An Insight into the Rise of Violence in Ecuador
From “island of peace” to state of “internal armed conflict”.
Ecuador’s security status made headlines when gang members infiltrated a live television broadcast in Guayaquil, forcing broadcasters to their knees at gunpoint on January 9th of this year. Long considered an “island of peace”, this public demonstration of violence quickly shone a very public light on the growing instability Ecuador has been facing.
Since 2016, the homicide rate has soared 500% currently situated at 45 murders per 100,000 citizens. There are also an estimated 500,000 citizens in Ecuador involved in criminal activity, including gangs, while there are only 18 million people in the entire country. This mass increase in violent activity in Ecuador has been theorized to have several different origins, including the rise of narco-trafficking in the region.
In 2016, The Revolutionary Armed Forces in Colombia (FARC), engaged in a peace deal with the Colombian government in which they agreed to lay down their arms after four long years of negotiations. With the new absence of the FARC, this opened a power-vacuum for narco-trafficking in the area as several groups competed for dominance.
Ecuador being uniquely positioned between two major cocaine producing countries of Colombia and Peru provides a unique geographical advantage for the transport of cocaine into Mexico and the United States, especially through the major port city of Guayaquil. This has made narco-traffickers especially interested in the region as a base for the importation and shipment of cocaine. The government reported that 200 tons of cocaine were seized in Ecuador last year alone and in January of this year the largest cocaine bust in Ecuador was made where 22 tons of cocaine were found buried on a pig farm, valued up to $1 billion.
The COVID-19 pandemic also wrought financial ruin across Ecuador as quarantine policies and state-wide lockdowns caused a plummeting employment rate. Over half of its workforce did not have any financial aid during the shutdowns leaving many Ecuadorians without work and unable to sustain their families. Such desperation pushed many to enter into illicit activities, often sponsored by membership in criminal organizations.
Some of the gangs present in Ecuador have strong ties to Mexican cartels including the infamous the Sinaloa gang which has aligned with Los Choneros and Jalisco New Generation which has aligned with Los Tiguerones. Competition for dominance among narco-trafficking gangs has brought violence to Ecuador as they battle both each other and the government for right to territorial control and the ability to carry out their illicit activities.
These gangs often retain strongholds even when incarcerated, dominating prison life and sending out orders to their organizations from their cells while remaining well connected to the outside. This became particularly evident when Adolfo Macias, otherwise known by his alias Fito, was found missing from his cell when officers went to retrieve him for a prison transfer. Fito is a high-ranking member of the prolific Ecuadorian gang Los Choneros. It was theorized that Fito had been tipped off about the move and had time to plan an escape. His evacuation stirred unrest in prisons across the country as reports cite approximately 150 prison guards were taken hostage in at least six different prisons. It also spiked a string of violence across the country as kidnappings, explosions, and other attacks were reported over the following days.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency following this unrest on January 8, 2024 declaring that the country was in a state of “internal armed conflict.” Noboa has also given the green light to the police/military to target gangs and published a list of 22 notorious gangs operating within Ecuador that formally identifies them as terrorist organizations. In response to the violence, Noboa stated that he intends to use a 60-day state of emergency to quell uprisings in prisons across Ecuador by sending the military into prisons regain control and implementing a curfew for citizens.
Noboa declared that, “Narcoterrorist groups seek to intimidate us and believe that we will yield to their demands, [and] we will not negotiate with terrorists, nor will we rest until we restore peace to all Ecuadorians.”
It is hard to ignore the similarities in Noboa’s tough on crime approach to that of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele who uses mano dura or “strong hand” policies which take an unrelenting approach to criminal punishment. Bukele’s policies have resulted in an incarceration of 2% of the entire Salvadoran population and the mass arrests/detention of anyone with alleged gang involvement. By March 10, 2024 there had been almost 13,000 arrests made and Noboa has also publicly stated that he has been advised by Salvadoran officials on how to approach the current crisis in Ecuador, making any synergies between Bukele’s mano dura policies and Noboa’s political actions far from coincidence.
As of March 8, 2024 Noboa has extended Ecuador’s state of emergency an extra 30 days claiming that it is necessary to reinforce police and military operations and reduce homicide rates. However, it is yet to be seen if Noboa’s state of emergency and increase in tough on crime policies will be able to quell the swelling and violent unrest in Ecuador. There is a referendum currently scheduled for April 21st where Ecuador will vote on a myriad of reforms that will aim to tighten security and combat organised crime.
Image courtesy of Presidencia de la República del Ecuador via Flickr, ©2023. Some rights reserved.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the wider St. Andrews Foreign Affairs Review team.
