Quito, Apr 21 (EFE).- Ecuadorians on Sunday expressed broad support during a nationwide referendum for President Daniel Noboa’s proposals to strengthen the fight against organized crime, but largely turned their backs on his economic reform plans.
Among the referendum’s 11 questions, the ‘Yes’ vote won with 62-73 percent support in nine questions with measures to strengthen the State against criminal gangs, while the ‘No’ vote prevailed in proposals for international arbitrations (65 percent) and legalizing hourly work contracts (69 percent).
The referendum also acted as a barometer on Noboa’s popularity after having assumed the presidency less than five months ago and with the 2025 general elections already on the horizon.
Noboa, who assumed power on Nov. 23, was elected to complete the 18 months that Guillermo Lasso had left after he decided to dissolve parliament to avoid an impeachment vote, triggering a snap election.
Now the 36-year-old, the youngest elected president in Ecuador’s history, is on a crusade against organized crime and at the beginning of the year declared an “internal armed conflict” against gangs, which he began to consider as terrorist groups and non-state belligerent actors.
However, with the referendum, his electoral promise of generating jobs for young people has hit a roadblock without the possibility of legalizing hourly contracts, as well as attracting foreign investments, after a decline in recent years.
THREE ISSUES OF IMMEDIATE EFFECT
There are three issues in which the ‘Yes’ vote will come into force as soon as the official results are announced in the gazette as they are amendments to the 2008 Constitution, approved during the presidential term of Rafael Correa.
The first, with the highest vote (73 percent), refers to the armed forces joining police in operations against organized crime.
With 65 percent in favor, extraditions of Ecuadorians requested by authorities of other countries will also be applied, and with 60 percent, a system of courts in constitutional matters will be established.
SIX REFORMS GO TO PARLIAMENT
The rest of the measures in which the ‘Yes’ vote won involve bills that must go through the National Assembly (parliament), such as entrusting the armed forces with controlling access to prisons, the center of the country’s security crisis.
The same path will follow the toughening of penalties for crimes related to organized crime, and the elimination of non-parole periods, among others.
In turn, the Assembly must address the creation of a crime of possession and carrying of weapons designated for the exclusive use of the police and armed forces, as well as a mechanism for these state forces to be equipped with weapons seized from criminals, and another to carry out expropriations of illicit goods.
“We have defended the country, now we have more tools to fight against crime and return peace to Ecuadorean families,” Noboa wrote on Instagram.
Correa, who campaigned for the ‘No’ side, considered the two unsupported economic votes a victory for the people and a “clear defeat” for Noboa.
“The Ecuadorian people have put a stop to an aspiring dictator,” Correa said.
With more than 13.6 million Ecuadorians summoned to the polls, the referendum had a 72 percent turnout rate and was marred by the murder of the director of the El Rodeo prison, in the city of Portoviejo, and the attempted riot in the Quevedo prison, which left at least four injured.
The week before the vote was also marked by the murders of two mayors of towns where there are illegal mining activities, and a severe energy crisis that has forced the government to enforce blackouts of up to eight hours a day to ration the supply of electricity. EFE
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