President of Ecuador defends new Constitution

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has proposed a referendum on drafting a new Constitution that would strengthen the country's repressive apparatus against drug trafficking and organized crime.

Since taking power in 2023, Noboa has repeatedly tried to amend the country's constitution .

The proposals, including one that would authorize the chemical castration of rapists, were rejected by the Constitutional Court, whose approval is needed to reform the Constitution.

The President has questioned the decisions of the high court, which he accused of rejecting the legislative proposals out of “pure political activism” against the will of Ecuadorians .

"You voted for change, a change that cannot be achieved while current rules prevent us from directly combating organized crime and the political structures that protect and fuel it," Noboa wrote in a letter posted on social media.

“In this situation, there is no room for excuses, only for action,” he added this Wednesday, proposing “to convene a Constituent Assembly (…) that returns power to the people and frees the country from institutional hostage-taking.”

Ecuador's current Constitution came into force in 2008, under the presidency of socialist Rafael Correa (2007-2017), a political enemy of Noboa who is currently in exile in Belgium.

The President plans to hold a referendum in November on convening a Constituent Assembly to draft a new Constitution.

This had been one of the main promises of Noboa's election campaign, during which he was re-elected leader of Ecuador for a full term (2025-2029). Upon being elected, however, Noboa abandoned the proposal because the parliamentary majority he secured allowed him to pass a series of laws proposed by the government, which social organizations and citizen groups successfully appealed to the Constitutional Court.

Among the reforms promoted by Noboa is the authorization of foreign military bases in Ecuador, prohibited by the current Constitution, to help combat drug trafficking.

The United States previously used a military base in Manta, southwestern Ecuador, for counter-drug activities, but was expelled by Correa in 2009.

With ports on the Pacific Ocean, an economy based on the US dollar and a location between Colombia and Peru, the world's two largest cocaine producers, Ecuador has become the departure point for 70% of the world's cocaine, according to official data.

According to Insight Crime, the country, with 18 million inhabitants, was also the most dangerous in Latin America in 2024, with 39 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

If you have a story you'd like to share about irregularities in your municipality, please fill out this anonymous form .