The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, arrived in Panama on Tuesday to participate in the inauguration of the second edition of the Latin America and the Caribbean International Economic Forum 2026, dubbed the 'Latin American Davos,' alongside seven other regional leaders. Noboa announced last January 21 that he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from Colombia starting February 1, due to the alleged 'lack of reciprocity and firm actions' in the fight against drug trafficking on the border. The Ecuadorian leader will participate on Wednesday in the forum's opening alongside his counterparts from Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Panama, José Raúl Mulino; Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz; Colombia, Gustavo Petro; Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo; the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness; and the elected president of Chile, José Antonio Kast. Colombia and Ecuador share a 586-kilometer land border where drug traffickers and guerrilla groups operate, and both countries have Pacific ports used by cartels to smuggle drugs to the United States and Europe. Noboa arrived at around 6:00 PM local time (11:00 GMT) at Panama Pacific Airport, where he was received by Panama's Chancellor, Javier Martínez-Acha, in an official ceremony without the presence of the private press. The coincidence of Petro and Noboa has generated expectations of a possible meeting between the two, in the context of the bilateral crisis between Colombia and Ecuador due to the anti-narcotics fight, which includes a tariff war, although so far there has been no official talk of this possibility. The Colombian government responded with a tariff of the same percentage on more than 50 Ecuadorian products and the suspension of electricity sales to its southern neighbor. The forum, which will run until Thursday, will address how to position the region on the global stage, reported the Latin American and Caribbean Development Bank CAF, the organizer of the event together with the Panamanian government. Lula will be the main speaker at the event, which will bring together more than 2,500 global political, economic, and academic leaders, including the 2024 and 2025 Nobel laureates in economics, James Robinson and Philippe Aghion, CAF said.
Ecuador's President Noboa Arrives in Panama for Forum
Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa arrived in Panama for the Latin America Economic Forum. The focus is on the bilateral crisis with Colombia over import tariffs and the fight against drug trafficking.
