Electoral fraud in Ecuador was planned and structured long before the April 13 runoff between candidate Luisa González of the Citizen Revolution movement and the far-right candidate Daniel Noboa of the National Democratic Action party.
Although all polls, including the Corpmontpubli poll endorsed by the National Electoral Council, predicted González's victory, the final count declared Noboa the winner with 55.65% to 44.35% for her opponent—a completely implausible percentage given that even the Pachakuti indigenous movement had offered its support to the progressive candidate.
Among the anomalies González presented regarding the "fraudulent process" were the declaration of a state of emergency just hours before the start of voting in seven provinces where the Citizens' Revolution always wins; the CNE's restrictions on voting from abroad; the reassignment of 18 voting registers; the CNE's approval of irregularities committed by Noboa; and the validation of documents by the electoral body without signatures favoring the winner, among others.
Symptomatically, all the hegemonic media outlets and the powerful digital media of the international right supported President Noboa in an attempt to hide the numerous anomalies in the electoral process. The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), for its part, stated that "what has happened in this country is not just a case of administrative irregularities: it is a systematic setup, aimed at forcibly imposing an authoritarian project whose rise to power by Noboa lacks democratic legitimacy."
"The signs of fraud," he added, "are multiple and alarming: last-minute alterations to polling places, arbitrary use of state resources for clientelist purposes, deliberate exclusion of international oversight bodies, and the unacceptable suspension of voting by thousands of Ecuadorians abroad."
For ALBA-TCP, the runoff took place under a biased and unprecedented state of emergency decree, impacting the provinces with the longest tradition of popular elections. Furthermore, there was an "atmosphere of general intimidation of citizens and open advantageous behavior by Daniel Noboa's government. This percentage represents more than a 10-point advantage in an election that experts and pollsters predicted would be difficult to predict."
But let's analyze other important facts and figures. Five days before the runoff, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that the discredited and annexationist OAS had developed a "Multidimensional Security Program for Ecuador," the first in Latin America designed by the organization for the security and defense of a member country.
OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro of Uruguay and Ecuador's Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld discussed the details of the program at a meeting in Washington. They discussed regional cooperation to combat narcoterrorism and OAS support for Ecuador's upcoming electoral process.
It couldn't be clearer. Everything was looking like the right-wing, pro-American Noboa would emerge victorious.
For several months now, the United States has virtually controlled most operations in the country. Noboa, in his neoliberal agenda, has long been subservient to Washington by facilitating the establishment of US bases such as the one in the Galapagos Islands (declared a World Heritage Site), where troops are now free to move around the country.
This Florida-born son of a billionaire has signed two military cooperation treaties with the United States since December 2023. These treaties include the presence of submarines, military personnel, and equipment in the Galapagos Islands for maritime control of the Pacific. He is now in talks to return the Malta base, which was closed by Rafael Correa's government, to Washington.
U.S. AWACS intelligence aircraft fly over major cities in the country, such as Guayaquil, Quito, Cuenca, and Ambato, monitoring any suspicious activity against the regime.
Weeks ago, Noboa hired the US military company Blackwater, led by mercenary Eric Prince, to wage "the war on crime." Blackwater is known for crimes committed against civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq. The OAS, directed by Washington, is in charge of what happens in the Andean country, and Almagro himself reported that the program is a "technical assistance strategy that includes strengthening intelligence and criminal investigation systems, controlling illicit arms trafficking, and community and school prevention programs against violence and child grooming."
The elections in Ecuador took place under all the conditions outlined above. It was very difficult for Luisa González to emerge victorious against a well-oiled machine of right-wing forces, both internal and external, working to commit fraud. The Monroe Doctrine, revived by the Donald Trump administration, has its tentacles in Latin America. These are the "democratic" elections they proclaim: if the left wins, it's fraud; if the right wins, it's fair. The peoples of our America must learn the disastrous lesson that occurred in Ecuador.
(*) Cuban journalist. He writes for the daily Juventud Rebelde and the weekly Opciones. He is the author of "Cuban Emigration in the United States," "Secret Stories of Cuban Doctors in Africa," and "Miami, Dirty Money," among others.