Ecuador | Political situation leading up to the 2025 elections - video Dailymotion

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In the framework of the 2025 General Elections of Ecuador, we interview Diego Pérez Enríquez, teacher at the IAEN School of Security and Defense in Quito to discuss the political and social climate of the country leading up to this country. teleSUR

Transcript

00:00And in this context, let's welcome Diego Pérez,

00:02teacher at the School of Security and Defense

00:05of Quito, Ecuador.

00:06Hi, Diego, and thank you for joining us today.

00:10It's a pleasure talking to you today.

00:12How is Ecuador arriving today to this election

00:15in social and economic matters?

00:20Well, it is a very essential election for Ecuador

00:25because socially, the country has faced a decline,

00:30a steep decline in the quality of life,

00:33whereas in terms of economic progress,

00:38the country has stopped.

00:39But not only that, but it has faced several challenges,

00:43especially regarding the change in security terms

00:49that has affected businesses, as well as the problems regarding

00:54electricity.

00:55It's worth to remember that Ecuador

00:57had a very severe crisis regarding electricity

01:03over the past four months, and that

01:06has affected several businesses.

01:09So it has been a very, those have

01:13been very essential issues in this election.

01:17And this is the country that the new president

01:20will have to face.

01:22In what way the return to neoliberalism in 2017

01:26has impacted and transformed Ecuador's social and economic

01:29landscape the same that we are seeing today?

01:34Well, as it is known, with any neoliberal type

01:40of government, the state has reduced its presence,

01:45especially affecting those in the most marginal sectors

01:51of the citizenship.

01:53So with those conditions in place,

01:57the country has faced more poverty, less opportunities,

02:02more inequality.

02:04And that has meant that the people

02:07is facing more difficult conditions.

02:12And of course, that means in the end

02:15that any candidate who is providing

02:20the notion of a stronger state should, in essence,

02:25should have better options in this election.

02:30However, the narrative regarding violence and crime

02:35has been overwhelming.

02:38And it has been the key element that the government,

02:43that the current government is using

02:46so as to gather people around their postures.

02:50So I think this is an election where

02:54everything is yet to be seen.

02:56Regarding insecurity, Ecuador is suffering today

02:59an alarming rise in insecurity.

03:01In this context, Novoa imposed the militarization

03:04of the country under the narrative

03:06that it is key for the protection of citizens

03:08who are not linked to organized crime.

03:10However, it is happening otherwise.

03:13What repercussions are Novoa's decision

03:15having at a human rights level in the country?

03:19Well, I think this is an issue that

03:24has to be seen from the human rights perspective,

03:26as well as the public policy perspective.

03:29So from the human rights perspective,

03:31I think that the consequences have

03:33been very damaging to Ecuador's reputation,

03:39as well as to Ecuador's respect of human rights, which

03:44has traditionally been one of the things

03:48that Ecuador did somewhat right.

03:52But in this period, we have seen several abuses

03:56by the armed forces, especially in the most marginal areas

04:03of the big cities, where kids have been kidnapped

04:08by the armed forces, where several abuses have

04:11been committed, using the notion that these people were

04:17involved in criminal organizations.

04:23So that's been one of the downsides

04:28of this exceptional state that the president has

04:32kept on decreeing once and again.

04:36Now, on the other hand, we have to consider

04:38that security policy is still public policy.

04:44So it has to have goals.

04:47It has to have people responsible for them.

04:51And in this government, the public policy,

04:54the security public policy, has been, at least to say,

05:00somewhat murky.

05:02It hasn't been a clear public policy regarding security.

05:06It's mostly consistent of notions

05:10that are repeated over and over again

05:11by a securitizational discourse.

05:14But there are no key issues that are

05:20revealed regarding the security conditions of the country.

05:24So this means, in the end, that the country

05:27is going ahead with its work on organized crime.

05:32But it does not have a clear notion

05:36of what the processes should be, of who

05:39is responsible of what, and what are the goals that

05:42are to be achieved.

05:44Let's bring back the topic of the economy issue.

05:47This security crisis the country is facing

05:49has also exacerbated Ecuador's economic goals.

05:52For example, the country fell into recession in 2024,

05:56with its GDP falling by 1.5%.

06:00How does this can be translated in matters of impact

06:03to Ecuadorians' daily life?

06:07Well, I guess we should cross this information.

06:11We should check it against the fact

06:14that there are several, several citizens from Ecuador

06:18that are leaving the country, that

06:21have started huge migration processes.

06:25And these processes are focused on trying

06:30to get a better life.

06:31I mean, Ecuador problems are not only

06:36on the side of the loose, of losing the conditions in what

06:47refers to development, but also the problem here

06:52is that you cannot see what the future would bring.

06:56I mean, there is a very large gap regarding economic progress.

07:03So people tend to migrate.

07:07And this has been happening steadily since 2017.

07:11But especially last year was a very bad year.

07:14Now, it has to be taken into account the presence

07:17of Donald Trump in the US.

07:19And that will certainly change the conditions in Ecuador,

07:26at least during this year, because there

07:30has been a big amount of people who has been returned,

07:35even though we have only less than a month in Donald Trump's

07:39government.

07:39But there is a lot of people who has

07:41been forced to return to Ecuador from the United States.

07:46And the government here is trying

07:48to provide for them some economic bonus, about $1,500

07:57as an economic bonus for them to stay in Ecuador.

08:00Now, the thing, the big question here

08:02is if they are going to stay in a country

08:05where the possibilities of economic progress

08:09are still not sure, not clear.

08:13But also, these opportunities are also

08:20tied to an uncertainty.

08:22And that uncertainty is the chances

08:25of Ecuador of reinserting itself in the international economy

08:29and the chances of Ecuador trying

08:31to have a normal, regular national economy.

08:36Thank you very much, Diego, for your time

08:38here from the South on this key day for Ecuadorians

08:41and for Latin America as well.

08:46Thank you as well.

08:47Have a good day.

08:49We were speaking to Diego Perez, teacher

08:51at the School of Security and Defense of Quito, Ecuador.

08:54And with this interview, let's go for a short break.

08:57But we'll be right back.

08:58Don't go away.

Ecuador | Political situation leading up to the 2025 elections

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