By: Movimiento Revolucionario de las y los Trabajadores, Ecuador

On November 16, 2025, Ecuadorians went to the polls to vote for the Referendum and Popular Consultation called by Noboa’s government. The results have been overwhelming and show a serious defeat of the plans to strengthen authoritarianism by altering all the rules of the democratic regime.

This is a strong triumph of the Ecuadorian people. Thousands of people demonstrated in the most diverse ways: marches called by workers, forums, memes and posts which flooded social media for the NO vote. Awareness spread throughout the country that we should stop the government and tell it clearly what we do not want.

In July the Frente Unitario de Trabajadores and CEDOCUT called for the first demonstrations, which continued for three months and were the starting point of these struggles; thus the resistance that at first seemed to include only the workers began to spread throughout the people.

Then came new mobilizations: in October the March for the Water of Cuenca and the National Strike against the increase in the price of diesel and the heroic resistance of the Otavalo people who sustained the struggle despite the brutality of the repression and the crimes, together with the demonstrations and road blockades of the indigenous movement and the marches of workers and social organizations in the main cities of the country. Finally, the Popular Consultation was the climax of the confrontation.

With almost all of the tally sheets counted, we have the following results:

The Ecuadorian people managed to momentarily stop the establishment of an authoritarian regime. This is precisely a partial and temporary victory, since the right and far-right continue to advance in Latin America.

These five months of struggle are only the beginning of the fight against companies and their government. The price of diesel did not decrease, there still is financial and legal harassment against workers, indigenous people and popular fighters, there is no reparation of damages to the victims of repression, labor rights are not respected, the proposal to dismantle the IESS is still standing, public health is on the way to its privatization and, above all, submission to the IMF continues to be the government’s plan .

For these reasons the struggle of the Ecuadorian people continues until we achieve that the government effectively retreats from its neoliberal and authoritarian program. The multiple instances of unity that emerged in this process must be reconvened and expanded, such as the United Front for Rights and Life formed in November in Cuenca, because only a strong united front will be able to stop the national and international onslaught against the Ecuadorian people.

November 2025.