Ecuadorians Back President Noboa’s Security Plan Tackling Organized Crime
HAVANA TIMES – Voters in Ecuador overwhelmingly supported a referendum approving President Daniel Noboa’s security plan for tackling gang-related crime. The new measures include expanding military and police authority, tightening gun control, lengthening prison sentences for certain offenses and imposing stricter penalties for crimes considered to be acts of “terrorism.”
The Sunday vote came as a prison warden in the western state of Manabí was shot dead. Two days earlier, the mayor of the mining town of Portovelo was killed — the third Ecuadorian mayor to be assassinated in less than a month. President Noboa declared an “internal armed conflict” in January.
Some rights groups warn Noboa’s crackdown will lead to more abuses by officials. The spiraling security crisis and severe drought conditions have forced tens of thousands of Ecuadorians to flee toward the Mexico-U.S. border.