Millions of people in Ecuador turned out to support a wide range of safety measures that President Daniel Noboa had suggested to combat the country’s rife with gang violence and crime on Sunday.
The vote took place during Ecuador’s continued state of emergency, implemented through an “internal armed conflict ” declaration, to have more than 20 of the land ’s deadliest groups. Ecuador’s out-of-control crime has led to the death of some politicians and political applicants.
Sunday ’s 11-question vote asked the Ecuadorian public to approve or reject nine security-related actions that Noboa’s state proposed, as well as two financial ones. The two financial ideas were rejected despite all nine safety measures receiving unanimous approval. All ideas were addressed on a question-by-question base.
According to initial findings that Ecuador’s National Electoral Council ( CNE ) published, at press time, the nine security proposals received approval votes ranging from 60. 13 to 72. 78 cent, with an average of 65 percent acceptance for each.
President Noboa celebrated the referendum’s effects.
“We have defended the state; now we have more tools to fight against violence and returning peace to Ecuadorian people, ” Noboa wrote in a social media declaration, accompanied by a photograph of himself, his family, and two of his children.
CNE spokesman Diana Atamaint described Sunday’s election process as largely “orderly and peaceful” and projected voter participation to have been about 72 %. The murder of Damián Parrales, the chairman of the El Rodeo captivity, occurred on Sunday while he was having breakfast with his wife and family, making a notable exceptions to that information. Parrales was shot dead five days after becoming El Rodeo’s innovative director.
The security proposals that have been approved include introducing amendments to the Spanish constitution that would enable the country’s military forces to assist the regional police in battling organized crime and that would permit the repatriation of Ecuadoris in accordance with international law and treaties. Additionally, the amendments would establish professional democratic courts.
The ideas also include firearm-related procedures that would enable the Armed Forces to carry out permanent control of arms, ammunition, and bombs on the roads and roads that lead to the nation’s prison. Without affecting the laws governing the weapons that civilians are permitted to own, the reforms would criminalize the possession of weapons that local laws deem exclusively military weapons.
Additionally, the proposals call to modify Ecuador’s penal code to allow Ecuador’s National Police and Armed Forces to immediately use firearms, ammunition, and explosives seized as instruments or the material object of a crime. Voters also greenlit increased penalties for certain crimes, such as terrorism, drug and human trafficking, organized crime, murder, and money laundering, among others.
Another proposed reform would make it possible for the Ecuadorian state to transfer ownership of assets of illicit or unjustified origin through local law changes that would make these processes simpler.
Soldiers patrol outside the government palace during a state of emergency in Quito, Ecuador, on January 9, 2024. ( AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa )
The two proposals in terms of economics that were rejected demanded that Ecuador recognize international arbitration as a method of resolving business, contractual, or investment disputes, as well as a revision of local labor laws to allow employees to be hired by the hour. With more than 65 percent of the votes, both economic proposals were rejected.
Noboa, shortly after taking office in November, began enacting a series of security measures known as the “Phoenix Plan” to curb Ecuador’s rampant crime, gang violence, and drug trafficking.
In response to a dramatic wave of gang violence that resulted in kidnappings, prison riots, and the storming of a local television station that led to a hostage crisis, the Ecuadorian president declared a formal internal armed conflict in January. The wave of gang violence was preceded by the “disappearance ” of José Adolfo Macías from his prison cell in Guayaquil. Macías, commonly known as “Fito, ” is Ecuador’s most-wanted criminal and the leader of Los Choneros, one of the most dangerous gangs in Ecuador.
Noboa was elected in October 2023 to bring the end to Guillermo Lasso’s previous presidential term, which was originally scheduled to end in May 2025. After repeated attempts at impeachment by the country’s socialist lawmakers, Lasso attempted to oust Congress and demand new elections using a constitutional provision known as “mutually assured death” in May 2023.
In February, Noboa expressed his intention to run for reelection in 2025.
The work is still being worked on, and I believe more time is required. For that, re-election is needed. I will serve the time that, one, the Constitution grants me, and two, that the people want to support, ” Noboa said at the time.
Christian K. Caruzo is a writer from Venezuela who writes about socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
