This is how Ecuador became the center of drug trafficking

Its declaration of “armed internal conflict” against 22 “terrorist” gangs has confirmed the new reality: Ecuador today is the center of continental drug trafficking, the most violent country in the region. Nothing to do with someone else’s tourist paradiseThis time. Drug traffickers quietly spread their tentacles for years to conquer new territories, as had already happened in Colombia and Mexico, even with the presence of the most dangerous Mexican cartels linked to local criminals . Ecuador’s geographical location also favored such a process: Andean country Located between large cocaine producersPeru, Bolivia and Colombia.

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

From being a country for the transit of cocaine, Ecuador became the largest port for shipping drugs to Europe and the United States via Guayaquil and Manta. In fact, the main consignment of coca seized in Spain, 9.5 tons hidden in a ship loaded with bananas, which arrived at the port of Algeciras, had departed from Guayaquil. its dollarized economy (The American greenback is a favorite of drug traffickers), the intrusion of all the powers of the state, and the onset of the pandemic, which destroyed part of the economic mechanism of its society, have conspired to reach the present result.

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

Only in the last century, a visionary statesman warned of a great danger threatening his country. They thought him crazy. Since then no government took action until the revolutionary reached two terms rafael koreaIt was highly criticized by experts after ordering the destruction of the US naval base at Manta on the Pacific coast in 2009. “Correa then made a kind of peace with groups such as the Latin kings in exchange for their inclusion in civic life and certain positions in the administration. Eventually This caused these gangs to become more deeply involved with Mexican cartels. And, at the same time, remained within the political framework,” highlights political analyst Martín Pallares, who also cites a famous case, that of former Latin king Ronnie Aliaga, who was a key legislator in the civil revolution. “Now this address He added, “He was always involved with the famous drug trafficker Leandro Noreiro, who also benefited from that peace.” Lenin Moreno and Guillermo Lasso “He didn’t even do much against drug trafficking,” says Pallares, author of one of the most followed political podcasts in the country.

Why does Noboa fight this now?

The new president is putting it at risk because he will have to go to re-election in 2025. The mistaken massacre of a family in the south of Guayaquil (four children and their pregnant mother died), confirming that Ecuador leads the ranking of the most violent country (7,878 deaths in 2023, which represents 46.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, ahead of Honduras and Venezuela), the massacre of January 1 (50 murders), the escape of two drug traffickers from their prisons and the armed attack against the TC television channel put him against the wall. He was forced to act so that he would not be considered Lasso 2.0, as his enemies call him.

What influence do Mexican cartels have on Ecuador’s intersection?

Enemies in Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación in Mexico have taken over local gangs and reorganized them to turn them into their own. executive weapons in ecuador, The same gangs considered terrorists today are led by Los Choneros and Los Lobos (accused of the murder of journalist Fernando Villavicencio), in addition to Los Choneros Killers or Los Tigueronos, the protagonists of the attack on TC Television.

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