In the context of the second round of elections in Ecuador, we contacted Diego Pérez Enrique, professor at the School of Security and Defense in Quito.
00:00And in the context of Ecuador's runoff elections, we contact Diego Perez-Enriquez,
00:05teacher at the School of Security and Defense of Quito.
00:08Hello Diego, thank you very much for your time here in From the South.
00:13Good morning and thank you for the invitation.
00:16First, Novoa's administration decided to limit the presence of international observers in today's runoff.
00:23What is at stake today in Ecuador regarding precisely democracy?
00:28Well, the very first thing that is at stake is actually democracy.
00:34This is an election between an extreme right candidate and an extreme left candidate.
00:40So that gives you a glimpse of how polarized the country is in this election.
00:47And that has meant that several less than democratic measures have been taken by the government,
00:54whereas the candidates have had a very harsh campaign and they have had a very, very superficial take on issues that would be really important for the government to come.
01:12This week, the government informed that Eric Prince, founder of the private security company Blackwater, arrived in the country with the purpose of confronting drug gangs,
01:23despite this character and his private organization's nefarious precedent.
01:27What does this mean for Ecuadorians and how could this announcement influence the voting intentions?
01:33Well, Ecuador has been going through a very high, very violent situation ever since 2018.
01:43And in this case, President Novoa decided to bring Eric Prince to Ecuador.
01:50But it is important to note that this is mostly an electoral decision because legally there is no way for him to contract Prince.
02:01And legally, constitutionally, there is no way for mercenaries to be acting in Ecuador's farm enforcers behalf.
02:12So it is mostly a strong man decision to give them the notion that he is willing to do whatever it takes to regain the country's security conditions.
02:25But it is a very, very contested, very difficult situation to just believe that from contracting mercenaries, Ecuador's crime rates would drop or Ecuador's violence would drop.
02:43Because in this context, as you mentioned, Novoa has ruled a country under constant state of exemption.
02:49He has declared war on 22 criminal groups and also it has intensified the militarized approach to this conflict.
02:58What repercussions are Novoa's decision having at a human rights level in the country?
03:05Well, not just in the human rights level where very difficult situations have come to light.
03:12There is the murder and disappearance of four children in Guayaquil.
03:18But several other cases like that have come up lately.
