Referendum in Ecuador Rejects Reforms and US Bases
HAVANA TIMES – A referendum in Ecuador has overwhelmingly rejected, with around 60 percent of the vote, the return of US military bases to its territory and other constitutional reforms proposed by conservative president Daniel Noboa, who has acknowledged the multiple setbacks.
“These are the results. We consulted Ecuadorians and they have spoken. We fulfilled our promise: to ask them directly. We respect the will of the Ecuadorian people,” Noboa wrote on his social media accounts.
The result can be read as a mandate for the president to focus on concrete problems such as violence, insecurity, and unemployment. Noboa promised that “we will continue fighting tirelessly for the country you deserve, with the tools we have.”
The referendum put four questions before the 13.9 million Ecuadorians eligible to vote: the return of foreign military bases; reducing the number of parliamentarians; ending state financing of political parties; and authorizing a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution.
On the issue of foreign bases, the “No” vote won 60.65% of valid ballots, compared to 39.35% for “Yes.” The United States maintained bases in Ecuador until 2009, when they were closed under leftist president Rafael Correa.
This outcome is a setback for the alliance Noboa has tried to build with US president Donald Trump, who recently sent his secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, to Quito to discuss the matter. The presidential proposal had been widely expected to pass.
Even in the regions of Manta and Salinas—two of the westernmost points of South America, ideal locations for monitoring and operations in the Pacific—the “No” vote doubled or even tripled the “Yes” vote, despite efforts to promote the bases as a boost for the local economy.
Noboa had also hinted that a military installation of this kind might be set up in Baltra, one of the Galápagos Islands—home to unique endemic species—where the US operated a base during World War II.
The vote took place as a powerful US naval-air force, deployed in the Caribbean and viewed by Venezuela as a direct threat, has reached the eastern Pacific, firing on small boats alleged to be carrying drugs and killing their occupants.
The proposal to eliminate state financing of political parties received 58.08% “No” and 41.92% “Yes.”
The reduction of seats in the unicameral National Assembly—which currently has 137 members (15 national, 116 provincial, and 6 parish representatives) and would have been cut to about 100—received 46.53% in favor but was rejected with 53.47% of valid votes.
Finally, the proposal to convene a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution received the strongest rejection: 61.64% “No” versus 38.36% “Yes.”
This was the most consequential question on the ballot, reflecting a regional trend seen so far this century: presidents who, once elected, push to change the constitution to enable their own reelection, expand their powers, and narrow the political space for opponents.
Noboa did not clearly state what changes most concerned citizens might benefit from in a new constitution—beyond vague remarks such as calling the current nearly 400-article charter too lengthy. This fueled public mistrust and reluctance to give him a blank check.
The rejection was not only decisive but also surprising, since polling firms had widely predicted that the president’s proposals would prevail.
Taken together, the four results suggest widespread rejection of and resistance to Noboa’s proposals and authoritarian-style moves, even though he still enjoys approval ratings above 50 percent.
The 37-year-old president, son of the country’s richest man, Alvaro Noboa, even personalized the “Yes” campaign, projecting authority through gestures such as distributing new social aid packages or displaying captured criminals, including the leader of the notorious gang Los Lobos.
Analyst Luis Carlos Córdova, of the Ecuadorian Observatory of Conflicts, said that the government entered the referendum “without a clear direction, losing touch with the country,” and that, given the lack of convincing proposals, most voters “opted for caution.”
Analyst Gonzalo Ortiz argued that the result is “a lesson in humility for the government,” and that Noboa “must reflect and focus on real governance instead of prioritizing social media and TikTok, which are not working for him.”
“The mandate is clear: concentrate on solving urgent problems, especially the collapse of the health sector (such as shortages in hospitals), education, and public security,” Ortiz told the news outlet Primicias.
The referendum also served to galvanize social and political sectors—particularly the most active Indigenous groups—in defense of popular demands and in opposition to the government’s right-leaning, pro-market direction. Noboa has now completed two of his four years in office.
First published in Spanish by IPS and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.