On September 11, 2025, thousands took part in the “March for Peace” called for by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, under the slogan “peace and justice in the country”. The march took place in Guayaquil, one of the most violent cities in the world, where there have been 1,807 violent deaths so far this year.

Beginning in the early morning, dozens of buses arrived in Guayaquil from different provinces of Ecuador. Thousands of attendees took to the streets of Ecuador’s main port city, waiting for the march to begin at 9 am, as officially announced. However, the event began an hour later when President Daniel Noboa arrived in the area.

Noboa did not follow the planned route for the mobilization, so the demonstration was led by Vice President María José Pinto, Minister of Government Zaida Rovira, Minister of the Interior John Reimberg, and other government officials.

Noboa arrived protected by his bodyguards and joined the final point of the route at 9 de Octubre and Malecón streets. He walked a few blocks and, after approximately ten minutes, arrived at the stage set up for the closing ceremony.

Noboa gave a brief speech (approximately two minutes long), indirectly accusing the Constitutional Court of siding with criminal groups and individuals in the country: “They want to side with rapists, they want to side with drug traffickers, with criminals, with all the people who have hurt us. We cannot allow that. We must raise our voices, and not only raise our voices, but demand that we, the Ecuadorians, be able to decide at the polls what direction this country takes. That is the heart of democracy. No extremism, just pure democracy. Let the people decide, let there be questions, important questions on which the citizens can express their opinions. That will be the final battle. We will continue to march for change in Ecuador.”

For several weeks now, Noboa has made the Constitutional Court his number one enemy after the judges suspended several articles of laws that had been passed by Congress, which is completely controlled by the ruling party. After his brief speech, Noboa immediately left and traveled to Cuenca to fulfill his previously planned agenda, while his supporters dispersed.

Minister of the Interior John Reimberg also made statements against the Constitutional Court for not approving all the questions sent by Noboa for the popular consultation and referendum: “We are marching for peace, for justice, a march that demands that nine judges of a court stop being against, not the government, but the Ecuadorian people,” said Reimberg.

According to information from the Ministry of Government, around 800 buses arrived in Guayaquil and approximately 55,000 people participated voluntarily: “the citizens are showing their support for the work of President Daniel Noboa,” said Minister of Government Zaida Rovira.

However, according to local media, who interviewed attendees, most of the supporters were called upon by state institutions, and some of them did not know the reason for their attendance. In addition, local media and government critics have questioned the use of public resources in the march, in which public officials and tents from the Ministry of Risk Management were seen distributing water and food to Noboa’s supporters.

The march coincides with the presentation and promotion of a Popular Consultation and referendum by the Noboa administration, for which the president sent a second set of questions to the Constitutional Court for review, after four questions from the referendum and popular consultation failed to gain approval from the Constitutional Court.

Previously, on August 12, 2025, the government called for its first march in Quito to pressure the Constitutional Court after the country’s highest court admitted several lawsuits against the National Solidarity, Intelligence, and Public Integrity laws introduced by Noboa and suspended the application of several articles.

Anti-government protests

That same day, the United Workers’ Front (FUT), the National Union of Educators (UNE), the Ecuadorian Medical Federation (FME), and at least 17 other organizations participated in a march summoned to “reject the laws that the government has rushed through the Constitutional Court,” said Edwin Bedoya, president of the FUT and the Ecuadorian Confederation of Classist Unitary Workers’ Organizations (Cedocut).

In addition, attendees protested the lack of medicines and medical supplies in public hospitals, the lack of resources for education, poor work conditions, and for the protection of the country’s natural resources. Marlon Vargas, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), also joined the march: “We are going to accompany the social movements because together we have been fighting in different circumstances.”

According to local media reports and statements by attendees, dozens of motorized police officers arrived at Santo Domingo Square in Quito and attacked the protesters by firing tear gas at them, even though minors were in the square.

Social organizations also organized 12 marches in other cities like Cuenca, Latacunga, and Guayaquil, among others, against President Noboa’s policies and laws.

Noboa’s statements and demonstrations against the country’s highest court have been questioned by international organizations. Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, during the inaugural session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, spoke out against Noboa’s attacks on Ecuador’s Constitutional Court, calling them “unacceptable”.

During his speech, in which he outlined the situations of greatest concern in the world, the High Commissioner mentioned that the laws promoted by Noboa could reduce accountability on the part of law enforcement agencies and expressed his concern about the provisions to “expand the powers of the intelligence services and reduce civic space”.

The post Ecuador sees marches for and against Noboa’s government appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

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