Voters approve bid to reinstate presidential term limit

QUITO, Ecuador — Voters overwhelmingly decided Sunday to limit presidents to two terms in a nationwide referendum that proved a blow to former President Rafael Correa.

Quick count results showed voters approved by an almost 2-to-1 margin a measure reinstating the term limits that Correa eliminated from the Constitution in 2015.

The result, which had been expected, was seen as a big boost for President Lenín Moreno, who was a protege of Correa until taking office last year. They have been feuding bitterly almost ever since over Moreno’s decision to build bridges with business leaders and others who were bullied by Correa, a leftist firebrand.

“The days of confrontation are behind us,” a triumphant Moreno said in televised remarks with his Cabinet at the presidential palace. “It’s time to embrace each other.”

Six other governmentbacked proposals on the ballot, some of them seeking to reduce Correa’s influence, also easily passed.

One would give Moreno more authority over a council that determines who can lead some of the nation’s most important institutions. Another would bar officials convicted of corruption from seeking office — a clause that apparently would apply to Vice President Jorge Glas, another Correa ally who was recently convicted of corruption.

Another would strengthen restrictions on mining by banning it entirely in protected areas, indigenous territory and cities.

The referendum bucks a trend in several Latin American nations, where leaders have pushed for constitutional amendments that would let them stay in power longer, sometimes indefinitely.

In Bolivia, a court recently paved the way for left-leaning President Evo Morales to run for a fourth term despite a voter referendum that rejected it. Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, is running for office in an election that opposition leaders consider illegitimate. And in Honduras, conservative President Juan Orlando Hernandez was recently sworn in for a second term after the Supreme Court ruled that a constitutional ban on re-election violated his rights.