Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced on Wednesday plans for a national referendum to implement stricter anti-crime legislation and tighten security measures in a bid to curb an upward trend of escalating crime rates and violence in the country.
In a letter addressed to the Constitutional Court of the South American country, Noboa submitted 11 draft questions to be considered for the referendum. The proposed questions, which will be presented to voters following approval from the Constitutional Court, include deploying the military to fight organized crime, and lengthening the sentences for serious crimes such as homicide and arms trafficking, as well as those offenses related to the smuggling and distribution of narcotics, or “terrorist” acts.
The announcement comes in the wake of growing crime rates and increasing violence in Ecuador, with reports of theft, violence, and organized crime on the rise. Noboa, who took office in November following a snap election called by his predecessor Guillermo Lasso to avoid impeachment, ran on an anti-crime platform and had promised to initiate a referendum whilst campaigning, capitalizing on the growing unrest in the country and public concern for the sharp uptake in criminal activity.
The 2023 general election was perceived by Ecuadorians and the international community at large to be overshadowed by narco politics and violent crime. Fernando Villavicencio, a leading presidential candidate, was assassinated after a campaign rally in August, less than two weeks before the election took place, in an echo of the 1978 assassination of presidential candidate Abdon Calderon Muñoz.
The country’s surge in violent crime began amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a series of prison massacres carried out by competing gangs. At least 460 inmates are confirmed to have been beheaded or burned alive in prisons since February 2021. Outside prisons, the country’s homicide rate has risen to an estimated 22 murders per 100,000 people in 2022. Former President Lasso repeatedly attributed the violence to the rivalry between drug trafficking gangs. Ecuador is located in a geographical hot spot for narcotics production and distribution; its neighbor, Colombia, is the world’s leading producer of coca, the chief ingredient in cocaine.
Noboa wants voters to approve measures to allow the government to overhaul their response to violent crime and hopes the measures will bring peace to the country. “It’s possible to combat crime, to have a judicial system that responds with harsher and firmer sentence, and, above all, to create new jobs for Ecuador,” Noboa said in a video message shared online Wednesday. “We must all contribute to move the country forward.”
The Constitutional Court is expected to rule on the adherence of the questions to the country’s constitutional principles, after which the approved referendum will be put to a public vote.
