In a national referendum held Nov. 16, Ecuador’s citizens delivered a resounding defeat to oligarchic President Daniel Noboa, voting “no” to each of the four questions contained in a national referendum whose passage the U.S. ally had been counting on to advance his neoliberal and repressive security agenda, coordinating the latter with the Trump administration. Of questions A, B, C, and D, question A called for overturning the constitutional prohibition on installing foreign military bases in the country, which was rejected by 60.29% of voters. Question D, which was voted down by 61.44% of the electorate, called for convening a constituent assembly to write a new constitution, replacing the progressive 2008 one enacted under the government of Rafael Correa.
According to the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Question D was the most controversial of the four questions, raising fears that a new constitution would restrict or eliminate sections protecting labor and human rights, the pension system, functioning of state-sector companies or enact other neoliberal reforms that would end social protections guaranteed in the 2008 constitution. Question B called for ending public financing for political parties, and C would have vastly reduced the number of members of the National Assembly.
It’s notable that this rejection of Noboa’s policy proposals, which he claims are essential to his economic agenda and carrying out his war on narcoterrorism in partnership with the U.S., occurred just when U.S. military and naval forces are positioned in the Caribbean to “combat narcoterrorism” and effect regime change against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Inside Ecuador, Noboa has militarized the country in an “internal war” he declared against organized crime, using harsh repression and flagrantly violating human rights. His military deployment has failed to reduce drug gang violence and a high murder rate, however.
The Nov. 16 referendum was the second time Noboa tried to get approval for the same questions, having failed once before in 2024. A broad array of opposition groups mobilized to ensure a second failure, consisting of smaller opposition parties, large groups within civil society, the powerful indigenous organization CONAIE and the trade union movement. Twice this year, most recently two weeks ago, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the country to lobby for reinstating U.S. military bases, making a high-profile visit to the former U.S. base at Manta on the Pacific coast, which was shut in 2008 when then-President Correa refused to renew the U.S. lease.
