The Latin American Report # 235

What was behind Ecuador's security referendum?

According to some experts, and social and political leaders, the fundamental point of last Sunday's referendum in Ecuador was not security—important on this front was the recapture of major criminal leader Fabricio Colón Pico—but the labor market and international trade law. On issues such as the involvement of the Armed Forces in internal security tasks, the imposition of stiffer penalties for certain crimes, and the extradition of nationals, popular support was resounding. But the president would have appealed to security as a "hook" to hide his true pretensions with the referendum, which in the two questions related to the topics mentioned above were rejected. The head of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities in Ecuador affirmed that—in correspondence to the class to which he belongs—Noboa was seeking to reinstate hourly work contracts and the recognition of international arbitration to solve investment and commercial disputes, under the assumption that the restrictions that currently apply on both fronts block the generation of employment and keep foreign investment away.

_{Leonidas Iza, indigenous leader who opposed the referendum promoted by the Ecuadorian Executive (source).}

The initiatives that shaped the conceptualizations that the head of the Carondelet Palace wanted to modify were introduced by former President Rafael Correa, during whose administration it was understood that hourly or fixed-term work were forms of labor precariousness, while international arbitration—outside the Latin American region—did not correspond to the Constitution. So indigenous leader Leonidas Iza indicated that Noboa was talking of flexibility in the labor market but in favor of those who can dictate the rules of the game due to their position within the relations of production. Taking refuge in Brussels, Correa affirmed that the IMF—an entity with which Quito is negotiating a new credit program—encourages changes in the legal system in this sense as well. "Who is going to oppose the Armed Forces backing up the National Police to fight drug trafficking and organized crime?" he asked, clearly alluding to the fact that the real focus of the referendum was economic.

México: how many local candidates will make it to June alive?

Yesterday a new armed attack against a mayoral candidate was reported, this time in the municipality of Amanalco de Becerra in the State of Mexico. Arturo Lara de la Cruz was wounded in the leg after his house was shot at. The attackers left him an intimidating message: "First and last warning. You are not going to be a candidate and you are no good for a candidate[;] for the next [attack] I will kill your family". Lara's brother, who was a trustee in Amanalco, was massacred more than a year ago (this last fact seems important to me to reflect once again on the phenomenon of family clans in Mexican politics). The central government increased by about 45% the number of candidates receiving protection from federal forces. Local aspirants in particular have been hit hard by violence from criminal groups, as two new political assassinations were registered last week.

_{An intimidating message left by attackers of mayoral candidate (source).}

Top opposition candidate in Venezuela appears to be gaining a foothold in the race

The Venezuelan electoral authority finally approved the changes in the endorsements of two opposition political parties for next July's elections. After confirming Edmundo Gonzalez as the candidate of the main opposition coalition, since months of back and forth to manage the disqualification of Maria Corina Machado, the political forces Un Nuevo Tiempo and Movimiento por Venezuela withdrew the support to candidate Manuel Rosales in favor of González. In this way, the opposition seeks to shield the latter in case the judiciary makes any trick against the party for which he is officially running. "From this moment on, the MPV formally endorses our candidate of Plataforma Unitaria Democrática, González Urrutia, and in unity we will achieve the change", said Movimiento por Venezuela, which had previously denounced that the National Electoral Council prevented access to the electronic system to modify its initial adhesion.

González Urrutia is a 74-year-old opponent of Chavismo, also a former diplomat, for whom I do not see many resources from the political aesthetics of an electoral campaign. "We are united by the great challenge of recovering Venezuela and advancing in a transition to definitive freedom," he said. If the current electoral scenario for July 28 is confirmed, the Venezuelan Government will obtain important political points vis-à-vis the international community and particularly with the United States. The "anti-imperialist" rhetoric of the Miraflores Palace continues to be very strong and active, but in practice both the Chavista Government and Washington need to find common ground. Yesterday Maduro also accepted the return to Caracas of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

American arrested in Miami on charges of being a child sexual abuser

Stefan Correa, a U.S.-based man who intended to fly to Bogotá—as he did on nearly 45 occasions since 2022—was arrested on April 18 at Miami International Airport in an operation coordinated with Colombia. U.S. authorities confiscated nine cell phones with some 50 videos showing him with girls between the ages of 9 and 15. Police in Colombia claim that Correa allegedly used a network that "supplied" the underage girls in Medellín, a city shaken by allegations of child sexual exploitation—"sexual services" are neither criminalized nor regulated in Colombia—as well as high rates of violence and extortion in general.

_{An underage girl, a victim of sexual exploitation, on the streets of Medellín on April 2, 2024 (source).}

This would be the same network linked to another US citizen—resident in Fort Lauderdale—arrested about a month ago in a hotel in Medellín, and who controversially managed to leave the country. Correa's sentence, if found guilty, could be up to life imprisonment. It is alleged that in a video he is having sex with a minor between the ages of 9 and 11, while in a social media message, he appears to be hiring the "services" of another 11-year-old girl for $75, to whom he would pay a similar amount along with an iPhone in their encounter. The alleged sexual abuser claimed to prefer small and thin girls, and demanded that the minors submit to the tortures that his pederastic and twisted soul suggested to him. Let's not lose sight of the fact that the network is managed by Colombian citizens, although no information has been provided about its members on the South American side.

And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.