Ambassador Hector Cueva Jacome
During the last century, Ecuador was considered as the “Oasis of South America” or “The Island of Peace”, taking into account that its neighbors (Colombia and Peru) were bleeding due to internal armed conflicts led by leftist narco-guerrillas. (FARC and ELN / Colombia and Sendero Luminoso / Peru).
Ecuador felt isolated and even immune to so much violence; however, everything changed with the rise of the left-wing government of Rafael Correa, who skillfully changed the Constitution of Ecuador. This new constitution made it possible for criminals and the corrupt to achieve legal benefits. Nowadays: Criminals have more rights. that the authorities in Ecuador, the justice system is a sewer that benefits the bad guys: corrupt judges, drug-dependent prosecutors, in short, a justice system that does not provide justice.
In this same period of the Bolivarian government of Rafael Correa, in a childlike manner, peace treaties were signed with the gangs in force in those years, in some way they were legally protected so that they could continue committing crimes.
With this background of openness and legal flexibility, the major cartels of the world saw Ecuador as the country to conquer to carry out two major global drug trafficking operations and transform Ecuador into a “drug trafficker’s paradise”:
Ecuador, with a dollarized economy, became the natural destination for laundering dollars from the two largest cocaine producers in the world (Colombia and Peru), and additionally, Ecuador’s geographically privileged position transformed Ecuador’s ports into the natural outlet of drugs to the United States and Europe under the complicity of police and judges.
The situation is complicated, Daniel Noboa, President of Ecuador, a few days ago indicated the following: “We have declared a frontal war on terrorism, on Tuesday, January 10, the eyes of the region and the world turned towards Ecuador. An armed group took over a television channel while it was broadcasting live, which prompted President Noboa to declare the existence of an “internal armed conflict in Ecuador.”
Ecuador is under terrorist attack by drug trafficking groups, the political forces and the justice system have been taken over by these criminal groups, today there is calm with fear, while law enforcement forces monitor the state of national emergency declared by the National Government of Daniel Noboa.
These days hundreds of criminals have been captured and locked up in the country’s prisons; However, these prisons are controlled by groups that commit crimes in the streets. I believe that medicine is not working as long as the laws do not change in favor of good citizens. To do so, the Constitution of Ecuador needs to be modified.
The countries of the region are systematically bleeding in a war that has already been lost. As long as there is a demand for drugs in northern countries, there will always be someone who risks their life in Latin America to satisfy said demand; even more so if we take into account that work and personal development opportunities for young people are almost nil.
The hegemonic groups of economic power are just as responsible as the politicians in power, they have little or no interest in the human development of Ecuador, the levels of poverty in the country are extremely higher than 10 or 15 years ago, this is reflected in the rates of Ecuador as the second country with chronic childhood malnutrition in Latin America (only Guatemala surpasses Ecuador); Getting medicines in Ecuador becomes a miracle and if you find them, the cost of these medicines is 10 times more than in India (the same medicine), the education levels are very poor, people flee to the United States fleeing violence and Every time fear and hopelessness settle in Ecuadorian homes.
This is the situation in Ecuador, and as long as there is no strong leader who does not negotiate with the mafias, who imposes common sense, calls for a national dialogue that seeks definitive agreements regarding the problems of hunger, legal and physical security, Health and education will continue to be hostages to this violence, generated by the greed of drug traffickers and power groups.
The author is a former ambassador of Ecuador to India.
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