_edited.jpg)
The escape from Guayaquil prison of Adolfo “Fito” Macías, one of Ecuador's most powerful narco bosses, and the armed raid by drug traffickers on TV just a few days after are only some of the latest news from the 2022 least safe country in Latin America.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated Ecuador’s security issues, which have been plunging into crisis in recent years due to the expansion of transnational criminal organizations, such as Mexico's Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels, as well as Albanian groups with ties to Italy's 'Ndrangheta mafia.
Guayaquil, the country 's biggest port, is considered the most dangerous city of Ecuador, as it has been transformed into the main export channel for drugs. According to navy coast guard commander Fernando Alvarez: "Seventy percent of the cocaine that arrives in Europe comes from Ecuador, and 80 percent of this cocaine comes out of Guayaquil."
Wars between gangs with affiliations with Mexican and Colombian cartels have transformed Ecuador's prisons into theaters of horrific massacres; some 460 inmates have been killed in these “battles” since 2021.
On January 8, 2024, Ecuador’s President, Daniel Noboa, announced a 60-day state of emergency and nightly curfew; on January 9, after declaring an “internal armed conflict”, he deployed the army in support of the police for the control of prison facilities. This occurred following the escape of Jose Adolfo Macias, aka “Fito”, from the La Regional prison in the port city of Guayaquil. The leader of Ecuador’s biggest gang, Los Choneros, was serving a 34-year sentence for organized crime, narco-trafficking, and murder when he disappeared, on the same day he was supposed to be transferred to a maximum security prison.
The cartels reacted quickly, threatening to execute civilians and security forces. On Monday, six penitentiaries registered riots after the news of the narco boss’ flee and, according to the SNAI prison authority, guards were taken hostage at some of the facilities.
Heavily armed police and soldiers entered the prisons of El Oro, Loja, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Azuay and Pichincha. After these raids images of half-naked inmates rounded up in courtyards were distributed to the press.
On January 9, an armed group raided the TC Television station firing guns and forcing staff to lie on the ground. Police entered the studio after about thirty minutes of chaos, arresting thirteen assailants, according to the news outlet Teleamazonas.
While this attack has gained notoriety for the footage showing several suspects cuffed and face down on the studio floors, violent incidents have been confirmed by Ecuadorian authorities in different parts of the country, with cars being set on fire, explosions, and the kidnapping of several police officers.
This surge in violence comes weeks after Attorney General Diana Salazar announced an investigation highlighting links between the organized crime groups and powerful state officials, from judges to a former prison chief. Her fight against ‘narcopolitics’, has already led to the arrests of many high-ranking officials; however, hers is definitely an uphill battle, since those investigating gangs have become targets.
In 2022, two prosecutors and a judge were shot in other parts of the country.
On June 1, 2023, the same day that Diana Salazar denounced receiving death threats via Whatsapp, prosecutor Leonardo Palacios was shot dead in Duran. On August 9, Fernando Villavicencio, presidential candidate who pledged to fight corruption, was assassinated following a campaign event days ahead of vote.
On January 17, 2024, prosecutor César Suárez Pilay was murdered in his car in the streets of Guayaquil. He was investigating the armed attack against TC Television channel.
According to the Procurator’s office, Suárez had remarked that he did not necessitate protection the day he was shot dead, as the court hearing against the thirteen suspects was to be held virtually. Apparently at 1:07 p.m. he received an urgent phone call to go somewhere unknown and then he was intercepted on avenida del Bombero by a van and another vehicle similar to a taxi, a car corresponding to the description of the latter was found set on fire in the area of La Alborada.
According to the police, two men were arrested for their presumed participation in the assassination.
Xramp| Wikimedia Commons| 2010
Noboa won the 2023 presidential race over leftist Luisa Gonzalez; however, he will only be in charge for eighteen months, as he is only supposed to be in office for the remainder of former President Guillermo Lasso’s mandate, who decided to invoke a never-before-used constitutional mechanism known as “muerte cruzada” or “two-way death” to prevent impeachment allegations.
Notwithstanding the brevity of his mandate, Ecuador’s youngest president is determined to create a separate judicial system for the most serious crimes; in addition, he also suggested militarizing the borders with Colombia and Peru, both of which are trafficking points for cocaine. He intends on jailing the most violent offenders on barges offshore and on implementing enhanced security measures in ports and airports.
The first week of January he announced the construction of two new maximum-security prisons, thus following the footsteps of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.
Noboa’s plan will cost 800 million dollars, with a contribution of 200 millions coming from the U.S.A. to buy new weapons for the army.
During the III Technical Roundtable on Security Cooperation between Ecuador and the European Union, which took place on 26 and 27 September 2023, it was agreed to expand and deepen their bilateral cooperation in security matters to tackle the issue of transnational organized crime.
Ambassador Geurts argued that: “the fight against organized crime based exclusively on the interception of drugs and the arrest and prosecution of the actors in the illicit market shows its limits when it is not part of a comprehensive strategy”. This is why the III Security Roundtable comprehensively addressed strategic support to deal with this complex phenomenon from its different aspects: border security, maritime security, cyber security, prison security and the preventive axis on drug use and trafficking. A list of deliverables was established by the counterparts to be carried out in the subsequent twelve months. It was also agreed to promote work on prevention and citizen security, the interoperability of intelligence systems and to address new security threats.
On 24 January, the European Commission, together with the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, launched the European Ports Alliance and its Public-Private Partnership to step up the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.
The European institution would like to sign a cooperation agreement with Ecuador similar to the one already in place with Colombia in the framework of the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime networks. On this occasion, the European head of the Interior, Ylva Johansson, also spoke of his visit last spring to the port of Guayaquil and said that it was agreed with the Ecuadorian authorities that the EU will send a team to carry out a risk assessment on the port. He added that Brussels will support Ecuador to “find loopholes and close them.”
References
AL JAZEERA. (2023, August 10). Who was Fernando Villavicencio, presidential hopeful shot dead in Ecuador? Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/10/who-was-fernando-villavicencio-presidential-hopeful-shot-dead-in-ecuador
AL JAZEERA. (2024, January 9). Ecuador declares state of emergency, curfew after druglord escapes prison. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/9/ecuador-declares-state-of-emergency-curfew-after-druglord-escapes-prison
AL JAZEERA. (2024, January 10). Ten killed, gangs unleash terror as Ecuador declares state of emergency. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/10/ten-killed-gangs-unleash-terror-as-ecuador-declares-state-of-emergency
AL JAZEERA. (2024, January 19). Soldiers raid Ecuador prison as two arrested for prosecutor's murder. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/19/soldiers-raid-ecuador-prison-as-two-arrested-for-prosecutors-murder
Alvarado, A., & Rios, M. (2024, January 18). El fiscal asesinado en Ecuador, César Suárez, no tenía seguridad policial "permanente", dice comandante. https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2024/01/18/fiscal-cesar-suarez-asesinado-ecuador-no-seguridad-permanente-trax/
Bertelli, M. (2023, October 21). He is Ecuador's youngest president-elect. What lies ahead for Daniel Noboa? Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/21/he-is-ecuadors-youngest-president-elect-what-lies-ahead-for-daniel-noboa
CDE. (2023, October 2). Ecuador and the European Union will expand their bilateral cooperation in security and the fight against transnational organised crime | CDE Almería - Centro de Documentación Europea - Universidad de Almería. CDE UAL. https://www.cde.ual.es/en/ecuador-and-the-european-union-will-expand-their-bilateral-cooperation-in-security-and-the-fight-against-transnational-organised-crime/
Collyns, D. (2023, October 16). Banana fortune heir Daniel Noboa wins Ecuador presidential election. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/16/daniel-noboa-wins-ecuador-presidential-election
Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs. (2024, January 24). European Ports Alliance to fight drug trafficking and organised crime. Migration and Home Affairs. https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/european-ports-alliance-fight-drug-trafficking-and-organised-crime-2024-01-24_en
EcuadorTimes.net. (2024, January 26). EcuadorTimes.net | Breaking News, Ecuador News, World, Sports, Entertainment » EU proposes agreement with Ecuador for joint actions against criminal organizations. Ecuador Times. https://www.ecuadortimes.net/eu-proposes-agreement-with-ecuador-for-joint-actions-against-criminal-organizations/
Guamán, A. (2023, June 2). Fiscal de Durán, Leonardo Palacios, recibió más de 35 disparos. Primicias. https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/sucesos/fiscal-duran-sicariato-asesinato/
Lucumí, J. P. (2024, January 9). Ecuador decreta estado de excepción tras seis motines carcelarios y la fuga del criminal alias 'Fito'. France 24. https://www.france24.com/es/am%C3%A9rica-latina/20240109-ecuador-decreta-estado-de-excepci%C3%B3n-tras-seis-motines-carcelarios-y-la-fuga-del-criminal-alias-fito
NEWS WIRES. (2024, January 17). Prosecutor investigating armed raid on Ecuadoran TV station assassinated. France 24. https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20240117-ecuador-prosecutor-probing-live-broadcast-armed-assault-killed
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, January 12). Ecuador - Emergency situation | OHCHR. ohchr. Retrieved 2024, from https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2024/01/ecuador-emergency-situation
Orgaz, C. J. (2024, January 9). Quién es Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito”, cuyo escape de una prisión en Ecuador llevó a Noboa a declarar el estado de excepción en el país. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/c51z74dz79zo
Redacción Primicias. (2024, January 18). Cronología del crimen del fiscal del Guayas César Suárez. Primicias. https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/seguridad/cronologia-crimen-cesar-suarez-fiscal/
Commentaires