Verónica Abad Rojas

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Abad and the second or maternal family name is Rojas.

Verónica Abad Rojas (born 14 November 1976) is an Ecuadorian business coach and politician who is the vice president of Ecuador following the second round of the 2023 general election. She was also an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Cuenca in 2023 and previously worked on international projects to support entrepreneurship for young people and women.

Verónica Abad Rojas
53rd Vice President of Ecuador
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 November 2023
President	Daniel Noboa
Preceded by	Alfredo Borrero
Personal details
Born	(1976-11-14) 14 November 1976 (age 47) Cuenca, Ecuador
Political party	National Democratic Action
Other political affiliations	AMIGO Movement
Children	3
Occupation	coach, politician

Early life

Veronica Abad was born in Cuenca.^[1] She belongs to a musician family, in which she spent her childhood practicing ballet, and playing musical instruments such as piano and violin.^[2]

She studied but doesn't finished Business Administration. Then she has taken some short courses as Entrepreneurship Coach in Santiago de Chile, Political Strategy at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Gummersbach, Germany, Innovation and Technology at the Friends of Zion Institute, Jerusalem.^[2]

Career

Abad began in politics when she participated at the 2006 Ecuadorian local elections.^[3] Later on, she became the founder of the Network of Women Directors and worked on international projects to support entrepreneurship, especially for young people and women.^[4]

Abad worked at the Secretary Against Child Malnutrition between 2020 and 2022.^[3]

In the 2023 Ecuadorian local elections, Abad was candidate for Mayor of Cuenca for the AMIGO Movement.^[5] In the general election later that year, Abad became the running mate of presidential candidate Daniel Noboa and they unexpectedly advanced to the run-off election.^[6] They were running under the National Democratic Action ticket.^[7]

Following her election as Vice President in 2023, Verónica Abad's first official role was a highly-charged one. President Daniel Noboa assigned her as a Special Envoy for Peace to Israel, tasked with facilitating dialogue and de-escalating tensions in the wake of the 2023 Gaza confrontations.^[8] Effectively distancing her from his administration. On December 4, she was formally appointed by President Noboa as Ecuador's peace envoy to Israel.^[9] She arrived at the diplomatic mission on December 10.^[10]

Political positions

Abad opposes abortion, LGBTQ+ rights^[which?] and 4th wave feminism.^[3] She claims to defend freedom of religion, individual rights, private property, small government and free market.^[11] She has also shown sympathy for far-right politicians and political parties like Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro and the Spanish party Vox.^[11]

Personal life

She is a mother of three and grandmother.^[5] Abad is a Christian.^[12]

References

1. "Verónica Abad, la empresaria que acompaña a Daniel Noboa en el camino a Carondelet". Teleamazonas (in Spanish). 22 August 2023. from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
2. "Verónica Abad la cuencana que propone rescatar la política junto con Daniel Noboa" (in Spanish). Plan V. 7 August 2023. from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
3. Vaca, Stefanía (29 August 2023). "¿Quién es Verónica Abad, candidata a la vicepresidencia?" (in Spanish). GK. from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
4. "Quién es Verónica Abad, la candidata a la Vicepresidencia junto a Daniel Noboa". Metro Ecuador (in Spanish). 21 August 2023. from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
5. "Verónica Abad, para la Alcaldía de Cuenca: "Seguridad, libertad y dignidad es lo que quiero para Cuenca"". Metro Ecuador (in Spanish). 22 January 2023. from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
6. NTN24. ""La antigua clase política no dio resultados": Verónica Abad, fórmula vicepresidencial de Daniel Noboa, en entrevista con NTN24 | NTN24.COM". NTN24 (in Spanish). from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
7. Este es el programa de Daniel Noboa para derrotar al correísmo en la segunda vuelta de la elección presidencial de Ecuador, el 15 de octubre - CNN Video, from the original on 6 September 2023, retrieved 6 September 2023
8. Cañizares, Ana María. "Daniel Noboa envía a su vicepresidenta a Israel de forma 'indefinida' un día después de la posesión presidencial en Ecuador". CNN. CNN En Español. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
9. "Verónica Abad deberá presentarse en la Embajada de Israel el 10 de diciembre Para hacer uso de este contenido cite la fuente y haga un enlace a la nota original en Primicias.ec: https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/politica/veronica-abad-embajada-israel-viaje-fecha-vicepresidenta/". Primicias. {{cite news}}: External link in |title= (help)
10. "https://www.teleamazonas.com/vicepresidenta-abad-embajada-ecuador-tel-aviv/". Teleamazonas. Retrieved 12 December 2023. {{cite news}}: External link in |title= (help)
11. "Verónica Abad, pro vida y a favor de VOX, es el binomio de Daniel Noboa" (in Spanish). La Republica. 23 August 2023. from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
12. "Verónica Abad, compañera de Daniel Noboa, se encargará de temas sobre migrantes, en caso de ganar las elecciones". El Universo (in Spanish). 2 September 2023. from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.