70% of Guayaquileños did not vote for Cynthia Viteri, who was seeking re-election as Mayor due to the alliance between the Social Christian Party (PSC) and the Madera de Guerrero movement. This heavy defeat ended 31 years of PSC hegemony in the city. In 1992, León Febres-Cordero became Mayor of Guayaquil; then Jaime Nebot took office in 2000; and finally, Viteri arrived in 2019.
The generations millennial and centennial from the city were born and grew up under the Social Christian administration, but it is precisely they who “turned their backs on the PSC”, say analysts consulted. According to the National Electoral Council, 54% of the total number of people who were called to vote in the last elections are between 23 and 40 years old.
Few of the members of these generations remember a smelly boardwalk, full of drunken people, living on the streets or a city full of garbage, which changed as part of the model that transformed the image of Guayaquil and which was promoted by the PSC.
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But What caused the rejection of the millennials and centennials towards Social Christianity? Paula Oñate, 23, rates Viteri’s administration 3 out of 10. She affirms that the differences with Jaime Nebot’s management are great: “I would give him an 8 out of 10.”
He adds that from the administration of the current top leader of the PSC he remembers works such as the construction of the first Metrovía trunk and the regeneration of various areas of the city: “I only know what old Guayaquil was like thanks to my parents’ stories and photos, and the change has been radical. Since the PSC administration we have grown, but in this last period I think we have remained stagnant. And I think that this is the reason why Guayaquil decided that it was time for a change.”.
Estefanía Castillo, 29, agrees that no major works were seen in the Viteri mayor’s office: “It focused more on the social, such as the animal welfare center, food center (Casa Rosada), detoxification center, among others, which are not bad; however, he should have considered other aspects”.
He criticizes “unnecessary” initiatives that were promoted in the outgoing administration, such as “phrases on the walls, which he said were murals, or wave pools,” when those resources could be used to cover other needs in highly impoverished sectors, such as Monte sinai.
Gisel Márquez, 35, classifies the Viteri period as “more social”, but agrees that no great works were seen. For example, he argues that the Nebot administration did not see as many potholed streets as there are today: “Viteri’s administration was not a good one compared to the previous ones. This administration was the debacle (of the PSC)”.
Cristian Carpio, a political analyst, believes that the implosion that took place within the PSC, which ended in the disaffiliation of important cadres, also originated this rejection of millennials and centennials, since this affected the Guayaquil management model.
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He affirms that Viteri’s mismanagement was key to increasing criticism of the PSC and, therefore, the younger generations opted for options that present a change, such as Aquiles Álvarez (he achieved 39.86% of the valid votes) or Pedro Pablo Duart (he achieved 14.10% of the votes).
In addition, Viteri suffered accelerated wear, according to the expert, in the last months prior to the election, and even in the electoral campaign itself: “His personality, leading a campaign very focused on very particular objectives, neglected what really interested citizens, especially young people. He positioned a debate on beer, and it’s not necessarily something millennials and centennials ended up liking. For this reason, a punitive vote was given that sought a change before a highly questioned administration”.
He highlights that in Nebot’s management, although there was a large generation gap, initiatives were promoted that at the time attracted young people, such as the free delivery of electronic devices and establishing Wi-Fi hotspots in various sectors of the city, accompanied by the improvement of the city in public works. Although there was criticism for the helplessness of the peripheries.
“There is an additional issue. Viteri faced one of the most violent and insecure times not only in Guayaquil, but in the country, and many people got tired of the fact that the mayoress does not face this problem and that she only blames the national government, ”she says.
For Alfredo Serrano, national president of the PSC, when Nebot finished the Mayor’s Office the bar was set very high and a period of 19 years cannot be compared with one of three and a half years for Viteri: “A series of changes must be implemented to correct errors, which we accept have been committed, replacements of directives, new alliances and faces that we have to apply in these two years to face the 2025 presidential elections.″.
Jorge Rodríguez, 19, comments that he did not vote for Viteri because of all the reports of alleged acts of corruption in his administration and that were known throughout these four years: “In addition, more was said about the private life of the mayoress, her tattoos or her way of dressing than about the works she did. She then tried to become a superhero of the city and she wanted to highlight it with that video game that she took out for the campaign”.
Paula, Estefanía and Gisel do not criticize Viteri’s change of image, but that he has handled it as a campaign “strategy” and that he has “self-proclaimed” a benchmark for feminism.
“Pure strategy and poorly managed. He was only looking for the objective of winning the Mayor’s Office again ”, affirms Castillo. He adds that another of the differences is that in the Febres-Cordero and Nebot administrations it was not stated that the municipal coffers were in crisis, as is happening with Viteri.
Aquiles Álvarez, mayor-elect of Guayaquil, assured that the economic problems of the Municipality that he will assume “are serious.” “In the Municipality’s box there was no more than 3 million dollars. The financial economic reality of the Municipality is worrisome, ”he indicated.
The millennials and centennials contacted by EL UNIVERSO hope that Álvarez will address the issue of insecurity, that he will attend to the peripheral sectors of the city and that he will recover the public spaces that have been taken over by drug users, micro-traffickers and sex workers. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
