Ecuador’s President Lasso accepts extradition referendum defeat
1 year, 10 months ago

Ecuador’s President Lasso accepts extradition referendum defeat

Al Jazeera  

Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso has accepted defeat in a referendum on allowing extradition for organised crime, among other reforms, but added he would continue to fight drug trafficking and keep working to improve social conditions. “I accept that the majority doesn’t agree that these issues would be resolved with the tools put up for consideration in the referendum,” Lasso said in a televised speech. “The strong performance of the Correismo in the regional elections together with what appears to be a government loss in the referendum, if confirmed, leaves a very challenging political scenario for the Lasso administration,” JP Morgan said in a note. The referendum defeats would further erode Lasso’s political capital, the note said, adding that renewed social protests could be destabilising.

Ecuador Correa Referendum Lasso  ecuador  defeat  accepts  extradition  political  crime  referendum  lasso  drug  social  votes  president  trafficking  ecuadors

History of this topic

No ‘clear way out’: How Ecuador descended into gang violence
10 months, 1 week ago

No ‘clear way out’: How Ecuador descended into gang violence

Al Jazeera  

Experts trace the root causes of Ecuador’s spiralling violence, as President Daniel Noboa leads a crackdown on gangs. “Ecuador is a small country in a violent neighbourhood, and it’s become a key part of global narco-trafficking networks,” said Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, a US-based think tank. As Ecuador’s prominence in …

How will the deaths of high-profile murder suspects tip Ecuador’s election?
1 year, 2 months ago

How will the deaths of high-profile murder suspects tip Ecuador’s election?

Al Jazeera  

Seven suspects in the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio have died in prison this month. “All the were Colombian nationals and were charged with the assassination of ex-presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio,” SNAI said in its press release. “If anything happens, they change their minds.” A tight election Maluk believes the fallout from the seven killings could weigh heavily on …

How world reacted to Ecuador presidential candidate Villavicencio’s killing
1 year, 4 months ago

How world reacted to Ecuador presidential candidate Villavicencio’s killing

Al Jazeera  

The killing of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio has sent shockwaves across the South American nation and the world, prompting an outpouring of grief and calls to tackle rising violence. Mexico Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “regret the acts of violence that occurred in Quito” and expressed its “solidarity with the Ecuadorian government and people”. “We condemn any …

How gang warfare jumped from Ecuador’s prisons to the open street
1 year, 4 months ago

How gang warfare jumped from Ecuador’s prisons to the open street

CNN  

CNN — Frantic purchases of ammunition, the daylight assassination of a mayor, and a growing body count inside Ecuador’s prisons signal that the country’s roiling security crisis is going from bad to worse. Security forces have struggled to confront the gangs inside overcrowded prisons, where inmates often take control of branches of the penitentiaries and run criminal networks from behind …

Ecuador’s embattled President Lasso will not seek re-election
1 year, 6 months ago

Ecuador’s embattled President Lasso will not seek re-election

Al Jazeera  

Guillermo Lasso’s announcement comes weeks after he dissolved the legislature amid prospect of impeachment. Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso, who dissolved the country’s National Assembly last month amid an impeachment process against him, has announced that he will not run in early elections set for August. “I want to be clear I will not accept the nomination as a candidate for …

Opinion: What happened to Ecuador? How crime and power struggles brought a democracy to the brink
1 year, 7 months ago

Opinion: What happened to Ecuador? How crime and power struggles brought a democracy to the brink

LA Times  

Soldiers guard the National Assembly in Quito, Ecuador. Ecuador’s president, Guillermo Lasso, dissolved the country’s legislature Wednesday to dodge an impeachment vote he appeared bound to lose. Shutting down the National Assembly is likely to stoke instability and, paradoxically, hasten the return to power of Lasso’s sworn enemies: Rafael Correa, the strongman who served as president for a decade ending …

Stage set for Ecuadorian president or lawmakers to be booted out of office
1 year, 7 months ago

Stage set for Ecuadorian president or lawmakers to be booted out of office

Associated Press  

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador was locked in a showdown Tuesday between its conservative president and its opposition-led legislature that was turning the country into the latest Latin American nation torn between rival constitutional powers. People feel the government is “totally disconnected from their most urgent needs,” said Laura Lizarazo, a senior analyst covering Ecuador and Colombia for the global firm …

Stage set for Ecuadorian President or lawmakers to be booted out of office
1 year, 7 months ago

Stage set for Ecuadorian President or lawmakers to be booted out of office

The Hindu  

A showdown between Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso and the Opposition-led National Assembly could result in either side being booted from office this week as lawmakers seek to try him for embezzlement and he mulls exercising his constitutional power to dissolve the legislature. The Opposition is widely expected to reach the 92 votes necessary to remove Mr. Lasso following the debate, …

Impeachment hearing begins in Ecuador against President Lasso
1 year, 7 months ago

Impeachment hearing begins in Ecuador against President Lasso

Al Jazeera  

Lasso could trigger the ‘two-way death’ clause in Ecuador’s constitution, dissolving both the legislature and ending his presidency. Ecuador’s National Assembly has begun an impeachment hearing against President Guillermo Lasso, who stands accused of corruption with regard to an embezzlement scheme involving a state-owned oil transport company. Experts have speculated that Lasso could invoke a never-before-used constitutional clause known as …

Ecuador is in trouble and its president may pay the price
1 year, 7 months ago

Ecuador is in trouble and its president may pay the price

CNN  

CNN — Ecuador was known as the “isla de paz” – an island of peace – in the 1980s, when compared to its neighbors Colombia and Peru, some of the world’s biggest producers of cocaine. Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso is at the center of this storm, and his popularity has tanked amid widespread discontent with spiraling crime rates. Before President …

In Ecuador, the US risks being on the wrong side of history
1 year, 9 months ago

In Ecuador, the US risks being on the wrong side of history

Al Jazeera  

In the nearly two years since Guillermo Lasso, a millionaire and conservative banker, won the presidency in Ecuador, the region has changed considerably. In December 2021, Michael Fitzpatrick, the US ambassador to Ecuador, publicly denounced the country’s “narco generals”, though it did little to dampen enthusiasm in Washington for the new administration. Lasso has also sought to publicly intimidate the …

Ecuador declares emergency in three provinces over drug violence
2 years, 7 months ago

Ecuador declares emergency in three provinces over drug violence

Al Jazeera  

Thousands of police and troops will be deployed under the state of emergency, the second to be imposed by the president in a bid to curb drug-linked violence. Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso has imposed a state of emergency in three provinces blaming drug-related violence. It is the second time Lasso has used emergency powers to counter violence that has surged …

Ecuador president declares state of emergency over drug violence
3 years, 2 months ago

Ecuador president declares state of emergency over drug violence

Al Jazeera  

President Guillermo Lasso orders the mobilisation of police and military in the streets as he struggles to curb drug-related violence. Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso has declared a state of emergency as the country grapples with a surge in drug-related violence, and ordered the police and military onto the streets. “In the streets of Ecuador there is only one enemy: drug …

Ecuador appears to go with conservative banker Guillermo Lasso in presidential vote
3 years, 8 months ago

Ecuador appears to go with conservative banker Guillermo Lasso in presidential vote

LA Times  

With most of the votes counted, Guillermo Lasso, a former banker, had a lead over economist Andres Arauz, a protégé of former President Rafael Correa, in Ecuador’s presidential election. A conservative businessman seemed headed to Ecuador’s presidency, with voters rejecting the leftist movement started by former President Rafael Correa more than a decade ago, while in neighboring Peru, a crowded …

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