Voting simulation is held in Ecuador and abroad to prepare technical and logistical aspects ahead of election day. January 26, 2025. Photo: CNE Ecuador
⭕ [COMUNICADO]@DanielNoboaOk pisotea la Constitución. La @CorteConstEcu declaró inconstitucionales sus decretos, pero sigue imponiendo presidentas a su antojo.
— CONAIE (@CONAIE_Ecuador) February 4, 2025
Con un @cnegobec parcializado, no hay garantías para unas #EleccionesEcuador2025 justas y transparentes. pic.twitter.com/zs6KHXUTVT
The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) has released a statement denouncing a lack of transparency and guarantees in the upcoming general election process in Ecuador on Sunday (Feb. 9).
“We’re warning about the lack of guarantees in the electoral process, the risk of manipulating the results and manoeuvres that alter the popular will of the people,” the statement read.
“Executive orders 500 and 505 were declared unconstitutional because they violate constitutional article 146, which clearly establishes a replacement mechanism in case of temporary absence of the president (..) Ultimately, [Noboa] has never abandoned power and has utilized public resources for his electoral campaign. No authoritarian manoeuvres can hide the truth: Noboa’s government is plagued by irregularities, abuses, and disrespect for democracy.”
CONAIE’s president, Leonidas Iza, is a candidate representing the Pachakutik party, which came in close third in the 2021 presidential elections under different leadership, nearly tying with Guillermo Lasso who went on to win the election in the second round. The organization concluded that with “Ecuador’s National Electoral Council papalized, there are no guarantees for fair and transparent elections.”
Amid the chaos in the lead up to the presidential election, president Noboa ordered the closure of borders until after the election, and the militarization of ports.
Meanwhile, one of Noboa’s main critics remains incarcerated. The Veeduría Internacional Derechos Humanos Jorge Glas (In English, the International Human Rights Watch for Jorge Glas) has weighed in on the violation of international commitments of the Ecuadorian State with respect to the life and physical integrity of former Ecuadorian vice president, Jorge Glas. Ecuadorian police and military forces raided the Mexican embassy in Quito to re-arrest Glas in April 2024. Just hours prior to the invasion, Mexico had granted him political asylum on grounds of political persecution.
Glas is currently detained at La Roca maximum security prison in Guayaquil. In November, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Dr. Alice Jill Edwards, stated, “I am concerned by medical and other reports suggesting that Mr. Glas was subjected to torture, including dislocated thumbs, lacerations to his wrists from excessive use of handcuffs, and bruises and hematomas to his arms, thighs and chest, indicative of physical beatings.”