not apply because she and Giler were replacement candidates. Pachakutik’s original candidates had withdrawn, allowing the movement to substitute new names.

The technical report rejected that argument. It cited national rules stating that replacement candidates must still comply with the sponsoring organization’s internal regulations.

In other words, the dispute is not simply over whether Pachakutik supports González. It concerns whether Pachakutik can legally nominate someone who does not satisfy the membership requirements written into its own rules.

Has she already been removed from the election?

No.

This distinction is important: the document released on August 21 is a technical-legal recommendation, not the final decision.

The Manabí Provincial Electoral Board must decide whether to accept or reject the recommendation. The report proposes giving Pachakutik 48 hours to correct the problems. If it cannot do so—or if replacement candidates also fail to meet the requirements—the entire ticket could be rejected.

The decision could subsequently be challenged before the national CNE and potentially the Electoral Disputes Tribunal. The official list of candidates is expected to become final by November 9.

Why does this story matter?

The immediate question is whether one of Ecuador’s most prominent opposition politicians will appear on the Manabí ballot.

But the controversy also reveals something broader: the suspension of Revolución Ciudadana forced correísta candidates to seek what Ecuadorian reporting sometimes calls “borrowed parties.” These last-minute arrangements may provide access to the ballot, but candidates must still comply with the statutes and internal-democracy rules of the organizations sponsoring them.

For Pachakutik, the case has also revived internal disagreement over whether an Indigenous political movement should provide an electoral platform to a leading correísta. For González, losing the candidacy would interrupt her attempt to move from two unsuccessful presidential campaigns into a powerful regional office.

The simplest summary is:

Luisa González is in the news because she wants to run for prefect of Manabí under Pachakutik, but an electoral report says she has not belonged to Pachakutik for the two years required by the movement’s own rules. The recommendation could block her candidacy, but no final decision has been made.

Sources: Ecuavisa’s detailed explanation of the CNE report, El Diario’s Manabí coverage, and Primicias on how Pachakutik came to sponsor her.