Ecuador’s right-wing president, Daniel Noboa, received public support for his crusade against crime in Sunday’s referendum. However, the Ecuadorians turned their backs on the president on the two questions of an economic nature. In any case, Noboa leaves the consultation strengthened for the re-election he aspires to in next year’s elections.
Of the eleven questions in the referendum, nine referred to the fight against mafias and crime, which has skyrocketed in recent years and which led Noboa to declare “internal armed conflict” in Ecuador. The nine issues were approved by a large majority, with percentages ranging from 62% to 73%.
Among the issues approved, there is an increase in penalties for the crimes of drug trafficking, hitmen, human trafficking, arms trafficking, money laundering or terrorism; that the armed forces can act permanently together with the police to fight crime; the full increase in sentences for some crimes such as those related to organized crime; criminalize the possession of weapons and that, after confiscation, they are destined for use by the security forces, or facilitate the extradition of Ecuadorians claimed by justice from other countries.
One of the two questions of an economic nature in which Noboa failed had to do with the promise that the president made during the campaign to increase youth employment, with which he proposed legalizing hourly contracts; the proposal was rejected with almost 69% of the votes.
The other question of an economic nature aimed to increase foreign investments in Ecuador, which have been decreasing in recent years. Noboa proposed to attract companies from abroad by allowing international arbitration in investment, contractual or commercial matters; however, almost 65% of Ecuadorians said no to that idea.
While President Noboa celebrated on social networks the results obtained as an endorsement of “more tools to fight crime and return peace to Ecuadorian families”, the former left-wing president, Rafael Correa (2007-2017), ensure that the representative left the consultation defeated by losing the two economic questions. “The Ecuadorian people have put a brake on an aspiring dictator,” said Correa, who is convicted of corruption in Ecuador and is currently in exile in Belgium.
