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More than 13.4 million Ecuadorians are called to vote this Sunday. to vote in an unprecedented general election, which is being held amid an escalation of violence attributed
More than 13.4 million Ecuadorians are called to vote this Sunday. to vote in an unprecedented general election, which is being held amid an escalation of violence attributed to organized crime, one of the most recent and tragic episodes of which was the assassination of a presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
In a process that began last Thursday with a prisoner vote without a final verdict and continued on Friday with a home-based vote for people over 50 or people with more than 75% disability, Ecuadorians will nominate successor or successor to the incumbent, Conservative Guillermo Lassoand 137 new members of the National Assembly (Parliament).
This is after last May Lasso dissolved the Assembly with an opposition majority.as he prepared to vote for a vote of no confidence in him for alleged embezzlement, which he denied, and demanded that an election be called, defended by a constitutional appeal known as “cross death”
Thus, the winners must complete the lasso period (2021-2025), which decided not to run for a second term nor submit lists to the Assembly.
Thus, there are eight contenders in the presidential race: a lawyer and an ex-deputy Louise Gonzalez, candidate of the Revolución Ciudadana movement led by former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017); former vice president Otto Sonnenholzner, and a former legionnaire and security businessman Jan Theme.
Pictured, a soldier guards election materials in Quito. Photo: Reuters
The local environmentalist is also in the race Yaku Perezbusinessmen Xavier Hervas and Daniel Noboaindependent lawyer Bolivar Armijos and journalist Christian Zuritawho will replace Villavicencio and whose candidacy is still pending completion of the registration process.
The votes cast by Villavicencio, whose photograph will be on the ballot, will be awarded to Zuritaeven if their firm registration is confirmed after the elections, which will take place in the second round on October 15, if none of them receives at least 40% of the votes and a difference of ten points over the rest.
insecurity and violence
The candidates focused their campaigns on various proposals to combat one of the main problems of the population: unprecedented instability and violence in Ecuador, attributed by the authorities to organized crime and drug trafficking, causing Ecuador’s homicide rate to rise from 5.8 to 25.32 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in just five years in 2022, the highest rate in its history.
Robberies, assaults, murders at the hands of hitmen, extortion and kidnappings These are some of the crimes that are heard about daily in Ecuador, formerly known as a stronghold of peace in the region, but now turned into a key point for the drug trafficking mafia to transport large quantities of goods through its ports to Europe and the North. America produces large quantities of cocaine in its neighbors Colombia and Peru, the world’s two largest producers.
In this spiral of violence came the assassination of Villavicencio, riddled with bullets by Colombian hitmen on August 9 leaving a rally in connection with his election campaign, days after he publicly announced that he had received death threats, allegedly from one of the leaders of these criminal gangs, against which the candidate promised to fight without hesitation.
Pictured is heavily guarded candidate Christian Zurita. Photo: Reuters
Thus, Villavicencio became the most representative face of this phenomenon. it has already taken the lives of other politicians, candidates, mayors, judges and prosecutors, mostly from coastal cities where the drug trade is most prevalent.
prisons are unleashed
The situation in the prisons where they were over 400 prisoners killed in massacres since 2020 between rival gangs that contest internal control of prisons and drug-trafficking areas is another challenge for candidates.
Thus, the elections will be held in the middle government emergency following the assassination of Villavicencio, so that the armed forces were deployed throughout the country to support the nearly 60,000 police officers who would guard the polling stations.
Added to the crisis due to lack of security difficult economic situation they will have to face upon receiving a debtor country with serious problems in health, education and agriculture, among others, which may worsen due to the effects of the El Niño climate event, which is expected to occur at the end of the year.
Photo: Reuters file
Two environmental plebiscites
This Sunday, starting at 0700 local time (1200 GMT) and running for ten hours until 1700 local time (2200 GMT), Ecuadorians will also they will vote in two plebiscites on oil production and production in nature reserves.
One, national character, proposes to stop the oil exploitation of Block 43-ITT, an important field of the country, the source of 11% of the national production of crude oil, since it is located in the Yasuni National Park, which is considered the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon and one of the world’s epicenters of biodiversity.
Another, only for Quito, is looking for ban all types of legal mining in Choco Andino, the expanse of mountain forests, declared by UNESCO a biosphere reserve, located on its part within the agglomeration of the Ecuadorian capital.
(Sandra Madera/EFE)
Source: Aristegui Noticias
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