Congratulations on the victory! But there is no need to rest on our laurels. The presidential term that is about to begin will be practically unique in our history because of its short duration.

While other presidents have had the luxury of launching political projects with a four-year horizon, you will face new elections in less than two. His re-election will depend, therefore, on his ability to provide visible and immediate answers to the most difficult problems facing our country. If we Ecuadorians do not see significant change in the coming months, I predict disaster in the next election. Cold electoral logic dictates, therefore, that any initiative that bears fruit in the long term, no matter how effective and necessary it may be, must be put on the back burner for the time being. Time is gold.

Impersonal judges

The problem, of course, is that none of the difficulties facing our country are easy to solve. Drug trafficking, poverty and corruption are deep-rooted structural problems, caused and exacerbated by years of indifference, incompetence and even complicity by civil society and our political class. Improving (let alone solving) these problems in such a short time is an unprecedented challenge.

Now, fortunately for them, there is a relatively simple, fast-moving reform that has the potential to visibly improve one of the most pressing problems facing our country: insecurity. And one of the factors that aggravates this crisis the most is the vulnerability of our judges, blackmailed and corrupted by the mafia.

(…) to create a unit of judges… who, instead of imposing sentences from the national territory, do so from abroad.

What good is it to give the police the best equipment and the best training if the killers they capture are released the next day? What sense will there be in building maximum security prisons, even floating ones as you suggest, if criminals can go in and out of them as they please with the blessing of some judge who knows where? Our police officers may be “robocops” and our prisons impregnable, but until our judges are guaranteed safety, it will all be for naught.

Here is a concrete proposal: create a unit of judges with sole and exclusive jurisdiction over matters of murderers, drug trafficking and terrorism, but instead of imposing sentences from domestic territory, they do it from abroad. May they and their families be far from the intimidation of drug traffickers.

The logistics of this plan are not complex. The USA will undoubtedly support such an initiative, so it will not be difficult to obtain the necessary visas and protective measures for these judges. On the other hand, the attraction of serving as a judge from the comfort of the United States means that many Ecuadorian lawyers and jurists will be very interested in participating in this initiative, so there will be no shortage of good candidates for judges. The plan, therefore, only requires coordination and political will.

I hope, Mr. President, that you will heed this advice. (OR)