2024-01-10 07:12:40
Daniel Noboa assumed the Ecuadorian presidency on November 23, 2023, at the age of 36. In less than two months in office, he has been forced to take two extreme measures due to a security crisis of proportions. First, the Exception statusafter the prison escapes of José Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, the leader of the criminal organization Los Choneros, and Fabricio Colón Pico, leaders of Los Lobos. The measure did not contain the actions of drug trafficking, which launched an unprecedented challenge to the State and the population of the most violent country in South America. Prison riots, the takeover of a television studio, car bombs, kidnappings and at least eight murders They forced Noboa to declare “the existence of an internal armed conflict“which will give the military a strong role not only in the fight against the 22 gangs that ravage the 24 provinces. As in the war with Peru, in 1995, due to a border dispute, the Armed Forces are placed at the center of the scene , although without guarantees of success.
HOW WAS ARRIVE TO THIS SITUATION
Everything has changed drastically in just a few years. According to him Ecuadorian Observatory of Organized Crime (OECO)the insertion of that country into the world of global organized crime is relatively new. In 2019 A growing trend of the wave of deaths is beginning to be felt due to the dispute between different criminal organizations of territories and businesses. The homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants in the country increased more than 300% in the last seven years in step with the flow of cocaine and other illicit drugs on the Pacific coast. Local gangs, dedicated to minor issues, first established relationships with Colombian drug groups and then with international criminal organizations, including the Mexican cartels of Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación, the Colombian Gulf Clan as well as the Balkan mafia. As they expanded, they penetrated state structures. The fight for hegemony took place not only in the cities but in prisons. Since 2021More than 400 deaths have been reported in prisons due to clashes between rival gangs. Noboa won the elections with a promise to stop the bleeding and articulate a different strategy to defeat drug trafficking. Now, the situation is worse than the one inherited. The young president faces the challenge of not being “a Guillermo Lasso 2.0,” the newspaper noted. Express, in reference to the failed policy of his predecessor.
THE BANDS
Organized crime is dispersed and atomized, although with some gangs stronger and more influential than others. Noboa listed 22 groups. Specialists estimate that Los Choneros, led by alias Fito, He has 15,000 men at his disposal and minor structures under their control such as Las Águilas, Los Gángsters and the R-7. Macías Villamar, alias Fito, He lived in a situation of absolute comfort in a maximum security prison in Guayaquil. It had a private bathroom, hot shower, refrigerator, three-seater bed and closet built into the wall. It had a television, air conditioner. He drank Dom Pérignon champagne without conditions. He was able to leave prison because he had help from police and prison guides. His escape was interpreted as a reaction to the Government’s proposal to build two megaprisons. There was also speculation about the possibility that Los Choneros have lost power in the prison network.
Los Lobos, meanwhile, would have 7,000 “little soldiers.” But in addition, Noboa named other “terrorist organizations and non-belligerent state actors“: ÁguilasKiller, AK47, Caballeros Oscuros, ChoneKiller, Corvicheros, Cuartel de las Feas, Cubanos, Fatales, Kater Piler, Lagartos, Latin Kings, Los p.27, Los Tiburones, Mafia 18, Mafia Trébol, Patrones and Tiguerones. The activities illicit activities do not stop at the drug business. Some of these gangs They participate in arms trafficking, money laundering, extortion, hitmen, illegal mining and money laundering, favored by a dollarized economy and lax controls. The coastal provinces of Manabí and Santa Elena specialize in the transportation of drugs using fishing boats that charge $30,000 for each trip and low-performance aircraft. There are 54 clandestine runways for air traffic.
THE SOCIAL BACKGROUND
The nightmare from which Ecuadorians cannot wake up has as its unequivocal background poverty, unemployment, deterioration of labor relations and inequality in other orders that fueled the initiation into crime of numerous young people. Specialists do not hesitate to point out that there is a causal relationship between the level of crime and violence in cities and the unstoppable worsening of living conditions. All social indicators began to suffer before he left the Government Rafael Correa, in 2017. The 2016 earthquake in the province of Manabí and the pandemic caused great economic losses that worsened the hardships. Specialists assure that, during the years of health emergency, lThe number of poor people increased from 21.9% to 25.5% in 2022. About 4.6 million people They live on less than 2.9 dollars a day. Access to health, education and basic services has suffered. The sum of inequalities has allowed the expansion of organized crime in both rural areas and cities.
WHAT CAN BE DONE IN AN INTERNAL ARMED CONFLICT
The situation of “armed internal conflict” represents a breaking point with respect to the ways in which the scourge was faced. Efrén Guerrero, a Human Rights specialist, pointed out that from this figure the confrontation with criminal groups acquires another status because the conditions have been created for a total mobilization of the Armed Forces with the purpose of regaining control. Noboa’s decree speaks of “neutralize” to the bands. The interpretation of the verb has not admitted doubts. The uniformed officers are authorized to use lethal weapons in their operations against what from now on are no longer just drug trafficking factions but have become terrorist organizations. However, it is assumed that human rights organizations will ask the Supreme Court to clarify the scope of that order. The head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, Jaime Vela, has been forceful in his message: “every terrorist group has become a military objective.” The general promised to act with “firmness and forcefulness against any attempt at destabilization and chaos that is intended to be carried out in the national territory.” It is unknown if Ecuador will look at itself in the mirror of El Salador to regain control of cities and prisons. For now, it is already known that basic guarantees such as the inviolability of the home and correspondence, in their digital formats, arrests without a court order, the suspension of the rights to freedom of association, and transit, may be put on hold. The night curfew could be extended.
GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION
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The impact of what has happened in recent days, with scenes of panic and stupor, has caused an unusual rearrangement of the political protagonists. The entire opposition supported Noboa. Even former President Correa, considered a kind of “black beast” by the Government. “Today is a time for national unity, organized crime has declared war on the State and the State must prevail, it must win. President Noboa, have everything, our total and unrestricted support. Please don’t give in. We will discuss our political differences after the victory“, he declared in exile. At the same time, the parties represented in the National Assembly (Congress) have shown their inclination to grant pardons or amnesties to police and military personnel who lethally confront crime. “We find ourselves working in unity, without import the different political and ideological currents. The current situation requires collaboration and cohesion. We are committed to jointly addressing this challenge responsibly,” said Parliament Speaker Henry Kronfle of the Christian Social party.
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