Janeth Paola Cabezas Castillo (born 4 September 1978) is an

Ecuadorian Ecuadorians ( es, ecuatorianos) are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collect ...

politician and former television presenter. She was the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Esmeraldas Province Esmeraldas () is a province in northwestern Ecuador. The capital is Esmeraldas. The province is home to the Afro-Ecuadorian culture. Demographics Ethnic groups as of the Ecuadorian census of 2010: *Mestizo 44.7% * Afro-Ecuadorian 43.9% *W ...

from 2013 to 2016 and is a current member of Ecuador's

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

for the

Citizen Revolution Movement The Citizen Revolution Movement ( es, Movimiento Revolución Ciudadana) is a Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Ecuador formed by supporters of former President Rafael Correa who distanced themselves from Correa's forme ...

(RC). Cabezas was elected leader of the largest political coalition in the 2021 National Assembly, the

Union for Hope Union for Hope ( es, Unión por la Esperanza) is a political coalition in Ecuador for the 2021 Ecuadorian general election. Political groups from the left-wing participated, with only the Democratic Center Movement being officially on the ballot ...

(UNES).

Early life and education

Cabezas was born in Esmeraldas on 4 September 1978 and grew up in Quinindé. She started her radio career when she was fifteen. She graduated from the

University of Guayaquil The University of Guayaquil (Spanish: ''Universidad de Guayaquil''), known colloquially as the ''Estatal'' (i.e., "the State niversity), is a public university in Guayaquil, Guayas Province, Ecuador. Estatal was founded in 1883. It is the old ...

in 2008 and then studied Political Marketing at the

Universidad del Salvador The Universidad del Salvador (USAL) is a Jesuit university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to its campus in downtown Buenos Aires, it has instructional and research facilities in Pilar, San Miguel, Bahía Blanca, and in the provinces of ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, where she graduated with a master's degree.

Professional career

Cabezas worked as a radio presenter for a variety of radio stations of Esmeraldas,

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

and Guayaquil including

Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within the Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programming ...

of Guayaquil. In 2007 she was seen on TV as the presenter of

RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...

's morning TV program. This ceased in 2009 when she was the first

Afro-Ecuadorian Afro-Ecuadorians or Afroecuatorianos (Spanish), are Ecuadorians of predominantly Sub-Saharan African descent. History and background Most Afro-Ecuadorians are the descendants of enslaved Africans who were transported by Spanish slavers to Ecuad ...

news anchor for

Ecuador TV Ecuador TV is the public service channel of Ecuador established in October 2007 thanks to a provision of non-reimbursable funds of $5 million of the Economic and Social Development Bank of Venezuela (BANDES by its Spanish acronym). The ch ...

. In 2010, she entered public administration, where she was employed in several positions until 2013.

Political career

In 2013, Cabezas was appointed as the Governor of the northern province of Esmeraldas by Ecuador's then President

Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963), known as Rafael Correa, is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as President of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation ...

. She was succeeded as Governor in 2016 by the President's next appointee who was Gabriel Rivera López. After her resignation as Governor, she put pressure on the President to ensure that she was appointed to the committee overseeing the recovery from the

2016 Ecuador earthquake The 2016 Ecuador earthquake occurred on April 16 at with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (''Severe''). The very large thrust earthquake was centered approximately from the towns of Muisne and Pedernales in ...

. Her region was one of the two most affected, and she became the only representative on the committee from Esmeraldas province in October 2016. In the parliamentary elections of 2017, she was elected a substitute MP for Augusto Espinosa in the National Assembly. In the parliamentary elections of 2021, she was elected as an MP through the political alliance

(UNES). In May 2021 and after

Sofía Espín Sofía Eugenia Espín Reyes is an Ecuadorian politician. After she was dismissed from the National Assembly she fled to Bolivia, where she applied for political asylum. Before this was resolved she was re-elected in May 2021. Espín was the presid ...

's resignation from this position, Cabezas was elected as the new leader of this significant political coalition in the National Assembly, the UNES. In 2022 Cabezas was the

opposition leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

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 Cotopaxi () is an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located in Latacunga city of Cotopaxi Province, about south of Quito, and northeast of the city of Latacunga, Ecuador. It is the second highest summit in Ecuador, reaching a h ...

, 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.

Personal life

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

afro-textured hair Afro-textured hair, or kinky hair, is a human hair texture originating from sub-Saharan Africa. Each strand of this hair type grows in a tiny, angle-like helix shape. The overall effect is such that, contrasted with straight, wavy, or curly hai ...

or wore a

wig A wig is a head or hair accessory made from human hair, animal hair, or synthetic fiber. The word wig is short for periwig, which makes its earliest known appearance in the English language in William Shakespeare's ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona' ...

. 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. Cabezas has six younger siblings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabezas, Paola 1978 births Living people People from Esmeraldas, Ecuador Members of the National Assembly (Ecuador) Women members of the National Assembly (Ecuador) Women governors of provinces of Ecuador Provincial Prefects of Ecuador 21st-century Ecuadorian politicians 21st-century Ecuadorian women politicians Ecuadorian women television presenters