Il South America is officially entering a new one militarization phase and the relentless fight against organized crime. The first to launch the trend was the authoritarian president of El Salvador, the 42 year old Nayib Bukele, re-elected last February with 87% of the votes: under his presidency, since 2019, the country has become the first in the world for prison population, exceeding 1.000 prisoners per 100.000 inhabitants. Practically over 1 citizen in every 100 is in prison. This has meant that the homicide rate has fallen from over 100 per 100.000 inhabitants a few years ago to the current 2,4, a figure which is however disputed because it does not take into account the numerous criminals killed by the police. “Bukelism” has made proselytes before in Argentina, where Javier Milei would like to import the “zero tolerance” model, and now in Ecuador, where the young president Daniel Noboa, elected last October with the promise of cleaning up the narcos, has just won - thanks to his 69% popularity - an important referendum to change various regulations on public safety.
Ecuador: referendum on security passes
The referendum included the compulsory vote and brought to the polls a country shocked bywave of violence of recent months: the deaths among drug traffickers, due to settling accounts in prison and police operations, have been 460 since 2021, but in January of this year alone there were 20. Furthermore, again in January it was brutally anti-narcos prosecutor murdered of Guayaquil Cesar Suarez, while on the eve of the vote they were two mayors killed in less than 48 hours (about ten politicians killed in total since 2023), and on the same day as the referendum the director of a penitentiary lost his life.
In this climate, col murder rate exploded by 500% in the last 5 years until exceeding 8.000 in 2023 (in a country with less than 18 million inhabitants), the referendum therefore posed 11 questions, of which two - rejected - on issues that did not concern safety and nine - all promoted with percentages between 60% and 73% - precisely on new powers to be given to the government and army to eradicate crime, including by modifying constitutional provisions. The main question was the possibility of extradite the convicted, which was prohibited by the 1945 Constitution.
The Ecuadorian police raid on the Mexican Embassy
That President Noboa couldn't wait to get rid of that protection granted to criminals was also understood a few weeks ago, when the Ecuadorian police raided the Mexican Embassy in Quito to capture former vice president Jorge Glas, convicted of criminal association and corruption and who after Noboa's electoral victory had asked for hospitality at the diplomatic headquarters of the country governed by the socialist Manuel Angel Lopez Obrador.
The unprecedented operation, which obviously violates international laws, triggered an unprecedented diplomatic and political crisis across the continent, with Glas asking Brazilian President Lula for help, while Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro called for his immediate release. However, the 13,6 million Ecuadorians called to the polls agreed with Noboa, approving the “forcaiola” turning point.
The other promoted questions will also give more powers to the Armed Forces: starting from now, in particular, the army will always be able to intervene, without the government needing to declare a state of emergency or a state of internal armed conflict, which is currently in force in the country.
Now to authorize special army operations against narcos (but not only) the president's green light will be sufficient. In summary, Ecuador has given the OK to the army in the streets. After all, the hint was understood during the vote itself: in a climate of leaden times for years, the referendum was protected by a deployment of over 57 thousand policemen and 39 thousand soldiers.
