Thus Ecuador became the center of drug trafficking

Its declaration of an “armed internal conflict” against 22 “terrorist” gangs confirmed a new reality: Ecuador today is the epicenter of continental drug trafficking, the most violent country in the region. Nothing to do with someone else’s tourist paradises times. Drug traffickers quietly extended their tentacles for years to conquer new territories, as had already happened in Colombia and Mexico, even with the presence on the ground of the most feared Mexican cartels linked to local criminals. Ecuador’s geographic location also favors such a process: an Andean country located among major cocaine producersPeru, Bolivia and Colombia.

What are the main keys to the phenomenon that Ecuador is suffering from?

Being a country for the transit of cocaine, Ecuador became the largest port, via Guayaquil and Manta, for the shipment of drugs to Europe and the United States. In fact, the main shipment of coca seized in Spain, 9.5 tons hidden in a ship full of bananas that arrived at the port of Algeciras, sailed from Guayaquil. Its dollarized economy (The American greenback is a favorite of drug traffickers), all the powers of the state have conspired to reach the present result by infiltrating and provoking an epidemic that has destroyed part of the economic mechanisms of its society.

What is Rafael Correa’s responsibility for the civil revolution?

Already in the last century, a visionary politician warned about the great danger threatening his country. They took him as a madman. Since then no government has acted until the revolutionaries have completed two terms Rafael Correa, the US naval base at Manta, on the Pacific coast, was heavily criticized by experts after it was ordered demolished in 2009. “Then Korea made a kind of pacification with groups like the Latin Kings in return for their inclusion in civil life and certain positions in the administration. Eventually Because of this, the gang became more deeply involved with the Mexican cartels And, at the same time, remained within the political structure,” highlights political analyst Martin Pallares, who also cites a well-known case, ex-Latin king Rony Aliaga, as an important legislator in the civil revolution. “Now it has been discovered. He adds that “he was always associated with the famous drug trafficker Leandro Noreiro, who also benefited from his silence.” presidents Lenin Moreno and Guillermo Lasso “They haven’t even done much against drug trafficking,” says Pelares, author of one of the country’s most followed political podcasts.

Why is Noboa taking up this battle now?

The new president puts it at risk because he will have to run for re-election in 2025. The accidental massacre of a family in the south of Guayaquil (four children and their pregnant mother died), confirmation that Ecuador leads the ranking of the most violent countries (7,878 deaths in 2023, representing 46.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, ahead of Honduras and Venezuela), the massacre of January 1 (50 murders), two drug trafficking from his prison and an armed attack against the TC television channel put him against the wall. He was forced to act in a way that would not be considered Lasso 2.0, as his enemies called him.

What is the influence of Mexican cartels at the Ecuadorian crossroads?

Enemies in Mexico have captured the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generations, local gangs, and reorganized them to turn them. Executive arms in Ecuador. In addition to Los Choneros and Los Lobos (accused of the murder of journalist Fernando Villavicencio), Los Chone Killers or Los Tigurones, the same gangs led by the protagonists of the attack on TC Television are considered terrorists today.

Learn more