Daniel Noboa’s presidency began this week. The previous seven were about assembling the equipment and warming up the engine. With this, he declared war on narco-terrorism, included essential issues in the public consultation, sent the third urgent VAT increase to 15% and announced the upcoming public procurement project. An increase in electricity prices is to be expected.

VAT of 15% proposed by the Government in a new urgent project to deal with internal armed conflicts, social and economic crisis

Phoenix’s plan is comprehensive. Declaring an internal armed conflict allows law enforcement to neutralize gangs terrorizing the country without having to wait to shoot them first, limit the progressive use of force, or link them to a specific crime. Noboa warned judges serving drug traffickers that it would no longer be possible to automatically release captured terrorists.

The timid initial questions of the consultation were followed by other sharp ones. It remains to be seen whether the Constitutional Court will persist in assuming a leading role and deny them.

The black clouds that threaten to turn into a storm begin to disperse.

Among the most significant proposals is to change the constitution to allow the extradition of domestic criminals who have also committed crimes abroad. This causes fear among mafia bosses, because they could not take over a foreign prison or control the judges. Pablo Escobar’s great battle was against extradition. It is intended to strengthen the Prosecutor’s Office, which in the case of Metastasis rejected the initiative of the Judicial Council to appoint more judges connected to drug dealers. (The CJ dates from the 1998 Constitution, not 2008 as we wrongly mentioned in our previous article. Thanks to Dr. Alexis Mera for the clarification).

Daniel Noboa: ‘Judges and prosecutors who help terrorists will also be considered part or members of a terrorist network’

It is proposed to incorporate fixed-term and hourly contracts into the Constitution and the Labor Law, a reform that neither Moreno nor Lasso dared to propose. In these times of globalization and automation, the rigidity of our Labor Law discourages employment and today we have fewer workers with adequate employment than ten years ago.

There will also be consultations on allowing international arbitration in disputes between foreign companies and the state. This removes the obstacle to signing international agreements and foreign investments in general. It is said that the state always loses arbitration. It’s not true. In the last one, against Australian WorleyParsons, Ecuador celebrated. But our governments often make impulsive decisions, without measuring the consequences, and that is why there are so many contracts in arbitration and unfavorable results.

The deportation of 1,500 foreign prisoners will begin this week, announced President Daniel Noboa

The case of Occidental is emblematic. Alfredo Palacio’s government confiscated the property and operations of that oil company because it bought, without seeking approval, part of the production of another company that operated in the East. If this common business practice required authorization, it could be sanctioned, but not so draconianly. Ecuador had to compensate the company, but in a value lower than the one from which it profited through confiscation. In the end, Ecuador did not suffer from the maneuver.

The black clouds that threaten to turn into a storm begin to disperse. Hope is reborn. If Noboa faces terrorism like Bukele and economic crisis like Milei, he would become our Mikele and have re-election in his pocket. (OR)