(AFP) – Ecuador’s top court on Wednesday authorized the holding of a referendum sought by President Daniel Noboa on constitutional reforms to boost his fight against drug trafficking and organized crime. Noboa has staked his political fortunes on reducing record murder rates, but his country — once among the safest in Latin America — is now one of the most dangerous.
Ecuador is nestled between the world’s biggest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, and is home to several Pacific Ocean ports that have attracted cartels, mafias, and criminal gangs from around the world. Ecuador is thought to be the departure point for 70 percent of the world’s supply of cocaine, most of it destined for the United States. Noboa now wants to change the constitution to allow for the return of foreign military bases to Ecuador, among other things.
A 2008 constitutional change under leftist then-president Rafael Correa banned US military bases and troops from Ecuadoran soil. For years, the United States operated an important military base at the Pacific port of Manta, and the US Drug Enforcement Administration had a sizeable footprint in the country. Noboa has sought to develop close security and economic ties with US President Donald Trump, whose top envoy Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Ecuador this month, promising more aid and raising the prospect of sending US troops. “If they invite us to return, we will consider it very seriously,” Rubio said.
Following Wednesday’s Constitutional Court ruling, Ecuador will decide in a referendum on November 16 whether to create a special legislative assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution. Rights groups say Noboa’s use of the military to tackle drug violence and his use of rolling decrees to establish a state of emergency have corroded Ecuador’s democracy. One group, Freedom House, said Noboa’s policies have led to “arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances.”
© 2024 AFP
