• Latin America The challenges of Guillermo Lasso in the change of direction of Ecuador

Ecuador reopens its polls today to elect new local authorities and to approve, or reject, the eight questions of the popular consultation posed desperately by Guillermo Lasso.

Since the conservative leader became president two years ago, his Administration has been towed by the events that have made the Andean country

one of the favorite victims of crime

.

In the background of the referendum proposed for today emerges the "declaration of war against

drug trafficking

, organized crime and antipathy mafias that steal peace and tranquility" made by a president overcome by events.

The first intention of this political initiative is to recover the lost pulse.

"

The indignation of Ecuadorians speaks for itself

. Criminals must pay for their crimes behind bars," the president asserted in the days prior to a referendum that proposes modifying the Constitution to combat with greater force the insecurity that today frightens his citizens so much. citizens.

It would be enough for half of the voters, plus one, to agree with the government of the former banker from Guayaquil on the first question of the referendum so that the

bosses and gangsters of organized crime can be deported to the US

, as they already do. neighboring Colombia for decades.

With the second question, Lasso intends that the General Prosecutor's Office select the members of the Public Ministry through a Fiscal Council so as not to leave it in the hands of the Judicial Council, as is currently done.

A decision that the president considers vital and that has even led him to confront harshly in recent hours the "corrupt prosecutor" and the "bad judge" who did not act against

Junior Roldán

, alias

JR

, one of the leaders of the Los Angeles gang. Choneros, detained by the Police in the middle of an arms trafficking operation.

The Prosecutor's Office itself announced yesterday that it has executed search and search warrants against its prosecutor

Julio Sánchez

for not accusing

JR

.

Ecuadorians will also have to opt for government proposals in

political and environmental matters

, from reducing the number of assembly members and the number of political movements, currently 272, to compensation for the generation of environmental services.

"Lasso is risking the legitimacy of his presidential post. However, if he won the yes position, he would have quite a few difficulties to implement the changes suggested in the popular consultation, especially at the legislative level. This could be a cause for the Government to

instead of becoming stronger, it weakens

and favors other positions that better channel the results, such as the case of correísmo in its different forms,"

​​Michel Leví

, coordinator of the Andean Center for International Studies, warns EL MUNDO.

As for the local elections, Quito is experiencing a final vote-by-vote stretch to elect mayor among 12 candidates, in which the controversial

Jorge Yunda

, first mayor until 2021 when he was dismissed for breach of duties, and the correísta

Pabel Muñoz

.

In Guayaquil, the current mayor,

Cinthia Viteri

, and her political co-religionist Susana González, now prefect of Guayas and a great favorite to continue in that position, are the favorites.

In total,

23 provincial prefects, 221 mayors, 864 councilors, 443 rural councilors, 4,109 members and seven members of the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control

will be elected .

One of the great controversies, the center of many misgivings from voters, is the network of illegal financing, coming from drug trafficking or illegal mining, which is envisioned behind the campaigns of some of these candidates.


According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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