In Ecuador, election opposes repression and neoliberalism to the reconstruction of the country

Ecuador will go to the polls next Sunday (9) to define the country’s future in a polarized scenario between current President Daniel Noboa and Citizen Revolution candidate Luisa González. At the center of the debate is the public security policy, a topic exploited by Noboa to justify his hardening stance against organized crime.

Its “Phoenix Plan” reproduces characteristics of security models adopted in other countries, where the militarization of the streets, mass incarceration and the violation of human rights are mixed with the bankrupt policies of neoliberalism, which led the country to the collapse of public security .

The 2025 general elections mark the return to the regular electoral calendar of Ecuador, after the early claim of 2023. That year, then -President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly and summoned new elections amid an impeachment process for corruption.

In the second round of that election, Daniel Noboa beat Luisa González, assuming the presidency to comply with Lasso’s rest, scheduled to end 2025. Now, noboa seeks a complete four -year term.

Neoliberal heritage and increased violence

Since the blow to Rafael Correa, leader of the Citizen and Enemy Right Revolution and Ecuador’s financial elite, Ecuador was governed by two right-wing governments: Lenin Moreno (2017-2021) and Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023). These administrations implemented policies of austerity, privatization and reduction of social investments, resulting in the dismantling of public services and the deepening of social inequality.

The precariousness of employment, the scrapping of education and health and the lack of opportunities for youth have paved the way for the growth of organized crime. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of homicides in the country tripled, and the presence of criminal factions linked to drug trafficking grew alarmingly. While business and financial sectors have benefited from state tax exemptions and incentives, the population saw their purchasing power to be drastically reduced.

The collapse of public safety cannot be dissociated from these policies. The lack of social investments and the economy’s disruption deepened the crisis, facilitating the recruitment of young people by criminal factions. Noboa’s model does not break with this history, but intensifies it by turning the country into a police state.

Luisa González and the reconstruction of Ecuador

As opposed to the neoliberal and authoritarian model of Noboa, Luisa González represents the continuity of the progressive project started by Rafael Correa, whose government (2007-2017) was marked by strengthening the role of the state in the economy and expanding social programs.

González proposes a government program structured in three pillars: Generate, protect and boost. The axis To generate It aims to regain Ecuador’s energy sovereignty, with investments in infrastructure and renewable energy to ensure access to electricity at fair prices. The country has suffered from serious energy seizures that have placed Ecuadorians in darkness.

The plan Protect Focus on public safety, but without excessive militarization. Its proposal includes the modernization of police forces, the revision of the prison system and the fight against corruption within security institutions. González advocates a strategy based on intelligence and prevention, investing in social programs and opportunities for vulnerable young people, reducing the causes of violence.

Finally, the axis Boost It focuses on strengthening strategic sectors such as health, education and housing. The government of Correa guaranteed free access to the university, expanded infrastructure investments and significantly reduced poverty rates. González wants to resume these policies, reversing the cuts promoted by neoliberal governments.

Another central point of your proposal is the review of fiscal policy. The candidate defends the reduction of VAT from 15% to 12% and the end of tax privileges for large entrepreneurs, redistributing the tax burden to benefit the working class. In addition, it intends to restore strategic trade relations impaired by the diplomatic isolation imposed by noboa.

The November elections are not just a dispute between two candidates, but a clash between two country models. While Noboa bets on the repression and maintenance of the privileges of the economic elite, Luisa González proposes a project of social reconstruction, focused on strengthening the state and social justice.

Ecuador is facing a decisive choice: deepening the crisis of neoliberalism and authoritarianism or recovering a development model that prioritizes the needs of the population.

Militarization and the discourse of war on crime

Since taking office in 2023, Daniel Noboa has used public safety as his main electoral asset. Inspired by state repression models, especially Nayib Bukele, in El Salvador, the heir to the Noboa Group Business Empire, one of the largest maranade sector conglomerates in Ecuador, promotes a large -scale military operations and increases penalties for drug trafficking crimes .

In January 2024, he even declared the existence of an “internal armed conflict”, expanding the powers of the Armed Forces in Public Security.

The measure resulted in a significant increase in the number of arrests, with thousands of suspects detained without judgment. Human rights organizations report cases of forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and torture committed by state agents.

To date, 27 disappearances have been documented by the Permanent Human Rights Defense Committee (CDH), as well as the murder of a 14 -year -old teenager by military personnel in Guayaquil.

Despite these accusations, Noboa reinforces his rhetoric to combat crime as a watershed to the country. “Old Ecuador’s time is over. Now a new era begins, ”he said in a recent rally, echoing Bukele’s speech about a supposed revival of the nation after the repression of organized crime.

Another similarity between Noboa and Bukele is the use of social networks to worship their public image. Both avoid interviews with traditional media and prioritize direct communication with voters through controlled publications. Noboa adopts a strategy of promoting symbols such as its phoenix tattoo to reinforce the idea of ​​a country “reborn from the ashes”.

This strategy allowed him to avoid public debates and direct criticism, maintaining high popular approval, despite allegations of abuse and the absence of structural social policies to combat the causes of violence.