Ecuador | Referendum on security, a prison director murdered

(Quito) Ecuador votes on Sunday on several measures proposed by the government to fight crime, a vote overshadowed by the assassination of a prison director in the west of the country.

Some 13.6 million voters are called to the polls to answer yes or no to eleven questions asked by President Daniel Noboa.

The vote is taking place in a “quiet and safe” atmosphere, under the protection of security forces, assured the National Electoral Council (CNE) in the afternoon, which reported a participation of around 60%. .

Among the main proposals of this consultation which will notably define “the direction and state policy […] against violence, organized crime, the fight against corruption” according to the Head of State, include the extradition of Ecuadorian nationals linked to organized crime, particularly to the United States, a measure greatly feared by narcos.

Mauricio Lopez, 36, employed in Quito, says he “voted yes, in particular to extradition”. “The idea is that criminals are more afraid, it is also a more rigorous way of punishing them.”

Dulce Negrete, 61, judges for her part that extradition “is of no use” and “voted no to everything”.

Killed at the table

In the afternoon, while the day seemed to be passing peacefully, the prison administration announced the assassination of the director of Penitentiary No. 4 in Manabi, “the victim of an attack”.

According to images posted on social networks, the man was shot and killed while he was sitting at a restaurant in a small town on the Pacific coast. He was lying in his blood, slumped on the white plastic table, an injured woman on the ground beside him, still holding his hand.

Ecuador, plagued by drug trafficking and corruption, which has become the main platform for the export of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru, has been facing a serious security crisis caused by gangs since mid-January. One of the epicenters of this crisis is the prison system, which the government is trying to take control of, the scene of recurring massacres and power struggles between criminal groups.

President Noboa, elected in November for 18 months and who is expected to seek a new mandate in 2025, declared the country in “internal armed conflict” and deployed the army to neutralize around twenty of these groups.

Since then, at least ten politicians, local officials, and even prosecutors have been assassinated. On Friday, a new mayor was shot and killed.

In August 2023, shortly before the first round of the presidential election, the main opposition candidate was shot dead leaving a meeting.

Added to these tensions is the diplomatic storm caused by the police assault in early April on the Mexican embassy in Quito, to capture the former vice-president of Rafael Correa (2007-2017), Jorge Glas (2013-2017). , who is under investigation for corruption.

At the national level, the emergency of the moment is energy, with severe electricity rationing (up to 13 hours per day) and an emergency review of hydroelectric installations.

Consequence of the drought, the El Niño phenomenon, but also of poor administrative management, by the authorities’ own admission, this shortage of electricity would also be the result of “sabotage” linked to his political enemies, according to President Noboa .

Commercial disputes

A presidential decree on Friday ordered the mobilization of the police and the army “to guarantee the security of energy infrastructure”.

Ecuadorians speak out on the participation of the army in arms control, on increasing penalties for crimes linked to organized crime and on the possibility for security forces to use seized weapons.

But also on the formalization of work paid by the hour, a measure strongly criticized by unions and indigenous organizations, as well as the recognition of international arbitration to resolve disputes in matters of investment and trade.

Ecuador had ended bilateral treaties and withdrew from arbitration bodies, under the government of former socialist president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), now an opponent in exile after his conviction for corruption.