International
Ecuador: Lasso admits defeat in referendum, calls for unity
February 7th |
The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, admitted on Monday that the adverse results in a referendum and the election of sectional authorities held on Sunday were a wake-up call to the government, before which he called for a great national agreement to solve the demands of Ecuadorians.
The winners of these elections were the opposition parties Union for Hope, of former President Rafael Correa, and Pachakutik, of the indigenous people, according to preliminary results.
In a radio and television chain, Lasso said that beyond the results, citizens yearn for a better country with more security, better education and health, more work, better jobs and salaries.
“What happened on Sunday was a wake-up call from the people to the government and we will not shirk that responsibility.”
He added that after those results the “commitment with Ecuadorians becomes even firmer” on issues such as security, job generation and expansion of social assistance, among others, while ratifying his decision to get closer to the people, to listen and to learn.
With around 50% of the votes counted, the tendency was that the “No” was imposed in the eight questions posed in the referendum promoted by the government and whose attention was focused on the issue of citizen security, in a country hit by the problem of criminality and drug trafficking.
The referendum was seen as a thermometer of the performance of Lasso, a 67-year-old banker who took office in May 2021.
“The results are dramatic for the government, because the consultation could have been an oxygen tank for a highly unpopular government,” said Grace Jaramillo, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, in an interview with AP. He still has two years of “extremely difficult government left, with probable attempts to remove him from power”.
As for the elections, Correa’s party (2007-2017), obtained important results. Correa resides abroad.
According to partial results, the candidates of Union for Hope Pabel Muñoz and Aquiles Álvarez won the mayoralties of Quito and Guayaquil, respectively. In the municipality of Guayaquil they obtained a triumph leaving behind 31 years of government of the right-wing Social Christian party.
Meanwhile, Paola Pabón won the election for the prefecture (governorship) of the province of Pichincha, Marcela Aguiñaga in that of Guayas and Leonardo Orlando in that of Manabí, which are among the most important in the country.
Analyst Mónica Banegas, of the network of political scientists and director of the Haciendo Ecuador Foundation, told AP that the government is “very worn out and besieged” by an adverse political environment, in which not only the government but also the country loses because there were questions to solve institutional and people’s problems.
In the central Andean highlands, the opposition party Pachakutik, also of the indigenous people, has won three prefectures and several mayoralties. The indigenous movement cornered the government for three weeks last June with violent protests to reject an increase in gasoline prices.
Three of the eight questions were related to security, including one on constitutional reforms to allow extradition of Ecuadorians wanted by other countries in criminal proceedings for drug trafficking or organized crime. The Ecuadorian Constitution does not currently allow for the extradition of nationals to face trials or serve sentences in other countries.
This was one of the questions most promoted by the Lasso government, appealing to the insecurity in the country and in a social context of fear and perception of vulnerability due to the increase in crimes.
Ecuador ended last year with a record number of murders. The 4,539 violent deaths in 2022, according to the police count, are more than double the 2,048 crimes in 2021 and, in addition, the highest record since 1990 when this type of statistics began to be counted. Only about 300 cases were solved, according to authorities.
In view of citizen disenchantment with politics and institutions, two questions sought changes in the functioning of the Council of Citizen Participation, which appoints the main control authorities such as the prosecutor, the attorney general or comptroller, and two others had to do with political parties and the composition of the National Assembly, the institution with the worst percentage of citizen approval, according to polls.
According to analyst Banegas, Lasso must now initiate dialogues with all political and social sectors, change his strategy and tune in with the needs of the majorities in order to survive the remaining two years in power, she said.
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
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