Distress in Ecuador

The Dantesque scenes experienced yesterday are already part of the history of Dantesque scenes in Latin America. It all began when two criminals escaped from prison (I'll leave out their names so as not to fall into the erostratism that does so much damage to Latin America). This was followed by prison riots and a group of criminals took over a live television broadcast. Others set off car bombs, shot students at a university. The gangs organized a crime spree throughout the country.

This is exactly the definition of terrorism: the use of violence or the threat of violence to terrorize the population in order to achieve political ends. Unfortunately, they did manage to terrify the population. However, it is also true that Ecuadorians are beginning to react with dignity, not allowing themselves to be intimidated and supporting the police and the army to take measures “like Bukele," converting the name of the president of El Salvador into a doctrine of determined struggle against crime.

There were political purposes. We were warned for a week that there was going to be an escalation of violence by narcoterrorists. Exactly seven days ago, the heroic attorney general, Diana Salazar, presented the accusations of the Metastasis case, an appropriate name to designate the evidence of how drug traffickers had infiltrated almost all of the country's institutions.

The evidence couldn't be any clearer. Police found messages on the cell phone of one of the crime leaders who was murdered in prison in October 2022 (“he who kills with iron, dies with iron”). The messages discussed buying judges who they called “suicides" since they ended their careers in exchange for release sentences valued at $350,000. They found messages from police giving in exchange for luxury cars (who later complained that they couldn't get them out of the garage because it would have raised a lot of suspicion). There were messages from lawyers who lent themselves to all kinds of tricks and illegalities and workers from the prosecutor's office who made incriminating evidence disappear.

There were also conversations with some journalists. Politicians were also questioned, such as a former Correísta assemblyman and former leader of the Latin Kings; and links not yet completely clarified with the murder of journalist and presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, last August.

It was evident that the narcoterrorists were going to react since the status quo that they had operated under for years with almost impunity was being altered. What could not be foreseen was that they would do it in such a forceful manner.

Ecuador has historically been a peaceful country, especially if we compare it with Latin American standards since the 90s. Ecuador has gone from having about six violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017, the second lowest rate in Latin America, to having 45 in 2023, the highest rate in the region.

So how did this brutal deterioration in the quality of life and security of Ecuadorians come to be?

Well, due to the lack of a determined fight plan against crime. We can begin by naming the appeasement policies of Correismo, legalizing gangs like the Latin Kings and expelling Americans from the Manta base. By the way, there were hardly any drug seizures under Correa. Then, after the successes of the Colombian army against drug crime, they crossed the border of Ecuador, taking power in the prisons and some neighborhoods throughout the country.

The Lasso administration couldn't be bothered to deal with this reality. Prison riots were periodic dramas, with hundreds of deaths. The government was never able to regain control. This was due to the rulings of the Constitutional Court, among other reasons, which greatly limited the use of force or action of the army with very questionable approaches, since the first rights to protect are those related to the life, property and freedom of citizens, and they are constantly being violated.

I want to believe that this is the beginning of the end of the reign of terror in Ecuador. But unfortunately, there are very few elements to count on. Politics are completely discredited, with no leadership or party that has any organization or prestige to undertake the task. This power vacuum is what criminals seek to fill.

It is precisely this degradation of politics that brought Daniel Noboa to the presidency last October. He is young and he seems different (neither from Correa, nor from Lasso nor from the traditional parties). He represented “the change” without specifying exactly what change. Now the question is whether he will be able to lead the change toward security. The presidential decree that he signed declaring the internal conflict and calling on the Army to combat the gangs is encouraging because it is forceful.

There is no such thing as a strong “civil society,” nor the capacity for articulation or convening by unions, neighborhood or professional organizations. There are no unifying leaderships.

The police and the army are in question due to suspicions of the existence of drug generals. It is true that it does not concern the entirety of both institutions, but it is also true that there has not been an internal purge to clear up the well-founded doubts. Furthermore, the military and police are poorly equipped. They lost motivation after some colleagues were sent to prison for using violence against criminals. There is a lack of leadership and strategic direction.

The merchants and businessmen are intimidated. The small ones are intimidated by the demand for bribes by the gangs that control the neighborhoods. The large ones are worried about the threats to their distribution trucks, which are constantly attacked. They have not yet been able to articulate a unitary response that protects them all since it is easier to defend ourselves together than separately.

There are also no intellectuals in this generation: thinkers, teachers and writers who have the respect of society and can provide some light and direction.

What is left? We are left. There is still a decent society that does not resign itself to its country sinking into misery and violence. There remains the painful example of the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan emigrants who warn of what can happen if the fight for the homeland is lost. Young people will stay since Ecuador is a very young country. They still have the hope and strength to fight the battle against violence and for prosperity.