International
Ecuador: Lasso admits defeat in referendum, calls for unity

February 7th |
The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, admitted on Monday that the adverse results in a referendum and the election of sectional authorities held on Sunday were a wake-up call to the government, before which he called for a great national agreement to solve the demands of Ecuadorians.
The winners of these elections were the opposition parties Union for Hope, of former President Rafael Correa, and Pachakutik, of the indigenous people, according to preliminary results.
In a radio and television chain, Lasso said that beyond the results, citizens yearn for a better country with more security, better education and health, more work, better jobs and salaries.
“What happened on Sunday was a wake-up call from the people to the government and we will not shirk that responsibility.”
He added that after those results the “commitment with Ecuadorians becomes even firmer” on issues such as security, job generation and expansion of social assistance, among others, while ratifying his decision to get closer to the people, to listen and to learn.
With around 50% of the votes counted, the tendency was that the “No” was imposed in the eight questions posed in the referendum promoted by the government and whose attention was focused on the issue of citizen security, in a country hit by the problem of criminality and drug trafficking.
The referendum was seen as a thermometer of the performance of Lasso, a 67-year-old banker who took office in May 2021.
“The results are dramatic for the government, because the consultation could have been an oxygen tank for a highly unpopular government,” said Grace Jaramillo, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, in an interview with AP. He still has two years of “extremely difficult government left, with probable attempts to remove him from power”.
As for the elections, Correa’s party (2007-2017), obtained important results. Correa resides abroad.
According to partial results, the candidates of Union for Hope Pabel Muñoz and Aquiles Álvarez won the mayoralties of Quito and Guayaquil, respectively. In the municipality of Guayaquil they obtained a triumph leaving behind 31 years of government of the right-wing Social Christian party.
Meanwhile, Paola Pabón won the election for the prefecture (governorship) of the province of Pichincha, Marcela Aguiñaga in that of Guayas and Leonardo Orlando in that of Manabí, which are among the most important in the country.
Analyst Mónica Banegas, of the network of political scientists and director of the Haciendo Ecuador Foundation, told AP that the government is “very worn out and besieged” by an adverse political environment, in which not only the government but also the country loses because there were questions to solve institutional and people’s problems.
In the central Andean highlands, the opposition party Pachakutik, also of the indigenous people, has won three prefectures and several mayoralties. The indigenous movement cornered the government for three weeks last June with violent protests to reject an increase in gasoline prices.
Three of the eight questions were related to security, including one on constitutional reforms to allow extradition of Ecuadorians wanted by other countries in criminal proceedings for drug trafficking or organized crime. The Ecuadorian Constitution does not currently allow for the extradition of nationals to face trials or serve sentences in other countries.
This was one of the questions most promoted by the Lasso government, appealing to the insecurity in the country and in a social context of fear and perception of vulnerability due to the increase in crimes.
Ecuador ended last year with a record number of murders. The 4,539 violent deaths in 2022, according to the police count, are more than double the 2,048 crimes in 2021 and, in addition, the highest record since 1990 when this type of statistics began to be counted. Only about 300 cases were solved, according to authorities.
In view of citizen disenchantment with politics and institutions, two questions sought changes in the functioning of the Council of Citizen Participation, which appoints the main control authorities such as the prosecutor, the attorney general or comptroller, and two others had to do with political parties and the composition of the National Assembly, the institution with the worst percentage of citizen approval, according to polls.
According to analyst Banegas, Lasso must now initiate dialogues with all political and social sectors, change his strategy and tune in with the needs of the majorities in order to survive the remaining two years in power, she said.
International
Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.
The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.
The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).
“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.
Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”
International
Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.
Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.
A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”
According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.
International
Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.
Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.
“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.
“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.
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