Ecuador’s right-wing president, Daniel Noboa, received public support for his crusade against crime in Sunday’s referendum. However, Ecuadorians turned their backs on the president on the two economic questions. In any case, Noboa emerges stronger from this consultation in view of the re-election to which he aspires 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 led Noboa to declare the “internal armed conflict” in Ecuador. The nine issues were approved by a large majority, with percentages ranging between 62% and 73%.
Among the approved topics is an increase in penalties for crimes of drug trafficking, hitmen, human trafficking, arms trafficking, money laundering or terrorism; that the Armed Forces can act permanently alongside 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 their seizure they are destined for use by the security forces; or facilitate the extradition of Ecuadorians wanted by the justice system of other countries.
One of the two economic questions where Noboa failed had to do with the promise that the president made during the campaign to increase youth employment, for which he proposed legalizing hourly contracts; This proposal was rejected with almost 69% of the votes.
The other economic question aimed to increase foreign investments in Ecuador, which have been decreasing in recent years. Noboa proposed attracting companies from abroad by allowing international arbitration in investment, contractual or commercial matters; However, almost 65% of Ecuadorians said no to that idea.
While Noboa celebrated the results on social networks as an endorsement of “more tools to fight crime and restore peace to Ecuadorian families,” the former leftist president, Rafael Correa (2007-2017), assured that the president was defeated of the consultation by losing the two economic questions. “The Ecuadorian people have put a stop to an aspiring dictator,” said Correa, who is convicted of corruption in Ecuador and is in exile in Belgium.
