Colombian President Petro Refuses to Recognize Ecuador’s Election Results

Military personnel place barbed wire at the National Electoral Council building, April 2025. @David_qva

April 16, 2025 Hour: 7:51 am

The Noboa administration must release the records from each polling station for verification, he said.

On Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated that he does not recognize the results of the Ecuadorian elections in which President Daniel Noboa was reelected for the 2025–2029 term.

“In seven provinces, a State of Exception was declared. The military directed the electoral process, oversaw the polling stations during the elections, and conducted the vote count. There are no free elections under a State of Exception. I cannot recognize the elections in Ecuador,” Petro said.

The Colombian president emphasized that the Noboa administration “must release the records from each polling station for verification.” He also noted that the Organization of American States (OAS) “has pointed out irregularities in Ecuador’s elections.”

In fact, on Tuesday, the OAS Electoral Observation Mission expressed concern over signs of public resources and state apparatus being used for alleged campaigning purposes during the election.

According to data from Ecuador’s National Electoral Council (CNE), Noboa secured reelection in the runoff with 55.6% of the vote, while Citizen Revolution candidate Luisa Gonzalez received 44.4%—results that she has refused to acknowledge, claiming they were fraudulent.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro insisted that Ecuador’s situation reflects a campaign of “psychological warfare” and “electoral scams” carried out by what he described as a fascist right-wing movement.https://t.co/jTgJo0Jxvy
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) April 15, 2025

In a message posted hours earlier, Petro questioned the election results, which have already been recognized by his own Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia. “Colombian observers were sent to monitor the elections in Ecuador. The reports I have received are troubling,” he said.

According to the Colombian president, “The elections were consistently under direct and armed military surveillance, with masked personnel. Every polling station had a strong presence of uniformed, armed military forces.”

“I believe the government must release the records from each polling station for verification,” Petro said, one day after Colombian Foreign Minister Sarabia also extended her congratulations to Noboa on X.

“We congratulate the new president of the Republic of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa. The brotherly people of Ecuador can always count on Colombia to work together for a free, sovereign, and peaceful Latin America,” said Sarabia yesterday, who is currently visiting Japan.

Colombia and Ecuador share a dynamic 586-kilometer border, and their relationship has historically been marked by good neighborliness—a policy Petro reiterated today by stating: “I want the best possible diplomatic relations with our neighbors from the former Great Colombia.”