Elections were opened in Ecuador on Sunday morning, as some 14 million voters want to select their next president.
Once considered one of the safest countries in South America, the Ecuador drug is facing its worst crisis in the half century due to the drug cartel violence and a struggling economy.
Voters can choose from sixteen candidates, but President Daniel Noboa and his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez are the lead.
If a candidate does not reach 50% of the votes outright, or 40% is 10 points ahead of his nearest rival, then the top two best performing candidates will be the head of a runoff on 13 April.
The two pioneers campaigned under heavy security by special forces and bodyguards in view of the previous election incidents in 2023, when a prominent candidate was murdered.
Noboa was expected to win
The referendum surveys in Ecuador point to a safe reunion for Noboa. The young President has campaigned to continue his staunch policies against organized crime.
Noboa said at a concluding campaign rally on Thursday, “Today the Ecuador has changed and wants to change, it wants to strengthen its victory. We are no longer promising, we are a reality in this country, which is a reality, which is a reality, which A decision has been taken. ” In Quito.
For surveys, Noboa can vote more than 50% or reach at least 40% in runoff, which shows that he would like to win potentially.
For its share, Luisa Gonzalaz has promised to deal with crime with allegedly corrupt judges and prosecutors, with major military and police operations, but therefore focusing on implementing a social expense scheme in the most violent sector With doing.
Gonzalez said, “We cannot talk about controlling violence with the thinking of social justice, not with war to build ecuador with peace.”
Drug trade violence ecuador
Ecuador has become the center of drug trafficking in recent years when the drug market pattern changed.
As American drug users moved to Opiates, South American Cartel moved to fast growing cocaine markets in Europe, Australia and Asia.
Since then, several Pacific ports in Guiakils in Ecuador and Manta have become a path to ship drugs from Jungle Lab in Columbia and Peru to Europe and the rest of the world.
The Turf War has created a ruckus between rival gangs; The rate of murder has increased, while the kidnapping and deletion has increased to high records.
Noboa declared an emergency situation, deployed the army across the country and gathered extraordinary executive powers to curb violence.
But the activists have led to the violation of human rights on the Noboa government and their military approaches.
The Ecuadorian government has told the policy that it has reduced the deaths by 15%, reduced prison violence, and has given the facility to capture major gang leaders.
Edited by: Louis Olofs
