Ecuadorians vote overwhelmingly in referendum to approve toughening fight against gangs

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s fledgling president got a resounding victory Sunday in a referendum that he touted as a way to crack down on criminal gangs behind a spiraling wave of violence.

An official quick count showed that Ecuadorians overwhelmingly voted “yes” to all nine questions focused on tightening security measures, rejecting only two more controversial economic proposals.

The quick count was announced by the head of the Electoral National Council, Diana Atamaint. It confirmed a private exit poll released hours before that indicated a resounding victory and sign of support for President Daniel Noboa, the scion of a wealthy banana exporting family.

Among the measures approved are President Noboa's call to deploy the army in the fight against the gangs, to loosen obstacles for extraditing accused criminals and to lengthen prison sentences for convicted drug traffickers.

Ecuador was traditionally one of South America's most peaceful countries, but it has been rocked in recent years by a wave of violence, much of it spilling over from neighboring Colombia, the world's largest producer of cocaine. Last year, the country's homicide rate shot up to 40 deaths per 100,000 people, one of the highest in the region.

Noboa has rallied popular support by confronting the gangs head on. That task became more urgent in January when masked gunmen, some on orders from imprisoned drug traffickers, terrorized residents and took control of a television station while it was live on the air in an unprecedented show of force.

Following the rampage, the 36-year-old president decreed an “internal armed conflict,” enabling him to use emergency powers to deploy the army in pursuit of about 20 gangs now classified as “terrorists.”

The referendum, in which more than 13 million Ecuadorians were called to vote, contained measures to extend those powers and put them on firmer legal ground.

For some analysts, the Ecuadorian leader must show results to live up to people’s support.

“This gives him some vigor,” said Andrea Endara, analyst and professor at Casa Grande University. But “if the president does not begin to take actions to demonstrate that having voted ‘yes’ brings results to reduce insecurity, this support will quickly be diluted.”

Some of the measures approved imply changes to Ecuador's constitution, but because they were previously endorsed by the Constitutional Court, Noboa only needs to publish them in the official gazette to go into effect. Some of those initiatives are the ones related to the use of the army and extradition.

For the changes that require changing some general laws, the president will have to send a reform proposal to the Assembly, which will have 60 days to process them.

Noboa, ahead of the final tally, celebrated the results. “We've defended the country,” he said in a message posted on social media. “Now we will have more tools to fight against the delinquent and restore peace to Ecuador's families.”

Noboa's law and order rhetoric recalls the policies of El Salvador's wildly popular president, Nayib Bukele, a fellow millennial, and could give him a boost politically as he prepares to run for reelection next year.

Noboa, is serving the final 18 months of a presidential term left vacant when fellow conservative Guillermo Lasso resigned amid a congressional investigation into allegations of corruption. Noboa was elected following a shortened but bloody campaign that saw one of his top rivals brazenly assassinated while campaigning.

“We can’t live in fear of leaving our homes,” Leonor Sandoval, a 39-year-old homemaker, said after voting for all 11 of the proposals.

A voter casts her ballot during referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa to endorse new security measures aimed at cracking down on criminal gangs fueling escalating violence, in Olon, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Cesar Munoz)

Voters line up at a polling station during referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa to endorse new security measures aimed at cracking down on criminal gangs fueling escalating violence, in Olon, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Cesar Munoz)

A soldier guars a pollen station during referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa to endorse new security measures aimed at cracking down on criminal gangs fueling escalating violence, in Olon, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Cesar Munoz)

Children stand by a voter marking questions on the ballot of a referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa to endorse new security measures aimed at crack down on criminal gangs fueling escalating violence in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

President Daniel Noboa arrives to vote in a referendum to endorse new security measures to crackdown on criminal gangs responsible for increasing violence, in Olon, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Cesar Munoz)

A voter marks questions on the ballot of a referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa to endorse new security measures aimed at crack down on criminal gangs fueling escalating violence in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Voters line up at a polling station during a referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa to endorse new security measures aimed at cracking down on criminal gangs fueling escalating violence, in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

An Air Force officer votes in a referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa to endorse new security measures aimed at cracking down on criminal gangs fueling escalating violence, in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

President Daniel Noboa casts his vote in a referendum to endorse new security measures to crackdown on criminal gangs responsible for increasing violence, in Olon, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Cesar Munoz)

A woman holds the ballot to vote in a referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa to endorse new security measures aimed at cracking down on criminal gangs fueling escalating violence, in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

An Air Force soldier votes in a referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa to endorse new security measures aimed at cracking down on criminal gangs fueling escalating violence, in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

President Daniel Noboa holds the ballot during a referendum to endorse new security measures to crackdown on criminal gangs responsible for increasing violence, in Olon, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Cesar Munoz)

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa arrives to the National Electoral Council to officially open voting for a referendum seeking support for new security measures to combat rising violence in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa arrives to the National Electoral Council to officially open voting for a referendum seeking support for new security measures to combat rising violence in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

FILE - Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa, front right, and U.S. Ambassador Michael Fitzpatrick, front left, attend a ceremony at Cotopaxi airport to receive a Hercules aircraft donated by the U.S. government for operational missions, in Latacunga, Ecuador, March 25, 2024. Ecuadorians head to the polls Sunday, April 21, 2024, in a referendum touted by Noboa as a way to crack down on criminal gangs behind a spiraling wave of violence. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)

FILE - Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa waves as he arrives in Poalo, Ecuador, March 21, 2024. Ecuadorians head to the polls Sunday, April 21, 2024, in a referendum touted by Noboa as a way to crack down on criminal gangs behind a spiraling wave of violence. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)

FILE - Soldiers stand on armored vehicles as they patrol the streets during a national state of emergency decreed by President Daniel Noboa to confront a wave of crime, in Portoviejo, Ecuador, Jan. 11, 2024. Ecuadorians head to the polls Sunday, April 21, 2024, in a referendum touted by Noboa as a way to crack down on criminal gangs behind a spiraling wave of violence. (AP Photo/Ariel Ochoa, File)

FILE - Soldiers on patrol frisk a man in the Carapungo neighborhood of Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, April 18, 2024. Ecuadorians will vote on Sunday, April 21, in a referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa that seeks to crack down on criminal gangs behind a spiraling wave of violence. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)

FILE - A resident stands with arms spread apart up against a wall as police search for weapons and or drugs, as part of an operation to combat criminal groups, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, April 4, 2024. Ecuadorians head to the polls Sunday, April 21, in a referendum touted by President Daniel Noboa as a way to crack down on criminal gangs behind a spiraling wave of violence. (AP Photo/Cesar Munoz, File)

FILE - A woman reports a robbery to soldiers patrolling in the Carapungo neighborhood of Quito, Ecuador, April 18, 2024. Ecuadorians will vote on Sunday, April 21, in a referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa that seeks to crack down on criminal gangs behind a spiraling wave of violence. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)

FILE - Ecuador President Daniel Noboa attends a ceremony to deliver equipment to police, at the Gral. Alberto Enriquez Gallo police school in Quito, Ecuador, Jan. 22, 2024. Ecuadorians head to the polls Sunday, April 21, 2024, in a referendum touted by Noboa as a way to crack down on criminal gangs behind a spiraling wave of violence. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — `United Methodist delegates on Friday repealed their church’s longstanding ban on the celebrations of same-sex marriages or unions by its clergy and in its churches.

The action marked the final major reversal of a collection of LGBTQ bans and disapprovals that have been embedded throughout the laws and social teachings of the United Methodist Church over the previous half-century.

The 447-233 vote by the UMC's General Conference came one day after delegates overwhelmingly voted to repeal a 52-year-old declaration that the practice of homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching” and two days after they repealed the denomination's ban on LGBTQ clergy.

It’s the UMC’s first legislative gathering since 2019, one that featured its most progressive slate of delegates in memory following the departure of more than 7,600 mostly conservative congregations in the United States because it essentially stopped enforcing its bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination.

The delegates voted to repeal a section in their Book of Discipline, or church law, that states: “Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.”

Clergy will neither be required nor prohibited from performing any marriage, according to existing law that the conference affirmed with minor revisions Friday.

On Thursday, delegates approved Revised Social Principles, or statements of the church's values. In addition to removing the language about homosexuality being “incompatible with Christian teaching," that revision also defined marriage as a covenant between two adults, without limiting it to heterosexual couples, as the previous version had done.

But while Social Principles are non-binding, the clause removed on Friday had the force of law.

Regional conferences outside the United States have the ability to set their own rules, however, so churches in Africa and elsewhere with more conservative views on sexuality could retain bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ clergy. A pending amendment to the church constitution would also enable the U.S. region to make such adaptations.

The change doesn’t mandate or even explicitly affirm same-sex marriages. But it removes their prohibition. It takes effect Saturday following the close of General Conference.

The Rev. Rebecca Girrell of Vermont told fellow delegates that she regretted having initially declined a request to perform a same-sex marriage because of church rules. “I promised I would never betray my heart or my call to offer ministry and grace to all persons again,” she said.

Later, she said she did defy church rules and performed the same-sex wedding for two military servicemen before their deployment. “You will never convince me that that was wrong,” she said.

But Samuel Cole from Liberia urged the conference not to approve the measure, saying it would not be accepted in other parts of the world and adding that only a man and a woman can produce children.

It’s the UMC’s first legislative gathering since 2019, one that features its most progressive slate of delegates in memory due to the departure of many conservatives from the denomination. More than 7,600 mostly conservative congregations in the United States — one quarter of the denomination’s American total — disaffiliated because the UMC essentially stopped enforcing its bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination.

A temporary window enabled American churches to leave with their properties, normally held by the denomination, under more favorable than normal terms. While the conference voted against extending that window to international churches, the conference votes could still prompt departures of some international churches through different means — particularly in Africa, where conservative sexual values prevail and where same-sex activity is criminalized in some countries.

Separately, the General Conference on Friday removed language making it a chargeable offense for clergy to be a “self-avowed practicing homosexual” or perform same-sex marriages — similar to previous repeals but affecting a different part of church law. There was some debate because the measure also removed other chargeable offenses, such as being unfaithful in marriage, but proponents said there are other parts of the Book of Discipline that allow the church to discipline ministers for immorality.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

United Methodist delegates listen to a debate during their General Conference meeting Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Peter Smith)

The Rev. David Meredith, left, and the Rev. Austin Adkinson sing during a gathering of those in the LGBTQ community and their allies outside the Charlotte Convention Center, in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, May 2, 2024. They were celebrating after the General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to remove the denomination's 52-year-old social teaching that deemed homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching." (AP Photo/Peter Smith)