The National Assembly debated on June 3 the partial reform of Article 5 of the Constitution to allow the establishment of foreign military bases. The proposal, sent by President Daniel Noboa in September 2024, seeks to provide the State with real tools to combat transnational organized crime.
Currently, the Constitution prohibits any foreign military presence, but the new wording states that Ecuador is a territory of peace without limiting possible strategic security agreements. This opening caused reactions in the plenary, where the ruling party defended the measure as a modern response to a complex threat.
Ruling party legislator Nataly Morillo questioned opposition sectors for their double standards. She recalled that Correísmo granted legal recognition to structures such as the Latin Kings, which now operate as mafias. "They sat them in this Parliament," she said, pointing to the criminal penetration in politics inherited from previous governments.
Meanwhile, from Correísmo, Nuria Butiñá rejected the reform, arguing that it could violate national sovereignty and compromise the country's neutrality in regional conflicts. However, from Acción Democrática Nacional, legislator Adrián Castro recalled that it was the Citizen Revolution that allowed the expansion of crime: "Who let the Tren de Aragua in? Who legalized the Latin Kings and the Ñetas?" he questioned.
