Quito (EFE).- The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, puts the reforms that will mark the course of his Administration to the vote of the population this Sunday, in a referendum focused on combating organized crime, attracting investment and creating employment, which will be It celebrates less than a year after the general elections and in the midst of a serious energy crisis, with blackouts of up to eight hours a day.
After winning the extraordinary elections last year, Noboa had already announced his intention to hold this referendum in the first hundred days of his mandate, but in the end it will be done when he is about to complete five months in office.
Political decisions at stake
If he wins the referendum, the president will gain momentum with the intention of running for re-election in the 2025 elections, but if the result is negative he will lose strength and it will be more difficult to repeat the electoral victory.
Some of the eleven questions that make up this referendum are similar to the proposals of former president Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023) in the plebiscite that he called in February 2023 and that he completely lost, which left him in a very weak situation that a few months It later led to the new elections that Noboa won.
Popularity thermometer in Ecuador
Unlike Lasso, Noboa arrives at this appointment at the polls with an important cushion of popularity that at the beginning of the year reached around 80%, a level similar to that of Nayib Bukele in El Salvador, with whom he has been compared a lot. for his strong hand against crime and prison policy.
And although Noboa’s popularity has skyrocketed since January with the declaration of “internal armed conflict” to combat criminal gangs, it remains to be seen how the energy crisis that broke out this week, with blackouts of up to eight hours, has influenced his acceptance. up to date.
Also in recent weeks, violence by criminal gangs has increased, which in recent years has led Ecuador to be one of the countries with the most homicides per capita in Latin America, with 45 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.
Two mayors murdered in three days
This week alone, two mayors of two towns in whose territories there is presence of illegal mining have been shot dead, one of the activities in which organized crime has dabbled, in addition to drug trafficking.
Of the eleven questions of the plebiscite, the majority are intended to provide the State with new tools to combat organized crime, such as the one that proposes that the Armed Forces can support the Police in operations against criminal gangs on a permanent basis, without the need to issue states of exception.
Likewise, it is also sought that the military be in charge of controlling access to prisons, the epicenter of the violence crisis, where until a few months ago the gangs had internal control of the prisons and had large arsenals of weapons inside. firearms, explosives and knives.
Another key question is the possibility of allowing the extraditions of Ecuadorians required by the Justice of other countries.
Harsher penalties in Ecuador
It is also proposed to increase penalties for crimes related to transnational organized crime and eliminate prison benefits for some of these types of crimes, so that those convicted under these figures serve their entire sentence in prison.
Added to this are the proposals to create a crime of possession and carrying of weapons for the exclusive use of the Police and the Armed Forces and that the weapons seized from criminals immediately go to equip the forces, in addition to expediting the process of expropriation of goods of illicit origin.
Other issues in the referendum focus on establishing a system of constitutional courts, accepting international arbitration in any jurisdiction to facilitate the arrival of investments and allowing hourly labor contracts, with the idea of boosting job creation, especially for young people.
These last two measures have sparked the rejection of left-wing political formations and social organizations, considering that they mean losing national sovereignty and generate greater costs for the State and make the labor market precarious.
