Is this a real policy that will reverse the takeover of Ecuador by criminal gangs? Or, is it smoke and mirrors that will make the President look like he's doing something while those gangs allow him to live. My guess is the latter.
Ecuadorans vote in anti-crime referendum
amid spike in deadly violence
Ecuadorans were voting Sunday in a referendum on proposed tougher measures to fight gang-related crime.
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The once-peaceful South American country has been grappling with a shocking rise in violence that has seen two mayors killed this week.
The terrorizing streak has been blamed on gangs with links to transnational cartels using its ports to ship drugs to the United States and Europe.
The results of the referendum "will define the course and the state policy that we will take in order to face the challenge of fighting against violence and organized crime," said President Daniel Noboa as voting began at the Electoral Council in Quito.
Noboa declared in January a state of "internal armed conflict" with about 20 criminal groups blamed for a spasm of violence sparked by the jailbreak of a major drug lord, still on the run.
Gangsters kidnapped dozens of people, including police and prison guards, opened fire in a TV studio during a live broadcast, and threatened random executions in the days-long outburst that caused about 20 deaths.
Noboa imposed a state of emergency and deployed soldiers to retake control of the country's prisons, which had become the nerve center for gang operations and a bloody battleground that has claimed the lives of more than 460 inmates in three years -- many beheaded or burned alive.
Despite these efforts, the violence has persisted, which Noboa has taken as "a sign that narcoterrorism and its allies are looking for spaces to terrorize us."
Two mayors have been killed in the past week, making it five in a year and three in less than a month.
Since January last year, at least a dozen politicians have been killed in Ecuador, including presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was gunned down last August after a campaign event.
On Sunday, the president is seeking popular backing for his plans to clamp down even harder on those responsible for such acts.
Citizens are being asked to approve an expansion of military and police powers, significantly boosting gun controls and imposing harsher penalties for "terrorism" and drug trafficking.
Noboa is also proposing changing the constitution so that Ecuadorans wanted abroad for organized crime-related offenses can be extradited.
Nearly 13.6 million of the country's 17.7 million inhabitants are eligible to cast a "Yes" or "No" ballot over the ten hours of voting Sunday.
'Dirty campaign'?
The majority of the referendum questions are related to crime prevention -- a priority even as Ecuador also grapples with widespread corruption, a crippling electricity shortage and a diplomatic spat with Mexico.
Last year, the country's murder rate rose to a record 43 per 100,000 inhabitants -- up from a mere six in 2018, according to official data.
In a publication Friday, polling firm Gallup said no other region in the world, excluding active war zones, felt less secure in 2023 to residents than Ecuador's Guayas province.
Other polls show a majority of Ecuadorans will likely vote for Noboa's reforms.
"People are endorsing the decisions... taken on the issue of security," political scientist Santiago Basabe of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Flacso) told AFP.
The vote is taking place in the same week that Ecuadorans faced power cuts of up to 13 hours as drought left key hydroelectric reservoirs nearly empty.
The government ordered workers to stay at home for two days in a bid to save scant energy resources.
Noboa has put some of the blame on "sabotage" without naming anyone in particular.
"They wanted to ruin us with sabotage... with a dirty campaign, and they have even tried with international pressure to sanction us as a country... because they are nervous," Noboa said ahead of Sunday's referendum, adding he was confident that "'Yes' will win."
Noboa, who took office last November at the age of 35, is also dealing with the backlash from Ecuador's raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito this month to arrest former vice president Jorge Glas, wanted on corruption charges.
Glas had been granted asylum by Mexico, and Ecuador's move has been widely condemned. Mexico has filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Colombia has been a major centre for illegal drug production for many decades. Perhaps the first Narco State in South America. Politicians walk the fine line between appearing to fight the corruption while not being so effective as to get themselves murdered.
Hundreds of thousands of Colombians protest
President Petro's economic, social reforms
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Colombia's main cities on Sunday to protest against the left-wing government of Gustavo Petro, whose popularity is at an all-time low.
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The demonstrations were not the first against Petro since he came to power 20 months ago, but they were easily the largest.
Shouts of "Petro out!" rang through the streets of cities across the country.
Medical associations, opposition groups, and even former allies of Petro had urged Colombians to show up in protest both against reforms Petro is trying to implement, including to nationalise health services, and against violence that continues to mar the troubled peace talks with armed guerrilla groups.
"I voted for change, for Petro, but we're still in the same situation. I'm demonstrating because I think Colombia still has hope and because I love my country," Martha Estrada, a 64-year-old pensioner wearing a tricolor hat in Bogota, told AFP.
Petro, commenting on X, formerly Twitter, said the protests were large in Medellin, Bogota and Bucaramanga but "weak" in 18 other cities.
"The main goal of the marches is to shout 'Petro Out' and to topple the government," Petro said, calling the protests a "soft coup" to thwart reforms. He called for a massive pro-government march on May 1.
In the capital, tens of thousands of demonstrators braved heavy rain to make their way to Bolivar Square, near the presidential palace.
Many waved Colombian flags, while white-shirted doctors and health workers carried banners protesting Petro's healthcare reforms, which have proved a lightning rod for criticism.
The president wants to reduce the role of private companies as health service providers.
"I am here as a citizen, a doctor and a Colombian," 35-year-old Julio Rivero told AFP in Bogota. "As a doctor, we see the deterioration, because there are no drugs to give our patients, and because patients face delays in getting treatment."
Experts agree that the healthcare system is in trouble and needs to be reformed, but some question how the government intends to do so.
Meantime, Petro's ambitious policy of "total peace" -- attempting to bring a final end to six decades of armed conflict -- has also faced reversals.
Concessions to armed groups have been controversial, with frequent violations reported.
Seventy percent of Colombians say the situation in the country "is getting worse," according to the Invamer polling group.
"This man protects the criminals of the guerrilla more than the good people of this country," said 67-year-old protester Betty Ospina.
Petro came to power in 2022 as the first leftist to govern a country traditionally run by conservative elites.
But he lost majorities in the legislature a few months after his inauguration, and his approval rating has plummeted.
(AFP)
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