Lenín Moreno: 46th President of Ecuador

Moreno was the 46th President of Ecuador from 2017 until 2021. He was the Vice President of Ecuador from 2007 to 2013, serving under President Rafael Correa. His election as Vice President was well known because as a paraplegic, Moreno was one of the world’s few disabled national leaders.

Lenín Moreno
46th President of Ecuador
In office 24 May 2017 – 24 May 2021
Vice President	Jorge Glas María Vicuña Otto Sonnenholzner María Alejandra Muñoz
Preceded by	Rafael Correa
Succeeded by	Guillermo Lasso
United Nations Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility
In office 19 December 2013 – 30 September 2016
Secretary General	Ban Ki-moon
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes
Vice President of Ecuador
In office 15 January 2007 – 24 May 2013
President	Rafael Correa
Preceded by	Alejandro Serrano
Succeeded by	Jorge Glas
President of the PAIS Alliance
In office 1 May 2017 – 1 March 2021
Preceded by	Rafael Correa
Succeeded by	Vacant
Personal details
Born	Lenín Boltaire Moreno Garcés (1953-03-19) 19 March 1953 (age 71) Nuevo Rocafuerte, Ecuador
Political party	PAIS Alliance (2006-2021)
Spouse(s)	Rocío González
Children	3
Alma mater	Central University of Ecuador
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On 2 April 2017, Moreno was elected President of Ecuador defeating banker Guillermo Lasso in the 2017 Ecuadorian presidential round-off with 51% of the vote to Lasso's 49%.

On 24 May 2017, Moreno became the world’s only current head of state in a wheelchair.

Moreno was born in Nuevo Rocafuerte, Orellana Province. He studied at Central University of Ecuador. He married Rocio Gonzalez and together they have three children.

On January 3, 1998, two young men approached Moreno in a grocery store parking lot in Quito and told him they wanted his car and his money. He freely gave them his wallet and keys, but one of the men shot him in the back anyway. This incident left Moreno paralyzed.

During his first year in the office of Vice President of Ecuador, Moreno investigated the state of disabled people in Ecuador. He also founded the Manuela Espejo Solidarity Mission for the Disabled, which offers rehab, technical help, and psychological support to thousands of disabled Ecuadorians.

Moreno left the Vice Presidency on May 24, 2013 and was succeeded by Jorge Glas. He is the first Ecuadorian vice president to complete his term since 1992.

For his work providing respect and dignity to handicapped people, he was nominated for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. Moreno was appointed as Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in December 2013.

2017 Presidential campaign

In October 1st, 2016, he was nominated to the elections to the Ecuadorian presidency by his party, Alianza País. In February 2017, Moreno and Guillermo Lasso made it to the run-off election which was held on April 2, 2017. Moreno won the election with 51% of the vote to Lasso's 49%. Moreno was then sworn-in as President of Ecuador on 24 May 2017 in Quito.

Presidency

Though Moreno is a member of the PAIS Alliance, the same party as Rafael Correa, Moreno has taken Ecuador in a different direction than Correa did. Moreno is a more moderate, centrist figure and has restored presidential term limits, improved Ecuador's ties with the United States, and he has distanced himself from Nicolas Maduro's government in Venezuela.

He did not run for re-election in the 2021 election and was replaced by conservative banker Guillermo Lasso who won the election.