| Verónica Abad Rojas | |
| Office: | 53rd Vice President of Ecuador |
| Term Start: | 23 November 2023 Suspended since 9 November 2024 |
| President: | Daniel Noboa |
| Predecessor: | Alfredo Borrero |
| Successor: | Sariha Moya (acting) |
| Office1: | Ambassador of Ecuador to Israel |
| President1: | Daniel Noboa |
| Term Start1: | 4 December 2023 |
| Predecessor1: | María Concepción Barahona Páez |
| Birth Date: | 14 November 1976 |
| Birth Place: | Cuenca, Ecuador |
| Party: | National Democratic Action |
| Otherparty: | AMIGO Movement |
| Occupation: | Business coach |
| Children: | 3 |
Verónica Abad Rojas (born 14 November 1976) is an Ecuadorian business coach and politician who is the vice president of Ecuador since 2023, serving in the Daniel Noboa administration. Prior, 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.
Abad Rojas was elected to the vice presidency as the running mate for Daniel Noboa following the second round of the 2023 general election. Upon their inauguration in November 2023, both Noboa and Abad Rojas distanced themselves from each other with Abad Rojas launching personal attacks against Noboa. In June 2024, Abad Rojas survived an impeachment attempt by the Noboa government due to legal issues. In November 2024, she was suspended from vice-presidency for 150 days.[1]
Veronica Abad was born in Cuenca.[2] She belongs to a musician family, in which she spent her childhood practicing ballet, and playing musical instruments such as piano and violin.[3]
Abad studied Business Administration, but did not finish her degree. Then she took some short courses about Entrepreneurship in Santiago de Chile, Political Strategy at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Gummersbach, Germany, and Innovation and Technology at the Friends of Zion Institute, Jerusalem.[3]
Abad began in politics when she participated at the 2006 Ecuadorian local elections. 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.
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.
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 Israel–Hamas war,[7] effectively distancing her from his administration. On December 4, she was formally appointed by President Noboa as Ecuador's peace envoy to Israel.[8] She arrived at the diplomatic mission on December 10.[9] Both Noboa and Abad Rojas had distanced themselves from each other since the inauguration, with Abad Rojas launching personal attacks against Noboa while Noboa's administration has pushed back against several Abad Rojas's controversial comments.[10] In May 2024, Noboa registered to run for re-election in the upcoming 2025 general election, however declined to name Rojas Abad as his running mate.[11] In August 2024, Noboa named María José Pinto González Artigas as his running mate, going against Abad Rojas.[12]
In March 2024, the Ecuadorian Justice Ministry detained Abad Rojas's son as part of an ongoing investigation regarding influence peddling in the vice presidential office.[13] The Noboa administration attempted to impeach Abad Rojas as a result in June 2024, however the resolution failed with 47 votes in favor in the National Assembly, short of the 92 votes needed to impeach.[14]
On 9 November 2024, Abad Rojas was temporarily suspended as vice president by the Ecuadorian government after failing to leave Israel and travel to Turkey.[15] The Ecuadorian government had issued a mandate for Abad Rojas to leave Israel by 1 September.[15] In response, Abad Rojas called the Noboa government "authoritarian" and enacted legal action against her 150-day suspension.[16] Noboa named Secretary of National Planning Sariha Moya as acting vice president.[17]
Abad opposes abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and 4th wave feminism.[18] She says she defends freedom of religion, individual rights, private property, small government and free markets.[19] She has also shown sympathy for politicians including Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, and the far-right Spanish party Vox.[19]
Abad is a mother of three and grandmother. She is a Christian.[20]