The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, presented this Wednesday the eleven questions that make up the referendum with which it aims to ask citizens if they agree with a series of measures to try to bring security to a country hit by the scourge of drug violence.
Noboa, who took over the reins of the nation at the end of November 2023, faces the enormous challenge of trying to bring order in just 18 months in office at a time when homicide numbers have reached a record in the neighboring country.
Between 2018 and 2022, murders quadrupled in the country. 2023 was the most violent year with about 7,500 homicides and a rate of more than 40 murders per 100,000 inhabitants.
The eleven questions of the popular consultation were sent the day before to the Constitutional Court, which must approve them.
What topics does the popular consultation address?
The majority of the consultation revolves around the fight against organized crime and criminal gangs, which dispute drug trafficking routes with blood and fire.
The president, who will lead the country until 2025, proposes that the armed forces fight organized crime and carry out permanent controls of weapons and explosives on the roads.
The majority of the consultation revolves around the fight against organized crime and criminal gangs, which fight with blood and fire for drug trafficking routes.
In addition, it proposes increasing punishments for crimes such as terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime, murder, kidnapping, among others, and eliminating prison benefits for those convicted of these crimes.
It also seeks that the confiscated weapons be used by the police and that those in uniform not be arrested while they are tried for actions carried out in the exercise of their duties.
Regarding the justice system, Noboa intends to evaluate the servants of the judicial function.
Finally, the president proposes to reform the procedures for inadmissibility, deportation and expulsion of foreigners, and once again allow the operation of casinos with a view to generating sources of employment, although this measure is criticized for possible risks of facilitating money laundering.
Police guard the streets in Ecuador before the presidential debate in Quito.
What are the eleven questions?
1. Do you agree that the Armed Forces initiate actions to prevent and eradicate the activity of transnational criminal organizations that operate inside and outside the national territory, according to the Annex to question 1?
2. Do you agree that the Armed Forces carry out control of weapons, ammunition, explosives and accessories, permanently, on the routes, paths, roads and corridors authorized for entry to social rehabilitation centers?
3. Do you agree that members of the Armed Forces, the National Police and the Penitentiary Security and Surveillance Corps should not be deprived of their liberty, or be ordered under house arrest, while the investigation or criminal process for their actions lasts? executed with the use of force, reforming the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code in accordance with the Annex to question 3?
4. Do you agree with increasing the penalties for the crimes of: terrorism and its financing, illicit production and trafficking of scheduled substances subject to control, organized crime, murder, contract killing, human trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, arms trafficking, money laundering and illicit activity of mining resources, reforming the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code in accordance with the Annex to question 4?
2023 was the most violent year with about 7,500 homicides and a rate of more than 40 murders per 100,000 inhabitants.
5. Do you agree that people deprived of liberty serve their entire sentence within the social rehabilitation center for the crimes detailed in the Annex to question 5, reforming the Comprehensive Organic Penal Code as stated in the aforementioned Annex?
6. Do you agree with criminalizing the crime of possession or carrying of weapons, ammunition or components that are for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces or the National Police, without affecting firearms permitted for civilian use, reforming the Code? Comprehensive Criminal Organic according to the Annex to question 6?
7. Do you agree that weapons, their exclusive parts or pieces, ammunition or accessories, which were instruments or material object of a crime can be destined for the immediate use of the National Police or the Armed Forces, reforming the Comprehensive Organic Penal Code according to the Annex to question 7?
8. Do you agree that the servants of the Judicial Branch be evaluated, including an audit of their asset declarations, in accordance with the Annex to question 8?
9. Do you agree that the State proceeds to be the holder (owner) of assets of illicit or unjustified origin, simplifying the procedure of the Organic Law of Asset Forfeiture, according to the Annex to question 9?
10. Do you agree that the procedures for non-admission, deportation, and expulsion of foreigners be reformed to control migration and strengthen State security, in accordance with the Annex to question 10?
eleven. Do you agree that casinos, game rooms, betting houses or businesses dedicated to gambling are allowed to operate, under the conditions detailed in the Annex to question 11?
Ecuadorian soldiers search vehicles for weapons in the midst of the declared state of emergency.
What other consultation attempts were there in Ecuador?
Casinos were banned in Ecuador in 2011 after a popular consultation promoted by former president Rafael Correa (2007-2017) in 2011.
Former president Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023) also called for a referendum that included the extradition of Ecuadorians linked to organized crime, but his initiative failed when the No triumphed on all questions.
Criticism of the popular consultation
When analyzing the questions raised, security expert Fernando Carrión commented to EFE that “these are not constitutional reforms, but rather legislative ones, which could well have been absorbed within the tripartite agreement that exists between the Citizen Revolution (correismo), the Partido Social Christian and (the ruling party) ADN” in the National Assembly.
Along the same lines, constitutional lawyer Ismael Quintana said he does not understand the need to spend money that the country does not have and time, which Noboa does not have either – since his Government will end in May 2025 – in a process “that could well walk in the National Assembly”, where the Executive has already achieved support for other initiatives.
More bluntly, former governor Rafael Correa (2007-2017) believes that the consultation is “totally inappropriate” and that 80% of the questions are pure “penal populism, which can be done through law.”
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
*With AFP and Efe
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