Paola Cabezas
Cabezas in March 2022
Governor of Esmeraldas Province
In office
10 October 2013 – 19 August 2016
Appointed byRafael Correa
Preceded byPablo Lemos
Succeeded byGabriel Rivera López
Member of the National Assembly
Assumed office
14 May 2021
Personal details
Born (1978-09-04) 4 September 1978
Esmeraldas, Ecuador
Political partyCitizen Revolution Movement (since 2018)
Other political
affiliations		Union for Hope
PAIS Alliance (until 2018)
Alma materUniversity of Guayaquil
Universidad del Salvador
OccupationRadio and television presenter, politician
Websitehttps://paolacabezascastillo.com/

Janeth Paola Cabezas Castillo (born 4 September 1978) is an Ecuadorian politician and former television presenter. She was the Governor of Esmeraldas Province from 2013 to 2016 and is a current member of Ecuador's National Assembly for the Citizen Revolution Movement (RC). Cabezas was elected leader of the largest political coalition in the 2021 National Assembly, the Union for Hope (UNES).

Early life and education

Cabezas was born in Esmeraldas on 4 September[1] 1978[2] and grew up in Quinindé.[3] She started her radio career when she was fifteen.[3] She graduated from the University of Guayaquil in 2008 and then studied Political Marketing at the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she graduated with a master's degree.[2]

Professional career

Cabezas worked as a radio presenter for a variety of radio stations of Esmeraldas, Quito and Guayaquil including Radio Disney of Guayaquil.[2] In 2007 she was seen on TV as the presenter of RTS's morning TV program. This ceased in 2009 when she was the first Afro-Ecuadorian news anchor for Ecuador TV.[2][3] In 2010, she entered public administration, where she was employed in several positions until 2013.[2]

Political career

In 2013, Cabezas was appointed as the Governor of the northern province of Esmeraldas by Ecuador's then President Rafael Correa.[4] She was succeeded as Governor in 2016 by the President's next appointee who was Gabriel Rivera López.[5]

The 2023 National Assembly. She is sitting at bottom right

After her resignation as Governor,[5] she put pressure on the President to ensure that she was appointed to the committee overseeing the recovery from the 2016 Ecuador earthquake.[6] Her region was one of the two most affected, and she became the only representative on the committee from Esmeraldas province in October 2016.[6] In the parliamentary elections of 2017, she was elected a substitute MP for Augusto Espinosa in the National Assembly.[2] In the parliamentary elections of 2021, she was elected as an MP through the political alliance Union for Hope (UNES).[2] In May 2021 and after Sofía Espín's resignation from this position, Cabezas was elected as the new leader of this significant political coalition in the National Assembly, the UNES.[7]

In 2022 Cabezas was the opposition leader in the National Assembly where she claimed that the President's introduction of special emergency measures to control dissent in the three provinces of Cotopaxi, Imbabura and Pichincha had "serious irregularities". The measures introduced in June included restricting access to the internet and the "lethal use of force". Debates were held to try and repeal the President's decree. The protests had started with indigenous people protesting about the economic climate but it soon attracted students and workers in support.[8]

The President of Ecuador Guillermo Lasso brought in the constitution clause number 148 known as Mutual death in May 2023 when he knew that he was about to be impeached. This required all of the National Assembly members to stand for re-election.[9] Herrara and 67 others stood for re-election and she was one of the 43 re-elected later that year. The others included Ana Herrera, Sofía Sánchez, Gissella Molina and Patricia Mendoza.[10]

Personal life

In April 2022, Andrés Castillo, candidate for mayor of Quito, published a tweet containing a doctored image of Cabezas.[11][12] Cabezas made an accusation that the tweet was offensive.[11] The offending tweet also contained a racist aspect.[13] The tweet was condemned by the political party RC, of which Cabezas is a member.[14] In Ecuador, it is an offence to discriminate based on gender;[11] fines can be imposed on politicians and they can be removed from office.[13]

Cabezas formerly straightened her afro-textured hair or wore a wig.[3] However, when her niece asked in 2018 if she could get rid of her "ugly", unstraightened hair and have hair like Cabezas's, Cabezas decided from then on to wear her hair unstraightened.[3]

Cabezas has six younger siblings.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Mateo Flores [@MateoFloresM] (4 September 2020). "El momento histórico nos ha puesto juntos en el camino para lograr la recuperación de la dignidad y de la Patria para el pueblo. Feliz cumpleaños @PaolaCabezasC, espero que hoy tengas un gran día. Jamás pierdas esa alegría inquebrantable de esperanza. ¡Vamos a volver! 🎉✊🏽" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "¿Quién es la asambleísta nacional Paola Cabezas?". 13 May 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Paola Cabezas: "A la vida hay que ponerle tumbao"". 21 December 2020. Archived from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "Nueva Gobernadora asumió funciones : Noticias Esmeraldas : La Hora Noticias de Ecuador, sus provincias y el mundo". 13 May 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Gabriel Rivera es el nuevo gobernador de Esmeraldas – El Comercio". 13 May 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Esmeraldeña dentro del Comité de Reconstrucción : Noticias Esmeraldas : La Hora Noticias de Ecuador, sus provincias y el mundo". 13 May 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  7. ↑ por (9 May 2021). "Paola Cabezas asume la coordinación del bloque de UNES". Mesa Servida... Lo que debes saber (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "Ecuador parliament to debate repeal of emergency on Monday - La Prensa Latina Media". Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  9. ↑ News, Latin America (17 May 2023). "What is cross-death, and what does it mean for Lasso in Ecuador?". The Rio Times. Retrieved 18 November 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ↑ "43 asambleístas que fueron destituidos lograron la reelección". Primicias (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 "La violencia política de género ya termina en sanciones en Ecuador". Primicias (in Mexican Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  12. ↑ Peralta, Patricio. "Rechazan la violencia política y el racismo de Andrés Castillo contra Paola Cabezas" [Rejected the political violence and racism of Andrés Castillo against Paola Cabezas]. Radio Pichincha (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  13. 1 2 Salazar Mendez, Yasmin (18 May 2022). "Las caras de la violencia contra las mujeres en política". Primicias (in Mexican Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  14. ↑ "Las actitudes racistas de Andrés Castillo contra Paola Cabezas son rechazadas por legisladores". RTU (in Spanish). 8 April 2022. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
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