History Repeated: Right United Against Correa Followers

Just as it happened in the elections a little over two years ago in which Guillermo Lasso was elected over the winner of the first round, Andrés Arauz, the broad spectrum of the right is once again coming together against the winner in that instance, Luisa González (Citizen Revolution), and give all its support to the businessman and millionaire Daniel Noboa (National Democratic Action), son of the richest person in the country, Álvaro Noboa, defeated in successive elections by the now exiled Rafael Correa.

The reaction has taken advantage of the chaos in Ecuador's security and economy to promote its ideas of exercising force through unrestricted support for its armed forces, which have deployed more than 3,000 soldiers in two provinces to fight the crime exacerbated during the mandates. of Lenin Moreno and Guillermo Lasso, while prisons remain shackled, with continued violations of human rights by the jailers and a soft hand with those who pull the strings of drug trafficking.

Thus, in this turmoil, and with the announcement made by Lasso of the upcoming arrival of North American military personnel to advise the police and the army, the debate between the presidential candidates took place two weeks before the elections next October 15th.

Let-s remember that according to the official results of the CNE, the two candidates for the Presidency with the most votes on that occasion were González, who obtained 33.61% of the votes (3,315,663), and Noboa, with 23.47 % (2,315,296).

That is, more than a million votes ahead for the candidate of Correa’s followers, but now, with the full support of the right, pollsters say that Noboa has an advantage that ranges between
9-15%.

CONSTANT VIOLENCE

Less than two weeks before elections, drug trafficking violence continues: prison riots, shootings, murders and car bombs keep the population on edge.

Last August 9, the first presidential round was marred by the shooting of one of the candidates, former journalist Fernando Villavicencio, and a few days ago Luisa González was threatened to death, and one of those detained in this regard confessed that he was going to participate in her assassination.

In all this mess of insecurity, the debate was held on the first day, with the positions of both candidates on the matter.

WHAT THEY PROMISED

Both faced each other in a debate in which they promised to toughen measures to fight the growing insecurity in the country.

On this issue, González proposed militarizing prisons, customs, ports and airports, a measure she believes will serve to fight against drug traffickers and that will also have the help of other countries.

“The first thing is to remove a government that let organized crime to infiltrate the country,” emphasized the candidate of the force led by former president Rafael Correa, according to the newspaper Primicias, cited by Europa Press.

These controls, she added, will be linked to the generation of employment and the recovery of public spaces as a way to reduce common crime.

Noboa also guaranteed cooperation with foreign governments, such as the Israeli, the strengthening of border controls, creating citizen surveillance units in the neighborhoods or the establishment of barge prisons to isolate prisoners.

On the other hand, both candidates promised more social investments, especially in health and education.

"There’s a deficit of nearly 5 billion dollars in the national economy [...] As your president I will overcome this deficit over time, it cannot be done overnight, but the only way is with sustained economic growth," González declared in the first block. Likewise, she promised, among other issues, to inject $2.5 billion from the reserves in Switzerland into the economy to promote development, control tax evasion and strengthen oil production.

Noboa, for his part, stated that it’s necessary to turn Ecuador into a "competitive country". "We should have electricity at a lower cost, lower fuels […] without also forgetting a tax system that encourages job creation. How are we going to do it? We are going to invest in electrical distribution and transmission, we are going to refine our oil here," he asserted, proposing deductions in the tax system according to the generation of employment, including youth employment.

In the second section, the RC candidate said that if she reaches the Carondelet Palace she will implement a plan to "retake control of the country", militarizing ports and airports, with the aim of guaranteeing peace and security in the nation, point on which his electoral rival agreed.

"I totally agree [that] the safety of Ecuadorians is not a game," Noboa continued, assuring that he will eliminate the allowance of legal drugs, which, he sustained", encourages micro-trafficking in schools and creates an entire generation of addicts."

During the third block, the ADN leader committed to carrying out his human support plan, which would benefit pregnant women, mothers, and children under two years of age.

While González addressed the issue of health, indicating that during the first 100 days of her government she will supply the health system with basic medications and hire 2,000 additional doctors.

Finally, in the last part of the debate, the Citizen Revolution policy asserted that it will guarantee that retirement pensions are paid, while Noboa pointed out that it’s necessary to strengthen and support the Armed Forces to fight organized crime and solve the social problems suffered by the Ecuadorian people

The colloquium, which took place under heavy police deployment, was organized by the National Electoral Council (NEC). It was the second event of its kind held during said electoral process, after the one held on August 13, prior to the first round of elections, which were held on September 20th, and in which seven of the eight candidates participated.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff