On 8 January Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of exception that includes a nationwide night-time curfew, between the hours of 11pm and 5am.
Analysis:
Noboa’s announcement came one day after the escape from prison of one of the country’s top drug traffickers, José Adolfo Macías Villamar, alias ‘Fito’, the leader of the Los Choneros criminal organisation, and as riots took place at six prisons in different parts of the country. States of exception became commonplace under Noboa’s predecessor Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023), primarily to enable the deployment of the military to help fight crime. Noboa’s latest announcement, the first such declaration since he took office in late November 2023, comes as he is continuing to seek alternative strategies for addressing insecurity. On 3 January he unveiled 11 mostly security-themed referendum questions, with a further nine questions announced yesterday, which also cover economic matters.
- Under the state of emergency announced yesterday, the military will be mobilised to assist with policing operations and with the guarding of prisons. Constitutional rights have been suspended, including the right to freedom of assembly, while security personnel will be authorised to enter homes without a warrant. Prisoners’ right to correspondence has also been restricted.
- The attorney general’s office yesterday accused two guards at the La Roca prison in Guayaquil of enabling Macías’ escape. Government spokesman Roberto Izurieta said yesterday that the escape happened shortly before Macías was due to be transferred to a more secure facility.
- Riots took place at six prisons yesterday in the provinces of El Oro, Loja, Azuay, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi and Pichincha on press reports. According to the same reports, at least 16 prison guards were taken hostage.
- Announcing the state of emergency in a televised address, President Noboa said that “no longer will those imprisoned for drug trafficking, murder and organised crime dictate the government’s actions”. He said that “what we’re seeing in the country’s prisons is the result of the decision to fight them,” adding that “these narco-terrorists want to intimidate us and think that we’ll give in to their demands”.
- The new referendum questions announced yesterday aim to allow the extradition of Ecuadorean citizens; to expand the state’s power to seize criminal assets; to authorise the revocation of mining concessions in areas of widespread illegal mining; to enable the president to pardon security personnel accused of excessive use of force; and to require security personnel to be tried by judges specialising in military and policing law.
- Some of the new questions cover issues which are not related to security. One aims to accelerate the legislative process by enabling the president to submit ‘urgent’ bills, which must be voted upon within 30 days, on a wide range of issues (currently this is only permitted for economic legislation).
- The government also included two pro-business proposals in the new questions, asking voters to accept international arbitration in the case of disputes over contracts, investments, or trade, which it says will improve Ecuador’s investment climate. Another question aims to change the employment code to enable hourly employment options.
- Noboa’s insistence on pursuing the referendum and seeking to bypass congress remains controversial, given many of the referendum proposals could have been dealt with via the normal legislative process – a strategy which likely owes to the short period before elections are next due in early 2025. By bypassing congress Noboa will be hoping to make progress on a wider range of issues before voters go to the polls.
Looking Ahead: The referendum questions require approval from the constitutional court, and no date has yet been set for the vote.