Lenín Moreno Garcés

His Excellency Lenín Moreno Garcés is an Ecuadorian politician, disabilities advocate, and author. He served as the 46th President of the Republic of Ecuador from May 2017 to May 2021. Prior to his election as President, he served as Vice President from 2007 to 2013, receiving international recognition for his support of policies that improved the lives of people with disabilities in Ecuador. For that work, he was nominated for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize and was appointed in 2013 as Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility by the United Nations Secretary General.

An avowed Democratic Socialist for most of his life, Moreno drastically shifted his political and policy outlook when he became President and faced the realities of governing, distancing himself from his predecessor’s Socialist legacy and making neoliberal changes to both domestic and foreign policy and implementing free market reforms.

Moreno is a prolific writer, commentator, and author of several books on the theory of humor. He has won numerous national and international awards for his advocacy work. He holds a degree in Public Administration from the Central University of Ecuador and various honorary degrees from universities around the world.