In Ecuador, general elections are scheduled for Sunday, August 20. But with new massacres in prison, the assassination of mayors, police officers, magistrates and candidates, the mobilization of the army against delinquency does not seem sufficient. The fight against insecurity is invited as the main theme of the electoral campaign.
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With our correspondent in Quito, Eric Samson
Just over two weeks before the general elections and the first round of the presidential election on August 20, the already particularly short electoral campaign is taking place in an atmosphere of growing violence. However, not so long ago, between fifteen and twenty years, Ecuador was still considered ” an island of peace “. The country was certainly a drug transit zone, but insecurity was under control.
This bygone era is missed by Ecuadorians. ” We Ecuadorians saw from afar what was happening in Colombia and Peru. And today the violence has arrived here », explains Mariana Velasco.
Homicide rate skyrockets
In the south of the country, the province of El Oro is particularly affected. Its port, Puerto Bolivar, is popular with cartels. The latest polls conducted by Celio Rosario show that 78% of the local population puts insecurity at the top of their concerns. “ People are on the defensive. They are constantly afraid of being robbed or attacked on the street remarks Celio Rosario.
While the city of Guayaquil has become one of the most dangerous on the continent and with the country’s homicide rate skyrocketing – to more than 26 per 100,000 people – security expert Colonel Mario Pazmiño shares a demand from many Ecuadorians. ” I believe that it takes a hard hand, without excess, but firm, to change the security conditions “, he hopes.
The eight presidential candidates have generally made the fight against delinquency the main subject of an electoral campaign which will end on August 17.
These general elections, which bring together the presidential and the legislative, were anticipated after the dissolution of Parliament by the current president Guillermo Lasso. This election will be accompanied by a long-awaited referendum on the end of oil exploitation on indigenous lands, in Yasuni National Park.
A particularly violent climate
The election campaign is taking place in a particularly violent climate. According to the Organization of American States, 23 candidates were victims of attacks. It is therefore not surprising that security is the major theme of the eight candidates in the running, including the favorite, Luisa Gonzalez, candidate of the leftist movement of former president Rafael Correa.
She is little known to the general public and yet she is the winner of the first round of the presidential election. Luisa Gonzalez represents the party ” Citizen Revolution which was a triumph in the last municipal elections. His campaign is closely followed by former President Rafael Correa who, since his exile in Belgium, dreams of returning to his country.
The second place is disputed between the former journalist and the ex-vice-president of Lenin Moreno, the centrist Otto Sonezholner and Yaku Perez, an indigenous left-wing candidate who defends, among other things, free universities.
The profile of the other suitors is very varied. MP Fernando Villavicencio promises to fight corruption, with the slogan “ It’s time for the brave “. The former soldier of the Foreign Legion, the Franco-Ecuadorian Jan Topic, presents himself as an anti-system candidate and promises to bring order to the country. Nicknamed Rambo or Ecuadorian Bukele, in reference to the authoritarian president of Salvador, he recently made headlines by smoking a joint of CBD during an interview.
Still, the election does not seem to excite Ecuadorians. According to a recent poll, more than a third did not know that the election was taking place on August 20. And more than half did not yet know the names of the candidates