24 hours before a referendum on which he bases a large part of his political future, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa must face a difficult situation. Since the launch of its internal armed conflict against gangs and drug cartels, the population has largely supported its policy against delinquency. In recent days, however, the return of violence and massive electricity rationing have complicated the picture for the president.
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While water is still lacking in Ecuadorto operate the country’s hydroelectric plants, power cuts were eight to thirteen hours a day this Thursday and Friday, declared non-working days by the government, reports our correspondent in Quito, Eric Samson.
Fear of sabotage
Secretary of State for Communications Roberto Izurieta claimed Thursday that the Mazar dam was intentionally drained of water to sabotage Sunday’s referendum. A hypothesis taken up by the President Noboa. “ There is no one more miserable than those who, during a week of democratic celebration, that of Sunday’s referendum, seek to cut off a country’s electricity. This is the greatest act of desperation I have experienced in my political career, but we will still win Sunday’s election. We will find out who is responsible for the power cuts.”
The power cuts will be shorter on Saturday and are not scheduled for Sunday so as not to disrupt the referendum and on Friday evening, a presidential decree ordered the mobilization of the police and the army “to guarantee the security of crucial energy infrastructure in order to to prevent sabotage, terrorist attacks or other threats likely to affect their operation,” according to AFP.
Assassinations of local elected officials
Again on Friday, to continue to cultivate his image as a strong man, President Noboa made public the list of the country’s most wanted people, including the leader of Sinaloa Cartel at the top of the list.
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Yet crime still strikes. For the second time in three days, a mayor was assassinated in Ecuador in a town hit by illegal mining activity. Jorge Maldonado was killed in his car in the southern town of Portovelo, in the unnamed province. El Oro“Gold”, by chance. On April 17, another elected official, José Sanchez, was assassinated with a collaborator by a group of 8 to 10 hitmen. The regional police chief also announced additional security measures for all mayors in the province.
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Some 13.6 million voters (out of a population of 17.7 million) are expected to vote on Sunday for a referendum proposing several measures to fight organized crime.