Guillermo Lasso, two turbulent years in office marked by several crises

First modification: 05/18/2023 – 04:20

This Wednesday, May 17, was marked by a new episode in the political crisis that Ecuador is going through. President Guillermo Lasso decided to dissolve the National Assembly with a process popularly known as “cross death”, arguing a “serious internal and political upheaval”.

The “cross death”, introduced in the Constitution in 2008, had never been used until now. It ends the mandate of the deputies of the parliament, but also forces the president to call new general elections.

For the president, this option was probably the only way to save himself from this political crisis and stay in power for a few more months. Indeed, he arrived a few days before the vote of the motion of no confidence to dismiss him by the Chamber. To expel the president, two-thirds of the votes in favor were needed, that is, 92.

The opposition accuses the Ecuadorian president of embezzlement of public funds for failing to act upon learning of alleged irregularities in a contract signed by a state oil transport company. Lasso defended himself this Tuesday in front of the National Assembly arguing, among various things, that this contract had been signed by the old government before he came to power.

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Lasso will be able to govern by decree in a period of maximum six months before the organization of new parliamentary and presidential elections. Now he has to try to solve Ecuador’s most urgent problems, that is, the security and drug-trafficking crisis and the economy. All his decrees will have to go through the filter of the Constitutional Court.

As indicated in the Constitution, Guillermo Lasso may stand in the next elections, although he has not yet announced his decision in this regard. However, the probability that his presidential term will end in six months is high since, after two years in power, the country is still submerged in a social, political and security crisis and his popularity is particularly low.

Crisis of violence and insecurity

Guillermo Lasso came to power in May 2021, obtaining more than 52% of the votes against his left-wing adversary, Andrés Arauz. The former banker and conservative was elected on a neoliberal economic program and the promise of a vaccination campaign against Covid-19.

But after enjoying high approval ratings, his government faced a growing security problem at home, especially in the prison system. Several prisons in the country were the scene of prisoner massacres, bringing the number of prison murders to more than 100 in the year 2022. For example, in the El Inca prison in Quito, 15 inmates were murdered last November.

The country also faced waves of murders in the streets, generating fear among the population. Drug cartels increasingly control the country’s institutions, as well as its territory.

To respond to the problem, Lasso decreed a state of emergency several times in the country, increased the number of security forces, and transferred thousands of prisoners to other prisons, but without effectively lowering homicide rates and even, at times, leading to more waves of violence.

Behind these massacres are the armed gangs related to drug trafficking that dispute internal control of the prisons and the business of selling and exporting drugs. Ecuador, being on the border with Peru and Colombia, two large cocaine producers, is a transit country for the drug to the United States and Europe.

Corruption accusations

President Lasso was accused several times of possible corruption cases.

Lasso’s name appeared in the Pandora Papers in 2021, an investigation revealing that various leaders and personalities hid assets in tax havens. Ecuador prohibits candidates and officials from having investments in tax havens. After the revelation, a congressional commission suggested starting a process for his removal, but it was rejected by the government. The investigation was later archived by the Comptroller’s Office.

In addition to the alleged case of embezzlement debated this week in the National Assembly, and which was to lead to the debate on a possible impeachment, the president faced another mention of censure for his impeachment in June 2022. At this time, long protests over the Rising fuel and food prices rocked the country and led to a national strike by the country’s largest indigenous movement.

Consequently, an impeachment process was requested due to a serious political crisis and internal commotion, but it did not receive enough votes to be approved.

In February 2023, the indigenous movement in Ecuador called for the resignation of the president and declared permanent mobilization.

Since the beginning of his term, Lasso has also faced strong legislative opposition that has blocked his administration. Although the unemployment rate fell during these two years, the economic crisis and employment continue to be major concerns for the population.

In fact, along with the violence, economic insecurity led thousands of Ecuadorians to leave the country in 2022, heading north and passing through the Darién Gap.

With local media