Luisa González

Luisa Magdalena González Alcivar (born 22 November 1977) is an Ecuadorian politician and lawyer who ran for President of Ecuador in the 2023 general election.

She was elected to the National Assembly in the 2021 legislative elections representing the Province of Manabi.

Between 2002 and 2003, she worked at UniBanco, a bank in Quito.

González was a research assistant at the International University of Ecuador in 2005.

González served in various positions in the government of Rafael Correa from 2007 to 2017.

She served in various positions in the government of Rafael Correa from 2007 to 2017.

In 2007 before working for Correa, she was a member of the right-wing Social Christian Party.

In 2007, she was a candidate for the National Congress to represent the Pichincha Province for the right-wing Social Christian Party (PSC).

In 2008, she worked as an advisor to the Secretariat of Communication and Information of Ecuador, and that same year she became General Coordinator of Human Resources, Institutional Development and Training of the Superintendence of Companies.

In 2010, she assumed the role of General Coordinator of the Presidential Strategic Agenda.

Then in 2011, she was appointed as Vice Consul of Ecuador in Madrid.

In 2014, González was promoted to Vice Minister of Tourism Management in the Ministry of Tourism.

In 2015, she was appointed Undersecretary in charge of the Presidential Agenda and, later, Secretary General of the Presidential Office.

That same year, González also held the position of Consul General of Ecuador in Madrid.

In 2016, she assumed the role of Deputy Secretary General of Public Administration.

She worked as the Ecuadorian general counsel in Spain prior to entering politics and briefly was the Secretary of Public Administration under the Rafael Correa administration from January to May 2017.

She also served various positions in the Tourism Ministry in the Correa government.

In June 2023, González announced her candidacy for president in the 2023 election, one month after her tenure at the National Assembly ended when the incumbent president, Guillermo Lasso, invoked a measure from Ecuador's constitution known as muerte cruzada.

She advanced to the October run-off election after coming in first place in the first round of voting, losing to Daniel Noboa in the runoff election.

González was born in Quito, Pichincha Province.

She was raised in Chone Canton, Manabí Province.

She graduated from María Angélica Idrobo School before studying to become a lawyer at the International University of Ecuador.

She received her master's degree from the Institute of Higher National Studies in Ecuador.

González also received a master's degree in economics from Complutense University of Madrid in Spain.

In 2017, she held different positions, such as advisor in the company Correos del Ecuador, National Secretary of Public Administration, Minister of Labor in charge, Secretary General of the Quito Companies Intendancy in the Superintendence of Companies, and Consul General of Ecuador in Alicante.

In 2018, she became the national secretary for the Andean Parliament and in 2019, became the parliamentary advisor.

González was elected as member of the National Assembly in the 2021 legislative elections, representing the Manabí Province for the first district, for the Union for Hope alliance.

In February 2022, during a debate in the National Assembly on the decriminalization of abortion in cases of rape, she controversially took a pro-life stance and denied abortion as a right.

González also objected to the Menstrual Health and Hygiene bill that, among various things, proposed the free distribution of menstrual pads.

On 17 May 2023, when President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly through the decree muerte cruzada, González's tenure as an assemblywoman ended.

In 2019, a examination showed González used presidential aircraft to travel to various countries when she was a member of the government, without making a request to the President of the Republic.

The Comptroller's Office found her liable for a total of $880,473 for the irregular use of the presidential plane to travel to tax havens.

On 10 June 2023, González was designated as the presidential candidate for the Citizen Revolution Movement to participate in the 2023 general election, after former Vice President Jorge Glas declined the nomination.

2021 presidential candidate Andrés Arauz was nominated as her running mate.

Had González been elected president, she would have been the first female elected president in the country's history.

On 13 June, while González was about to register her presidential candidacy with the National Electoral Council with her supporters and president of the Citizen Revolution movement, Marcela Aguiñaga, they were attacked with pepper spray and tear gas by the National Police.

González was treated at a Quito medical center after flushing her eyes from the pepper spray.

The National Police claimed to have used chemical agents to protect security and public order because of the hostile behavior of González's supporters.

González was able to register her candidacy at the end of the day.

On 16 June, the National Electoral Council (CNE) denied González's candidacy because the party had not presented the corresponding documents.