Daniel Noboa Azin, the 36-year-old president of Ecuador, visited Peekskill on Saturday morning and brought news from his country for some of the 200 Peekskill residents of Ecuadorian descent who were at the Central Firehouse to welcome him.
The American-educated president was in New York to meet with investors, said Jose Sandoval, the Consul General of the Ecuadorian Consulate in New York. New York has the third largest population of Ecuadorians in the world, explained Sandoval who said the presidential visit was in conjunction with the regular mobile office hours the country’s consulate hosts in Peekskill. Usually the mobile consulate sets up in the community room above CTown but moved to the Central Firehouse when Noboa’s visit was announced. “The mobile consulate is a way to bring consular services such as passport applications, voter registration, closer to populations that are a little distant from the consular headquarters,” said Sandoval.
“There are about 2,000 residents of Peekskill who are eligible to vote in national Ecuadorian elections in February, ” said Sandoval. Noboa has been president since November of 2023 and is running for a four-year term in the February election.
In his brief remarks, Noboa spoke of the collective action of Ecuadorians in the United States and how that has always had a very positive end and will continue to be positive.
“What has changed now is that there is a government that is behind the well-being of each one of the Ecuadorians. All Ecuadorians have the right to have a government that takes care of them, a government that can help and satisfy the needs of each one. It is not easy for the family, it is not easy for young people, but we are moving forward positively. In the educational area we have already reached 100,000 scholarships for young people.
Of the 100,000 scholarships, 84,000 are for women ages 18 to 22 years old, many of them are single mothers with one or two children and this will provide them with educational opportunities.
Noboa spoke of the forgiveness of his country’s debts and how that is also going to give people a break to improve the family situation in agriculture. He spoke of the tough economic measures his government had to take but now “we have to give relief to the people. We have to use the resources of the State, all the resources of the State and all the capacities of the State to give that relief to Ecuadorians.”
Ecuador is one of the countries in the developing world that has negotiated forgiveness of debt with international banks in exchange for preservation of natural resources. In the case of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands will be protected. This program is known as climate debt forgiveness. Debt-for-nature swaps are a form of climate finance that reduces countries’ debts in return for environmental commitments.
Noboa, who speaks fluent English, studied Business Administration at New York University’s Stern School of Business and has three international master’s degrees: Business Administration at the Kellogg School of Management, Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School, and Governance and Political Communication at George Washington University.
Noboa arrived at the Central Firehouse a little before 10 A.M. in a black SUV along with an entourage of about 25 people including communication officers and a security detail. There had already been an order placed for breakfast and lunch from Peekskill’s first Ecuadorian restaurant, La Cabaña on Highland Avenue.
Mayor Vivian McKenzie along with Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins and City Manager Matt Alexander and Council members Ramon Fernandez and Brian Fassett were on hand to welcome the leader of Ecuador along with Police Chief Leo Dyelewski and Fire Chief Jim Seymour.
After walking into the entryway of the Central Firehouse that had been decorated with a colorful balloon arch with the country’s colors, he came up the stairs and walked around the room, greeting Ecuadorians who were getting documents from the various offices of the consulate.
Mayor McKenzie welcomed Noboa and gave him a proclamation from Peekskill. He exited after his remarks, en route to another visit in Queens, said the Consul General and then to meetings in Canada.
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Ecuadorians lined up to receive services from the consulate. (Photo by Chloe Trieff)
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Yassell Garcia of Sun River Health with a young member of the crowd. Dorothy Posada, assistant director of SUNY Westchester, Peekskill, looks on. She spoke of how members of the Ecuadorian community can have their higher education credits accepted by the SUNY system. Garcia said that morning at least 20 people received information about medical services provided by Sun River Health. (Photo by Chloe Trieff)
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Some 500 Ecuadorians will expected to receive services from the Consul before the day ended at 4 p.m. said Sandoval.
