Ecuadorians are divided between candidates before the surface flow elections on Sunday

Machala is spreading with posters for presidential candidates in Ecuador, and their smiling faces that look at the business and closed streets that empty after 6 pm due to the competing gangs that torment the city.

Machala, the city of the south of Gawayakale, is a mini image of the challenges facing the South American State – including chronic unemployment and a security crisis led by an increase in drug violence – many voters say they are their biggest concerns before the ongoing elections on Sunday.

The elections are engraved from the job operator, President Daniel Nuboa, the heir of the Banana Banana Banana, who rose from political ambiguity to win a severed period after the former president faced accountability, against Luisa Gonzalez, the successor chosen by the Titan people from the Ecuadorian policy.

Mr. Nubua has placed himself as a strong candidate for the crime, and as the best politician to lead Ecuador on the world stage and negotiate with world leaders such as President Trump.

Mrs. Gonzalez was defined by her association with a former Ecuadorian president, Rafael Korea, who is still respected by many in the country after eight years of leaving despite scandals and controversy.

His presidency witnessed the prosperous economy, low crime rates and investment in health and education. But he was also convicted of corruption and was accused of authoritarian tendencies.

Mr. Nubua made a little difference to Mrs. Gonzalez in the first round, in February, but he did not exceed 50 percent of the vote to avoid the second round. Opinion polls appear on Sunday as a dead heat.

There is no more clear place than it was in Machala, the capital of El ORO, one of the most dangerous countries in Ecuador. The city of the port consisting of 288,000 is one of the largest shipping points in the world for bananas – sometimes called “the banana capital in the world”.

But what was previously intended is a loud tourist and focused on voluntary, it has largely become a ghost city.

Competitive gangs, Los Shuniros and Los Le Popus, Fighting to control the local drug tradeThe residents were killed in broad daylight, the bombs were launched in the streets and blackmailing the owners of stores and politicians.

Mr. Nubua was criticized for his hard position on the country’s gang violence, which some civil rights groups say he overlooked the presidential power and violating human rights.

But in Machala, both supporters and opponents of the president say they want to see more procedures from applying the law, and no less. Through the city, days before the elections in a country where A presidential candidate was assassinated two years agoThere was no police officer or one soldier who patrols in the streets.

Erika Gonzalez, 36, was standing in her front door when a procession was marched by Luisza Gonzalez supporters on the street. A volunteer handed it a calendar with the candidate’s face. She said she brought her out of literature, but she planned to vote for Mr. Nuboa.

She was her 17 -year -old nephew, Carlos Shuiz, Firing She said last year, while he was leaving the school because he resisted employment by a criminal gang.

She said she believed that Mr. Nubua can divide violence. “I have a belief that if we give him the time it needs, he will be able to control it,” she said.

She believed that Ecuador needs help from the United States to counter drug gangs, which is likely to happen during the era of Mr. Nuboa.

During the period of Mr. Korea, Ecuador had a hostile relationship with the United States, and experts say that his expulsion of American forces from the country hindered Ecuador’s ability to control its borders and reduce the way for criminal groups crossed by patriotism to drugs across the country and abroad.

But the Ecuador’s killing rate has already decreased under his government due to the increase in the police and the mutation of goods that resulted in more money to enforce the law. Since Mr. Nubua took office in November 2023, the killing rate fell early in his term, but he started to rise.

At the headquarters of Mrs. Gonzalez in Matshala, a poster is depicted next to Mr. Korea with the slogan, “The return of the homeland.”

“Correismo” passes deeply in Machala, and for many, it is very personal.

Many people remember the Korea administration’s investment in health infrastructure, and they say promotions to a major hospital in the city were changing life.

Silvia Andara, 42, said she went to the hospital in 2012 to get a brain bag that caused seizures, and the doctors told her that she was pregnant in five weeks. Renewal means that the hospital has not yet been allowed to perform surgeries, but said that the doctors had obtained permission from the Korea government to move forward in the operation anyway.

Doctors removed the bag, but they warned that the procedure and its side effects could lead to the birth of her child with health problems. But she gave birth to a healthy daughter, Gemma, who is now 12 years old.

She said, “I will always thank my life and my daughter’s life for this man, Rafael Korea.”

Even in the banana industry, where the Nubua family made its name, workers are divided around those who support it.

Mr. Trump has known the global of 10 percent for many countries to influence Ecuador, and is one of the best banana exporters To the United States.

But Nubua supporters point out that Mr. Nuboa has a relatively warm relationship with Mr. Trump can help the country.

The President was one of the few Latin American leaders invited to the inauguration of Mr. Trump, and the two held a meeting last month in Mar Lago, Mr. Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Shirley Morushu, 30, who works in quality control, told a private company, visiting banana farms throughout the region, that the re -election of Mr. Nubua could lead to a “more friendly position” between the two countries.

While Mrs. Gonzalez tried to strike a more friendly tone towards the United States during her campaign, many critics are skeptical.

“Luisza is practically the shadow of Korea, so I don’t think they will be a very good relationship.”

Jonathan Chatha, 35, a council member of the nearby town of El Guato and supporter of Mrs. Gonzalez, said his area, which is dominated by the banana industry, will be strongly affected by the definitions, said Jonathan Chatha, 35, a member of the nearby La Guato town and supporter of Mrs. Gonzalez. However, Mrs. Gonzalez sees the best option.

He said that the relationship of Mr. Nubua and Mr. Trump is mostly for the offer, and no concrete benefits have yet been produced.

Mr. Chatha said that Mrs. Gonzalez was in a better position to build on the good relationship that Mr. Korea had with China, which brought important projects to the country.

“They are the largest development sources in the whole world,” he said.

Days before the elections, Carlos Panchon, 56, remained the boat operator, torn. He has long been supportive of Mr. Korea’s party, but he was considering turning his loyalty to Mr. Nuboa.

He prefers the president’s position on the crime. Violence was afraid of visitors to the region, which damaged his business in the field of tourists between Porto Bolivar, the port community outside Machala, and the beach retreated in Gambili.

But he feels a commitment to Mr. Korea’s party because of the renewed hospital, as he said that his wife had received the care of saving life after her fall and entered early.

He said, “I cannot choose one or another.” “It is very complicated.”