Under Lasso’s watch,violent deaths soared,reaching 4600 in 2022,the country’s highest in history and double the total in 2021. The National Police tallied 3568 violent deaths in the first half of 2023.
The spike in violence is tied to cocaine trafficking. Mexican,Colombian and Balkan cartels have set roots in Ecuador and operate with assistance from local criminal gangs.
“I don’t expect much from this election,” Julio Ricaurte,a 59-year-old engineer,said near one of the voting centres in northern Quito,the capital. “First,because the president will have little time to do anything,and second because the[National] Assembly in our country is an organisation that prevents anyone who comes to power from governing.”
Noboa and González,both of whom have served short stints as MPs,advanced to the run-off by finishing ahead of six other candidates in the election’s first round on August 22. The replacement of Villavicencio finished in third place.
A large group of military and police officers as well as private security guards protected Noboa when he voted in Olón,a community on the country’s central Pacific coast. He wore a bulletproof vest.
“I believe that the trend is irreversible,and today,we begin to build a new Ecuador,” he said at the voting centre,confidently alluding to a victory.
González,a lawyer,was unknown to most voters until the party of Correa,her mentor,picked her as its presidential candidate. She held various government jobs during Correa’s decade-long presidency and was a lawmaker from 2021 until May.
At the start of the campaign,she said Correa would be her adviser,but she recently sought to distance herself a bit in an effort to court voters who oppose the former president,who remains a major force in Ecuador despite being found guilty of corruption in 2020 and sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison. He has been living in his wife’s native Belgium since 2017.
The National Police commander,General César Zapata,said authorities investigated two reports of explosive devices outside Quito and deemed them to be false. He also said 174 people had been arrested for violating a ban on alcohol sales on election day.
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Rosa Amaguaña,a 62-year-old fruit and vegetable vendor,said safety was “the first thing that must be solved” by the next president.
“I’m hopeful the country will change,” Amaguaña said. “Yes,it can. The next president must be able to do even something small.”
AP