Ecuadorian voters approve extradition of organized crime bosses in referendum

NEW DELHI: Ecuador's national electoral council president Diana Atamaint said that a solid majority of voters on Sunday had approved this, paving the way for the extradition of organized crime bosses.
Around 65 per cent of the voters have opted for the "yes" on the extradition while 35 percent went for "no," according to a quick count of vote results, electoral authorities said in a news conference.

The electoral council's swift tally revealed strong support, ranging from 60% to 73%, for security-focused measures. These included stricter gun controls near prisons, denial of parole for serious crimes like kidnapping or terrorism financing, and authorization for the military to utilize confiscated firearms.
Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa won the security-focused referendum and said that the victory will help him fight sharply increased crime and posted photos of himself along with his wife and two children on his Instagram account and said, "We have defended the country, now we have more tools to fight against crime and return peace to Ecuadorean families."

Over the past decade, cocaine-smuggling syndicates have proliferated throughout Latin America, transforming once-peaceful nations such as Ecuador into new arenas of conflict, according to security officials and diplomats.
In January, global attention turned to Ecuador as violence erupted during a live television broadcast, with gunmen seizing numerous prison staff as hostages.
Pre-election surveys had indicated a probable endorsement of Noboa's proposals in the 11-question referendum.

However, proposals permitting hourly employment contracts—criticized for favoring the wealthy and multinational corporations—and acknowledging international arbitration were both rejected by a majority exceeding 60%.
While some pollsters cautioned that Noboa's recent implementation of daily power cuts, due to dry weather affecting the country's predominantly hydropower-based energy supply, might diminish his support, it appears these measures had little impact on voter sentiment.
Ecuador's CNE electoral council reported peaceful voting proceedings, despite some challenges posed by heavy rainfall delaying the setup of certain polling