- by Jesus Rojas
- The Guardian
- Issue #2173
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa. Photo: Asamblea Nacional – flickr.com (CC BY-SA 2.0)
This November, Ecuadorians have voted in a referendum on allowing the return of foreign military bases. The referendum was proposed by President Daniel Noboa, a right-wing authoritarian who has led a military crackdown on criminal gangs. The proposal was defeated with a decisive 64 per cent majority.
The outcome of the referendum can be seen as a historic victory for national sovereignty over US interventionism. This decision by the citizens was a demonstration of civic maturity that thwarted the plans of President Daniel Noboa’s government and the administration of Donald Trump.
On one side was the United States – and particularly the figure of Trump – as a sort of “Big Brother” with a transactional view of international politics, eager to reclaim the prize of restoring bases in a strategic location. On the other, the government of Daniel Noboa a weak and compromised actor, accused of seeking a “quiet capitulation” of national sovereignty. Standing against them, the Ecuadorian people were the collective hero of the hour. Their resounding No vote was an act of conscious and legitimate defiance.
This was not merely a question of security policy, as Noboa tried to frame it. It was a struggle between self-determination – embodied in the constitutional clause of a “Territory of Peace” – and the risk of becoming a “military colony” serving foreign interests. There is both triumph and caution over this reality check for US interventionism. Triumph for standing up to the US but caution that Washington could resort to darker, more stealthy means to impose its agenda.
The message is clear and aimed at those with anti-imperialist, nationalist, and left-leaning sympathies, who value self-determination over security frameworks promoted from abroad. Although Noboa is president for now, the vote hearkens back to ‘Correismo,’ the beliefs of former socialist president Rafael Correa, who resisted foreign entrapment and stood up for Ecuadorian independence. Correa drew Ecuador closer to the ALBA alliance and to Venezuela, led by Hugo Chavez.
In conclusion, the referendum result is a popular and ideological victory that also serves as a warning of potential future threats.
