Quito/Prensa Latina
Ecuador approved extradition and other security measures in the popular consultation and referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa that today leave it without excuses to stop the escalation of violence.
Upon learning of the preliminary results of this Sunday’s consultative process, the president himself acknowledged that he will have “more tools to fight crime and restore peace to Ecuadorian families.”
The proposals that Ecuadorians endorsed include the permanent presence of the military in joint patrols with the police, longer sentences for terrorism, murder and other crimes and greater weapons controls in areas near prisons, among others.
The plebiscite had the participation of 72 percent of the more than 13.6 million Ecuadorians summoned to the polls, on a day marked by the murder of the director of a prison and the attempted mutiny in a prison that left at least four wounded.
Although the final numbers are not yet available and the scrutiny continues, the National Electoral Council released the results of a quick count that showed a majority rejection of two of the 11 questions on the ballot, those related to hourly work and international arbitration.
In the opinion of economist Alberto Acosta, the defense of national sovereignty and labor rights prevailed, and also the fear caused by growing insecurity, which will not find a way out with more repression and penal populism.
Political organizations classified the results as a popular victory for saying No to the two proposals that sought to cede sovereignty and increase job insecurity.
Former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, leader of the Citizen Revolution, recalled that the current ruler allocated 60 million dollars to an unnecessary consultation in which, fortunately, hourly work and international arbitration were prevented from being approved.
To enter into force, part of the accepted questions must first be analyzed by the National Assembly (Parliament), which will have to develop the regulatory frameworks in 60 days.
Legal experts consider that from that moment on Noboa will have no excuses to put a stop to insecurity, although they warn that the implementation of the consultation proposals will not be of much use if social measures are not adopted to reduce inequality. .
“The jewels in the crown were the hourly contract and the international arbitration courts (…) The other questions about security are issues that are mostly going to be processed through the National Assembly,” said lawyer Mauro Andino.
The political analyst warned that now the ruler will be hostage to his own demagoguery by generating expectations to reduce crime, when he well knows that such a complex phenomenon cannot be resolved with regulations.
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