04/21/2024 – 13:05
Referendum raises questions about tightening measures against drug trafficking gangs. For President Daniel Noboa, the election serves as a thermometer for his intention to run for re-election. Ecuadorians vote this Sunday (21/04) to decide, in a referendum, whether to tighten measures against organized crime and drug trafficking gangs, under the shadow of a wave of violence, the murder of two mayors this week and the worst blackouts in its history.
Around 13.6 million of the country's 17.7 million inhabitants were asked to vote on 11 questions about tougher measures against organized crime and drug gangs.
For President Daniel Noboa, the referendum will be a barometer of his intention to run for re-election next February.
Noboa is banking on his high popularity achieved in the first months of his mandate, for having elevated the fight against criminal groups to the category of “internal armed conflict”.
During the opening act of voting day, Noboa noted that this referendum “will mark the course of the challenge of confronting organized crime, the fight against corruption and the creation of jobs”.
“Today is our moment to make history, to mark a before and an after”, said Noboa, for whom “this consultation brings together several political banners”.
External and internal crisis
The referendum is being held at one of the most delicate moments for Noboa in the almost five months he has been in power, with an international diplomatic crisis due to the invasion of the Mexican Embassy to arrest former vice-president Jorge Glas and an internal energy crisis with blackouts of up to eight hours a day this week.
If Noboa wins the referendum, he will be strengthened for new general elections in less than 10 months, in which he considers running for re-election. But if he loses, he could be weakened for the remainder of his term, until May 2025.
Criminal violence also increased in the week of the referendum, with the murder of two mayors in rural areas where illegal mining is present, an activity in which organized crime, whose main business is drug trafficking, has also made inroads.
Constitutional reforms
Among the 11 questions, five involve changes to the 2008 Constitution, approved during Rafael Correa's presidential term (2007-2017), while the remaining six must be processed by the National Assembly (Parliament), if they receive the support of the population.
Most of them propose legal tools to reinforce the fight against organized crime, which is blamed for the wave of violence that led the country to be among the first in Latin America in homicides, with around 45 per 100 thousand inhabitants in 2023.
For this reason, Noboa proposes that the Armed Forces support the police in operations against organized crime on a permanent basis and that the military be in charge of controlling access to prisons, the epicenter of this crisis, which until recently were dominated by gangs, with large arsenals in their possession.
More severe extraditions and penalties
The proposal also seeks to allow the extradition of Ecuadorians wanted by justice from other countries and increase penalties for crimes related to organized crime, as well as eliminate prison sentences for several of these crimes.
Furthermore, there are proposals to create a crime of possession and carrying of weapons for the exclusive use of the police and the Armed Forces, and for weapons seized from criminals to be immediately used to equip the police and military, in addition to accelerating the expropriation process. of goods of illicit origin.
Other issues focus on establishing a system of constitutional courts, accepting international arbitration in any jurisdiction, and allowing hourly employment contracts.
In Ecuador, voting is mandatory for people between 18 and 65 years old, and optional for teenagers between 16 and 18 years old and also for people over 65 years old, as well as for police officers, military personnel and prisoners without a final sentence.
md (AFP, EFE)
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