The Ecuadorians go to the polls as a wave of violence the country

The Ecuadorians go to the polls today in an election of outflow between the president in office Daniel Noboa and the left challenger Luisa González. Noboa is seen as a pro-trump conservative, while González is seen as an ideological ally of the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

Noboa refused to recognize Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela after his elections on stage of 2024 and is also committed to fighting criminal gangs with all the resources available to restore peace and security in Ecuador.

González will be followed in the footsteps of his mentor, the former president Rafael Correa, and will seek stronger ties with the left governments of Latin America Luiz Inácio Lula da Silval, Gustavo Petro di Colombia and Gabriel Boric di Chile.

“Security was his main mandate as president of Ecuador. He dedicated a lot of time, efforts and resources to face the security situation,” he told Fox News Digital Joseph Humire, executive director of the Free Free and Senior Fellow Center of the America First Policy Institute.

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The president of Ecuador Daniel Noboa, who is in the running for the re -election, so that after accompanying his running companion, Maria Jose Pinto, to launch her vote during the presidential elections in Quito, Ecuador, 9 February 2025. (Ap Photo/Carlos Noriega)

“However, there were only marginal improvements in the safety situation and is aggravated to other problems,” added Humire.

González is running on a platform asking for an increase in the military role in the fight against the violence of the bands, but strongly condemns the excessive use of strength and abuse of human rights.

“It seems to have a softer perspective on the crime issue, which means that he has not declared his will to chase drug signs, but, most likely, he intends to negotiate with them,” Mathias Valdez Duffau told Fox News Digital, visiting Fellow at the Center for International University of Argentina.

Valdez Duffao said that a negotiation policy is similar to ex politics President Correa’s administration and would focus on the crime reduction approaches of the whole government that would seem to integrate criminal gangs into civil society.

“The reality is that negotiations with criminal gangs could give the government a short -term space to maneuver, but the bands become stronger and end up co -opting government officials, which in the end lead the country to the verge of becoming a narco state”, warned Valdezduffao.

Luisa González, candidate for the presidency for the movement of the citizens’ revolution, speaks after the polls have closed for the presidential elections in Quito, Ecuador, on February 9, 2025. (Ap Photo/Carlos Noriega)

Violence and insecurity remain at the top of the minds of the voters. Ecuador has the highest homicide rate in Latin America, with 6,986 murders recorded in 2024, making it the second most violent year in the history of Ecuador. About 95,000 people fled from the country in 2024 since many communities have become focal points of the wars of grass between rival bands in competition for the territory.

The Noboa president declared an internal reinforced conflict in 2024 and ordered the armed forces to carry out military operations to neutralize various transnational organized criminal groups. The anti-crime initiative saw an increase in the presence of the army in prisons and communities throughout the country.

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The founder of Blackwater Erik Prince walks with the police officers during the anti-crime operation of Apolo 13 April 2025 in Guayaquil, Ecuador. (Agencia Press South/Getty Images)

Noboa also asked the international community to provide military assistance and suggested that the American army could work with Ecuador to fight violent bands.

Despite the rigid position of the president on crime, January 2025 was the Ecuador more violent month In recent history, with 781 people killed. Noboa collaborated with Erik Prince, founder of the private security company Blackwater, and has formed a strategic alliance in March to strengthen Ecuador’s ability to fight necotherlars.

Ecuador National Police presented people held during a police operation after group clashes that led to several victims to Guayaquil, Ecuador, March 7, 2025. (Ecuador Interior Ministry/Dishut via Reuters)

Insight Crime, a non -profit organization focused on organized crime and safety in the Americas, reports that Ecuador is one of the “most significant drug trafficking hubs” in the region and sends Cocaine from Peru and Colombia to Central America, Mexico and Europe. Many of these Drug trafficking organizations Working through local proxy and other criminal groups infiltrated the prison system and expanded its network of street bands.

The various groups operating throughout the Ecuadorian company and within the prison system work with national and international drug traffickers, including the Sinaloa sign, considered one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world and responsible for a large amount of Traffic of Fenetanil in the United States, according to the Department of Justice.

President Noboa and González each received about 44% of the votes in the first round of the elections. González is the leader of the citizens’ revolution and is considered the heir of the former President Correa. He is also trying to become the first female president of Ecuador. If he wins, the Ecuador could see a return to the left -handed economic policies of the Correa presidency.

The banners with an image of Daniel Noboa, president of the Ecuador and presidential candidate (above) and candidate for the presidency of the left Luisa González are depicted in a road in Guayaquil, Ecuador, April 11, 2025. Ecuador will hold a presidential flow on April 13. (Raul Arborada/AFP via Getty Images)

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Anyone who wins in the second round will have to deal with a uniformly national division between the two sides, making legislation even more difficult to solve the endemic violence of the country and economic problems.

Saúl Medina, a former Governor of Tungurahua, told Fox News Digital who, after the electoral cycle, a complete and determined strategy must be implemented to fight the violence of bands.

The men are face down to the ground, held by the police outside the TC television after a manufacturer told the police who were part of a group that broke on their set during a live broadcast in Guayaquil, Ecuador. (AP/Cesar Munoz)

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Two of the most important issues that must be addressed, according to Medina, are strengthening the institutions and performing a better supervision of the Police and judicial system to eradicate corruption and prison reform.

“Prisons must stop being operating centers for gangs,” added Medina.

Valdez Duffao, Humire and other experts from Latin America agreed on Noboa has gained himself with President Trump. They are ideologically similar and, if Noboa wins, could put it in a better position to face the endemic violence of the country.