International
Noboa’s 100 days in office: Ecuador’s president steers tough crime policies and economic overhauls
Ecuador’s President, Daniel Noboa, celebrates one hundred days in office with significant popularity, attributed to his firm stance against crime, declaring an “internal armed conflict,” and driving economic reforms to stabilize the state’s finances, including an increase in the value-added tax (VAT).
Assuming office at 35 in November last year, the youngest president in Ecuador’s democratic history inherited a nation grappling with soaring crime rates, primarily driven by criminal syndicates, notably those involved in drug trafficking. Additionally, Ecuador faced a substantial fiscal deficit of $4.8 billion, nearly 5% of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Noboa has garnered support for economic reforms in the National Assembly, a body that acted as a barrier for his predecessor Guillermo Lasso between 2021 and 2023.
Noboa’s Economic Reforms
The government’s political maneuverability, manifested in “mobile majorities” in the Assembly, has facilitated Noboa’s efforts to raise additional funds to address the country’s economic crisis and combat insecurity. Notably, the VAT increased from 12% to 15% starting April.
On January 9, the government faced one of the toughest moments in recent years when an armed group stormed a television channel during a live broadcast, coinciding with violent incidents in the streets and riots in several prisons, resulting in the release of 200 hostages, including police officers and guards.
All this occurred amid a state of emergency, followed by the declaration of an “internal armed conflict” against criminal gangs, which Noboa labeled as “terrorists.”
Intervention in Prisons
Simultaneously, the police and armed forces intervened in prisons, which had become centers of the security crisis, controlled by criminal gangs responsible for a series of prison massacres since 2020, claiming over 450 inmate lives.
During this period, over 64 tons of drugs have been seized, including the largest cocaine haul in the country’s history, totaling 21.5 tons found on a rural estate.
Political analyst Cristian Carpio views security as the linchpin of the government’s sustainability.
“The declaration of an internal armed conflict provided the president with political legitimacy to advance his actions and garnered increased support from the citizenry,” he told EFE.
He attributes the lack of significant opposition to the VAT hike, certain reforms, or Noboa’s announcement to analyze the elimination of fuel subsidies to the “perception” of security. However, Carpio anticipates potential shifts as citizens feel the economic effects of these measures, prompting the government to pivot towards job creation.
Fulfilling a campaign promise to convene a referendum, Ecuadorians will vote on April 21 to respond to eleven questions, mostly pertaining to security.
“The government leveraged the referendum on security issues, which not only bolstered its legitimacy among the populace but also before the Constitutional Court. I’m not sure if, under different circumstances, steps would have been taken, such as the issue of hourly work, which has been a red line in Ecuador’s politics,” he said.
According to the analyst, Noboa has “high chances of winning the referendum,” paving the way for a reelection campaign.
Political Capital in the Pre-election Year
Carpio highlights Noboa’s enduring political honeymoon three months into his presidency, enjoying popularity ranging from 70% to 80% according to various polls. However, he expresses concern over potential declines due to the economic measures.
“Nevertheless, it’s a significant political capital, especially in a pre-election year,” he emphasized, noting that Ecuadorians will elect a new president in 2025, as Noboa was elected to complete Lasso’s term until May of that year.
International
China shows at the UN its “condemnation” of Israel for the “violation of Iran’s sovereignty”
The Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong, showed the “condemnation” of his country against the “violation of the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Iran” after the air attack launched by Israel against multiple targets in that country, the official newspaper Diario del Pueblo reports this Saturday.
That media echoes Fu’s speech to the UN Security Council on Friday, in which he demanded that Israel “immediately stop all its military actions.”
“China (…) opposes the expansion of conflicts, and is deeply concerned about the serious consequences that may arise from Israel’s actions. The intensification of regional tensions does not interest any of the parties involved,” said the Chinese emissary.
Beijing called on Tel Aviv and Tehran to “resolve their disputes through political and diplomatic means, and maintain peace and stability at the regional level jointly.”
In Fu’s view, the Israeli attack will have a “negative impact” on the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program: “China has always been committed to the peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and consultations, and opposes the use of force, illegal unilateral sanctions and armed attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities.”
This Friday, China had already expressed its willingness to “play a constructive role” to curb the escalation of tensions and facilitate conciliation, in line with its traditional position of active neutrality in the region’s conflicts.
The Israeli attack, which according to Tehran caused dozens of deaths, including senior military commanders and at least six nuclear scientists, targeted key facilities such as the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. Numerous civilian casualties were also reported.
Israel justified the offensive by claiming that the Iranian regime is secretly developing a program to manufacture nuclear weapons.
For his part, Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, promised a “severe response” and assured that the attack would reveal the “evil nature” of Israel.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also expressed concern about the bombing, at a time when Iran and the US The United States is holding talks about the Iranian nuclear program.
International
Donald Trump’s government pauses its program of indiscriminate raides against migrants
The government of US President Donald Trump has decided to pause its campaign of discretionary roundings against migrants in certain areas due to its apparent concern about the growing unpopularity of these methods, according to The New York Times newspaper on Friday.
According to an email to which the newspaper has had access and the confirmation of US officials, the Executive has ordered the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE) to pause the beatings that affect the agricultural industry and the hospitality industry.
The spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, confirmed in a statement that “the president’s instructions” will be obeyed and the portfolio will also continue to “work to get the worst illegal foreign criminals out of the streets of the United States.”
The decision points out that this campaign of discretionary arrests to try to deport large-scale immigrants is harming industries and electoral constituencies whose support Trump wants to retain for next year’s legislative elections.
The new instructions were transmitted to ICE in an email sent last Thursday asking that “all investigations/law enforcement operations be suspended in work centers in the agricultural sector (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and hotels.”
These new guidelines come in turn after more than a week of intense protests in Los Angeles against this immigration policy and that Trump himself admitted that the raids seem to be affecting the agricultural sector, which in states like California, where beatings have intensified, depend almost exclusively on immigrant labor.
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has implemented an aggressive policy of hard hand against immigration and as a sample of his Cabinet officials recently held a meeting with the ICE leadership to order them to carry out 3,000 arrests a day, a mandate that seems to be behind the intensification of the raids.
International
Trump says he knew “everything” about the attack on Iran and assures that the dialogue remains open
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington “known everything” about the Israeli attack on Iran and that the dialogue on Tehran’s nuclear program “is not dead.”
“We knew everything and I tried to avoid Iran all this humiliation and death. I tried hard to avoid it because I would have loved to see an agreement,” Trump said in an interview with Reuters.
The US president insisted on what he wrote today about the attack on social networks, where he said he gave an ultimatum of 60 days to Tehran to reach an agreement.
“We knew practically everything. We knew enough to give Iran 60 days to reach an agreement and today it is already 61 days,” he explained in the interview, in which he said he did not know what the current situation of the Iranian nuclear program is after the attack launched by Israel, which also ended the lives of key military leaders of the Persian country.
Regarding the dialogue between the US and Iran about the nuclear program of the ayatollahs, Trump assured that “he is not dead”, that “an agreement is still possible” and also recalled that on Sunday a sixth round of dialogue is scheduled in Muscat (Oman) that they consider is now in the air.
“We have a meeting with them on Sunday. Now, I’m not sure if that meeting will take place, but we have a meeting with them on Sunday,” he said.
The United States and Iran have held five rounds of talks on the Iranian nuclear program since April, with Washington demanding that Tehran discard its capabilities both to manufacture an atomic bomb and to enrich uranium, something that the ayatollahs considered unacceptable.
Both Israel and Trump himself had warned of possible preventive attacks on the Persian country due to this refusal by Iran.
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