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Navy soldiers stand guard over boxes of election materials to be taken to a polling stations in preparation for Sunday's presidential runoff election, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, April 12, 2025
INTERNATIONAL observers raised the alarm over a sudden state of emergency declared in Ecuador ahead of tomorrow’s election, warning it could be designed to help incumbent President Daniel Noboa rig the vote.
Mr Noboa, son of the country’s richest man, and socialist challenger Luisa Gonzalez of the Citizen Revolution dayMovement (RC) were neck and neck in the first round with 44 per cent each.
The state of emergency — officially enacted to tackle violent drug-trafficking gangs — restricts freedom of assembly and allows arbitrary police seizure of devices and documents.
Noboa’s second term looks set to deepen his neoliberal policies: reduced public investment, privatization, cuts to social programmes, and militarisation, says PILAR TROYA FERNANDEZ
Ecuador’s election wasn’t free — and its people will pay the price under President Noboa
