Displaying items by tag: Ecuador

President Daniel Noboa has proposed changing Ecuador’s constitution to allow foreign military bases, a move aimed at combating transnational crime and drug trafficking. He argues that Ecuador needs international military assistance to address escalating gang violence. This proposal comes fifteen years after former president Rafael Correa banned foreign military bases, ending the US presence in the country. It would have to pass through the constitutional court, the national assembly, and a public referendum. Noboa, facing declining approval ratings due to ongoing violence, hopes this reform will bolster his security policies ahead of his 2025 re-election campaign. Gang-related violence has surged in Ecuador's port cities, with murder and kidnapping rates skyrocketing.

On 30 April Ecuadorean president Daniel Noboa decreed a state of emergency in five coastal provinces, lasting sixty days, because of ‘internal armed conflict’. The measure marks the second such declaration by Noboa, who took office in November with promises to turn around a deteriorating security situation which has led to a spike in violent deaths and other crimes. The police and armed forces will be deployed in the provinces for ‘tactical combat operations’ against organised armed groups’. The government blames the violence (including the dramatic invasion of a television station and mass hostage-taking of prison guards in January) on drug-trafficking gangs.

Cesar Suarez, the prosecutor investigating the recent attack on a local TV station, was shot dead on 18 January. The attack occurred on 10 January: a group of individuals stormed the building, setting fires and causing extensive damage. Suarez, who was actively investigating this attack, was killed in what appears to be a targeted assassination. The TV station attack has raised concerns about press freedom and safety in Ecuador, as it comes amidst a backdrop of political tensions and unrest in the country. The prosecutor's murder further underscores these concerns and raises questions about the safety of those investigating such incidents. The authorities in Ecuador have condemned the attack on the TV station and the killing of the prosecutor, and have promised to bring those responsible to justice. However, the incident highlights the challenges and risks faced by those working to uphold the rule of law and protect press freedom in the country.

In October we prayed for the presidential election in Ecuador. Now millionaire Daniel Noboa has been sworn in as president, marking a significant shift in the country's political landscape. A businessman with no prior political experience, he surprisingly won the snap election which former president Guillermo Lasso called to avoid possible impeachment. He will serve only 18 months, the remainder of Lasso’s term. Once considered one of the safest countries in the region, Ecuador has seen violence explode in recent years; there was an unprecedented increase in bloodshed, and drug violence has led to some 3,600 murders so far this year. Noboa has said he will target the violence by tackling unemployment, but also implement a state of emergency, suspend some citizen rights such as freedom of movement, and deploy the military to the streets. There is a considerable sense of uncertainty and anticipation surrounding his presidency.

Left-leaning Luisa González and centrist Daniel Noboa have faced each other in the last debate before the run-off election on 15 October. The debate gave both candidates a platform to address long-simmering issues in the country. The economy remains Ecuador’s Achilles heel: at the end of 2022, debt alone accounted for 57 percent of the GDP. The other major issue facing the candidates is crime. Ecuador, once one of the most peaceful countries in Latin America, is now on track to become the third-most violent country in the region. In August, that violence spilled over with the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in Quito. Since then, candidates have been wearing bullet-proof vests. Noboa is ahead in the polls, but many Ecuadorians have not yet made up their minds about who to vote for.

Elections in Guatemala and Ecuador are a test of democracy as both have a climate of corruption, tension and violence in politics. In Guatemala’s election on 20 August, anti-corruption candidate Bernardo Arévalo won, despite Guatemala’s court recently ordering his political party into suspension, triggering massive protests and unrest. He denounced the police raid that followed, stating it was an act of ‘political persecution’. Also on 20 August Ecuador voted for a president. Rampant crime blamed on drug gangs, a struggling economy, and a rise in unemployment and migration are the top concerns of voters. The candidate standing against corruption and organised crime was assassinated on 9 August. There was no outright winner on the 20th. The runoff will be on 15 October, between leftist candidate Luisa Gonzalez and businessman politician Daniel Noboa. Noboa wants to implement harsh policies in relation to crime, and talks about security, which appeals to those unhappy with the current political system.

Ecuador, one of four Latin American teams in the 2022 World Cup, is drawing attention not only for its impressive start to the tournament but also for the way the players are celebrating their goals. On 20 November former West Ham player Enner Valencia scored twice, securing the win against host team Qatar. Both goals were dedicated to God as the players came together to form a circle and fall to their knees before pointing and looking up to the sky to celebrate. It is understood most of the team’s players are Christians, with several videos on social media showing them praying before each match.

Two activists who successfully fought against mining on their ancestral lands have won an international environmental prize. Alex Lucitante, 29, and Alexandra Narváez, 32, led the Cofan indigenous community which used drones and camera traps to collect crucial evidence in securing a legal victory which resulted in 79,000 acres of rainforest being protected from gold mining. In 2017, they found out that the government had issued 20 mining licences, with 32 more waiting to be approved. After a legal battle which lasted almost a year, the community achieved a remarkable victory. A provincial court ruled that the authorities had failed to seek the consent of the Cofan, nullified both the existing and pending licences, and ordered that the mining activities be stopped.

Landslides triggered by heavy rain and flooding have sent mud waves three metres high across Quito, killing at least 24 and seriously injuring 48; many more are missing. Residents could not save anything as mud carried away motorcycles, cars, trees, telegraph poles and anything not bolted down. It was the worst landslide in almost twenty years. Government rescue workers, hearing cries for help from people trapped below the mud, called for everyone to keep quiet so they could hear survivors. The rescue operations remain dangerous as smaller mud waves continue to cascade from the mountains. Pray for residents and rescue workers in danger of being buried as soil from the mountain continues to shift. Authorities have not yet ruled out the possibility of another major landslide in the area. Most of Quito’s 2.7 million people have been taken to shelters, some suffering from hypothermia. Authorities have called for three days of mourning to remember the victims.

Latin America continues to be a continent enduring profound suffering. 

Alongside some background articles about current affairs in parts of the continent, IPC’s Latin America Director – Yanira Gonzalez – has drawn together some prayer points to focus our hearts and minds on the needs of the people of Latin America.

The effects of the pandemic after a year on the continent have been devastating: deaths, unemployment, increased poverty, depression, domestic violence. Pray that the church will be a prophetic voice in this crisis announcing hope, grace and forgiveness. Latin America needs to hear God’s voice.

During the course of 2021, nine Latin American countries will hold elections, with five—Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru—selecting presidents.  In particular, the Chilean and Peruvian elections will be taking place during the coming weeks.

The Chilean elections have already demonstrated the turmoil that 18 months of the pandemic have brought to many nations as Chile's centre-right ruling coalition failed to secure a critical one-third of seats in the body that will draft the country's new constitution.

With 90% of the votes counted, candidates backed by President Sebastian Pinera's centre-right Chile Vamos coalition had won only a fifth while independents picked up the most votes. New proposals will require two-thirds approval and without a third of the delegates, the government will struggle to block radical changes to the constitution unless it can forge new alliances.

At the time of writing this article, the result of Peru’s election remains unclear.  Peru’s left wing candidate Pedro Castillo, a relative newcomer to the political scene, has claimed victory in the after clinging on to a narrow lead as the lengthy vote count ended, although his right-wing rival has pledged to fight the result and has yet to concede.

Castillo ended the count 44,058 votes ahead of Keiko Fujimori, who has made allegations of fraud with little proof and has tried to get some votes annulled.

The result of the ballot held on 6 June has not been formally announced by electoral authorities, but Castillo hailed the win on Twitter.

As tensions increase, United Nations Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet expressed her concern.

"Electoral institutions and the decisions they make must be respected and accepted," she tweeted.

 "If the rules of democracy are not accepted before, during and after the elections, it can create dangerous cracks in social cohesion."

Please pray for deeply divided Peru.

Pray: for Colombia’s ongoing protests against increased taxes, corruption, inequality, lack of opportunity and health care reform, proposed by the government of President Ivan Duque Marquez to stop.  The protests have claimed dozens of lives since the end of April, 2021 in Bogota and other main cities. Pray that God will touch the heart of government and demonstrators with peace.

Pray: for a continental movement of repentance from the shedding of innocent blood supported for many abortion laws approved by governments in Latin America. Pray for mercy! (Psalm 106:38 And shed innocent blood, even blood of their sons and of their daughters,/; and polluted the land with blood. Proverbs 6:16, 17... These six things the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.)

Please pray for a practical solution for the USA – Mexico Southern Border Crisis.

Pray: for the welfare of 21,000+ children incarcerated in US-run shelters awaiting immigration clearance, and for their families facing stressful processes and uncertainties.

Pray: for protection and rescue of trafficked children whose freedom and innocence have been betrayed (Matthew 18:10)

“Unauthorized immigrants are now running head over heels toward the Border Patrol in a most unlikely pattern of controlled anarchy.”  The San Diego Union Tribune May 7, 2021)

In Venezuela, a meeting of the National spiritist council, sorcerers, federation of ancestral religions, shamans, yatiris and governmental leaders of the continent is being summoned for a strategic proclamation of the Bolivarian* movement in Latin America. They want to establish not only a more leftist agenda, but spiritism as an endorsement of popular socialism to activate a revolution in our nations. We invite you to pray against all witchcraft and invocation of ancestral spirits that want to take over Latin America.

*Bolivarianism is a mix of pan-hispanic, socialist and national-patriotic ideals fixed against injustices of imperialism, inequality and corruption named after Simón Bolívar, the 19th-century Venezuelan general and liberator from the Spanish monarchy then in abeyance, who led the struggle for independence throughout much of South America. 

The Bolivarian Revolution is a political process in Venezuela that was led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).  According to Chávez and other supporters, the Bolivarian Revolution seeks to build an inter-American coalition to implement Bolivarianism, nationalism and a state-led economy.  (Attribution: Wikipedia)

Please pray for the spirits of darkness, ideological, political and occult, to be bound along with their human actors who want to destabilize and destroy Latin America and all freedom-loving nations.

Pray: that God would raise up leaders with integrity, godly inspired to bring transformation to their nations.

More / Sources: AS / COA, Reuters, The Guardian