International
60% of participation ninety minutes before the closing of the vote in Ecuador
60% participation in the referendum was reported this Sunday by the National Electoral Council (CNE) ninety minutes before the polling stations were closed in Ecuador, where the day took place with “tranquility” until the murder of the director of a prison was recorded.
The percentage was confirmed by the president of the CNE, Diana Atamaint, in the second report on the electoral process to which more than 13.6 million Ecuadorians are summoned to answer eleven questions related to security, justice, investment and employment.
Atamaint publicly invited the population to come to vote because “the country needs them,” he said in a public appearance.
This vote will be a turning point for Noboa, who plays in it the high popularity achieved in the first months of his mandate by having elevated the fight against criminal gangs to the category of “internal armed conflict.”
During the opening ceremony of the day, Noboa remarked that this referendum “will mark the direction of the challenge to face organized crime, the fight against corruption and job creation.”
“Today is our time to make history, to mark a before and after,” said Noboa, for whom “this consultation collects several political flags.”
The referendum is held at one of the most delicate moments for Noboa in the nearly five months he has been in power, with an international diplomatic crisis due to the assault on the Mexican Embassy to arrest former Vice President Jorge Glas and with an internal energy crisis with blackouts of up to eight hours a day this week.
In case of winning the plebiscite, Noboa will be reinforced with a view to the new general elections that will take place in less than ten months and where the president evaluates running for re-election, but if he loses he can be weakened for the remainder of his mandate, until May 2025.
Criminal violence has also rebounded in the week of the referendum with the murder of two mayors in rural towns in whose territories there is the presence of illegal mining, an activity in which organized crime has also incursion, which has drug trafficking as its main business.
Among the eleven questions there are five that imply changes in the 2008 Constitution approved during the presidential term of Rafael Correa (2007-2017), while the remaining six must be processed through the National Assembly (Parliament), in case of receiving the support of the population.
Most propose legal tools to strengthen the fight against organized crime, which is attributed the wave of violence that has led the country to be among the first in Latin America in homicides, with about 45 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.
Therefore, he proposes that the Armed Forces support the Police in operations against organized crime on a permanent basis, and that the military be in charge of controlling access to prisons, the epicenter of this crisis having been dominated until a few years ago by criminal gangs, with large arsenals of weapons in their possession.
It also seeks to allow the extraditions of Ecuadorians required by the Justice of other countries and raise the penalties for crimes related to organized crime, as well as eliminate the prison benefits for several of these criminal figures.
To this is added the proposals to create a crime of possession and carrying of weapons for the exclusive use of the Police and the Armed Forces and that the weapons seized from crime immediately move on to equip police and military, in addition to expediting the process of expropriation of illegal property.
Other issues focus on establishing a system of constitutional courts, accepting international arbitrations in any jurisdiction and allowing hourly labor contracts.
In Ecuador, voting is mandatory for people between 18 and 65 years old, while it is optional for adolescents between 16 and 18 years old and also for those over 65 years of age, as well as for police, military and prisoners without a final sentence.
International
140: this is the number of countries that recognize the Palestinian state
About 140 countries of the 193 countries that are part of the United Nations (UN) have recognized the Palestinian State and of them eight belong to the European Union (EU), although only Sweden and Cyprus did so after entering it.
Sweden was the last country in the European Union to recognize the Palestinian State, on October 30, 2014.
Three years earlier, on January 30, 2011, it had been done by Cyprus, a member of the European Union since 2004.
The recognition by Sweden in 2014 opened the debate between the EU member states and several legislative chambers approved resolutions to urge their governments to officially recognize Palestine as a state, including the British parliament, the Irish Senate, the Congress of Deputies in Spain or the French Assembly.
On December 17, 2014, the European Parliament (EP) joined the recognition of Palestine, by supporting a joint resolution of the majority political groups that won 498 votes in favor, 111 against and 88 abstentions.
The other six EU countries that have recognized the Palestinian State are the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
They all did it days after, on November 15, 1988, the Palestinian National Council proclaimed in Algiers the establishment of the state of Palestine, while accepting UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, which meant recognizing Israel’s right to exist.
Six of those countries then belonged to the Soviet bloc, including the Czech Republic and Slovakia, then united in a single country, Czechoslovakia.
In the year following its proclamation, the Palestinian State was recognized by ninety countries and in 1995 the number already exceeded one hundred.
Cuba, then also a Soviet ally, and Nicaragua were the first Latin American countries to recognize Palestine as a state, in 1988. Currently, 24 Latin American countries recognize it, all except Mexico and Panama.
The last to do so was Colombia, on August 8, 2018.
The Bahamas, on May 8, was the last country to formally recognize Palestine as a State and its right to “self-determination.” Shortly before, Trinidad and Tobago (May 3), Jamaica (April 24) and Barbados (April 21) had done it.
Among those who do not recognize the Palestinian state, in addition to countries of the European Union such as Germany, France or Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom or Australia stand out.
International
Beijing sanctions 12 other U.S. military companies for selling weapons to Taiwan
China today sanctioned twelve other US military companies and several senior managers for selling weapons to Taiwan and in response to the sanctions imposed by Washington on Chinese entities on account of the war in Ukraine, something that, according to Beijing, “violated the legitimate rights of Chinese institutions and individuals.”
Among the twelve sanctioned companies, which will freeze their assets in China, are several of the Lockheed Martin group, in addition to Javelin Joint Venture, Raytheon Missile Systems and General Dynamics Ordnance, among others, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in a statement.
The Chinese government has reiterated on numerous occasions its opposition to the sale of weapons to Taiwan by Washington, which in turn also sanctioned on May 1 hundreds of companies, including several Chinese companies, which it pointed out for helping Russia in its war against Ukraine.
International
The Princess of Wales still can’t resume her official agenda
The Princess of Wales, Catherine, who is currently undergoing preventive oncological treatment, will not yet be able to resume her official agenda, as indicated by Kensington Palace, her official residence.
The news was released during the presentation of a report on the foundation that it supports and with which it is about giving priority to the mental health of children under five years of age.
For his part, a spokesman for Kensington Palace told the BBC that “the princess is not expected to return to work until her medical team authorizes it.”
Last March, Prince William’s wife revealed through a video that she was undergoing preventive cancer treatment, after doctors detected her with cancer cells after an abdominal operation last January.
Since then, there has been no official statement about the state or treatment of Prince William’s wife.
Like Catherine, King Charles III undergoes oncological treatment.
140: this is the number of countries that recognize the Palestinian state
Beijing sanctions 12 other U.S. military companies for selling weapons to Taiwan
The Princess of Wales still can’t resume her official agenda
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
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