World Tour: Ecuador faces a rematch

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Oduah.

AUDIO: [Chanting supporters]

ONIZE ODUAH: Ecuador election — We start today in Ecuador where a presidential election ended in a runoff.

In Sunday’s vote, incumbent President Daniel Noboa scored a narrow lead over his top rival, leftist Luisa González. But both contenders fell short of the 50% of votes needed to avoid another round of voting.

Their campaigns centered on Ecuador’s economic and security struggles.

The country has seen record murder rates, along with rises in kidnapping and extortion cases. Authorities have blamed cocaine trafficking in neighboring Colombia and Peru for the increased violence.

Voter Manuel Brito said he hopes for better security.

BRITO: [SPANISH] You can't even go out to the corner. It's dangerous these days; it's not like before when it was peaceful.

He says that frequent violence makes it nearly impossible to leave the house.

Both presidential candidates will face off again on April 13.

AUDIO: [Protest]

Slovakia protest — Over in Slovakia—Poland’s southern neighbor—tens of thousands of people chanted at anti-government demonstrations across some 40 towns.

Protesters called for populist Prime Minister Robert Fico to step down.

Fico has faced demonstrations for weeks as opponents accuse him of undermining the country’s position in the European Union.

The latest protests follow his visit to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin back in December.

Barbora Kabínová is a homemaker who joined the Friday march.

KABINOVA: [SLOVAK] The ideal scenario would be for the government to resign and leave the governing to those who cherish democratic principles and put freedom first and that will to continue to be part of the world we belong to, Western Europe.

She says the ideal case would be for Fico to step down and pave the way for people who respect democratic principles to assume office.

Fico has accused his opponents of staging a foreign-backed coup. His government has questioned the supremacy of the E.U.’s legislation over national law. It also faced backlash for its position on only two sexes and for shielding children from adoption by LGBTQ parents.

The protests will resume again next week.

AUDIO: [Sound of kids at school]

Brazil smartphone ban — In Brazil, school authorities began implementing new smartphone restrictions as classes resumed last week.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a bill earlier in the year to ban smartphones from classrooms and break times in public and private schools.

Some regions and schools already implemented some level of restrictions ahead of the federal law.

At the Porto Seguro private school in Sao Paulo, authorities expanded the restrictions to include hallways. That means students have to keep their phones in their lockers for the entire school day.

Meire Nocito is the school principal.

NOCITO: [PORTUGUESE] Students were having trouble concentrating. Many students who used technology excessively would isolate themselves during breaks, interacting only through social media.

She says that, before the ban, students struggled with concentrating and also isolated themselves during breaks.

Brazil’s Ministry of Education says the policies are intended to protect the physical and mental health of students.

AUDIO: [Namibia chants]

Namibia — We wrap up today in Namibia where residents are mourning the passing of one of the country’s freedom fighters.

Sam Nujoma—an independence activist who also served as the country’s first president—died late on Saturday. He was 95.

Nujoma spent nearly 30 years in exile. During that time, he championed the country’s independence movement in the aftermath of Germany’s colonial rule and then from South Africa’s occupation.

He became Namibia’s first democratically elected president in 1990 … and served for 15 years. Namibians also laud him for promoting national healing and reconciliation after the war with South Africa.

Pedro da Fonseca is a resident of the capital city of Windhoek.

FONSECA: Dr. Sam Nujoma’s loss is truly great, not just for us but also for Africa. He is one of the last standing leaders who comes from a regime where we can talk about Nelson Mandela, Kwame Nkrumah, you know Kenyatta’s. He comes from a regime where they were truly revolutionary for Africa. And such a loss, him being one of the last greats standing.

Tributes have poured in from the African Union and other African leaders.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Oduah in Abuja, Nigeria.

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