QUITO— Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa met on Monday with a high-level delegation from the US government to look for the most appropriate mechanisms for cooperation in security and defense that will enable the Andean country to join the fight against organized crime and drugs represent human trafficking, which has triggered an uncontrollable spiral of violence.
Noboa, along with his defense secretaries, interior secretaries and others from the security axis, held a confidential meeting with Christopher Dodd, the special presidential envoy to the Americas, and with General Laura Richardson, the commander of the Southern Command.
Support against insecurity in Ecuador
At the end of the meeting, the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld assured that the presence of this delegation was “a strong and concrete political signal of support (…) in the armed conflict against terrorism, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime” aimed at the To restore peace to Ecuadorians.
In addition, he mentioned that it is a priority for Ecuador to expand access to markets for goods and services, attract investments and financing as part of measures to create the well-being and development of Ecuadorians, and establish arrangements for orderly migration.
The visiting delegation also included Bureau of Drug Enforcement and Law Enforcement Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher Landberg.
“The United States and the world have seen what is happening in Ecuador and know how important it is to protect Ecuador,” Noboa said in an interview with Teleamazonas television before receiving the visitors, in which he assured that the country “did it” becomes a key element in the structure and routes of these narco-terrorist groups.”
Regarding US support, Noboa pointed out that at the same time, Ecuador also needs “something essential: the refinancing of foreign debt (…) while we fight this war, we are not left financially stranded.”
Wave of violence
Since the beginning of 2021, organized crime gangs linked to the drug trade have unleashed a wave of insecurity with violent deaths, extortions, kidnappings and repeated prison riots, which seemed to reach new levels last week when a group of hooded men attacked a television station took over with weapons and explosives, which was broadcast live.
A few days earlier, Adolfo Macías alias Fito, the dangerous leader of the country's largest criminal organization, Los Choneros, disappeared from a prison in Guayaquil, and then another regional leader of another gang, Fabricio Pico, escaped, who could not be located there.
Noboa then declared a state of internal war to counter the rampant criminal violence with the support of combined military and police groups that maintained a strong presence on the streets.
“We are at war and we have managed to stop an avalanche of violence and destruction,” the Ecuadorian president said, emphasizing that indicators of violent deaths and crime have fallen dramatically.
“Anti-drug operation”
The army said in its X report that it seized about 22 tons of cocaine hydrochloride, believed to be destined for “the markets of Asia, Europe and North and Central America,” in an anti-narcotics operation it conducted since Sunday be, with light aircraft.”
He added that the operation was the result of more than six months of observation and surveillance strategies by military intelligence.
The operation took place near the town of Vinces, 201 kilometers southwest of the capital, and the seizure represents a new record in a single operation after police neutralized 14 tonnes in October last year.
The government is waiting for the Assembly to pass an asset confiscation law to use the assets and funds of criminal groups in the fight against them. In addition, the Constitutional Court must approve a new agreement with the United States to facilitate the fight against the groups the government describes as narco-terrorists.
In his X report, General César Zapata, police commander, stated that Carlos L., alias El Gringo, was arrested on Sunday evening, whom he described as a “high value target”. Leader of the Oliver Sinisterra armed group from Colombia, linked to terrorist activities in the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas, on the border with that country.
He added that the arrest was possible after three months of investigation. This group is among the dissidents of the extinct guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which controls part of the Colombia-Ecuador border.
“Repatriation of prisoners”
Noboa insisted on the proposal to free up space in prisons by repatriating around 1,500 prisoners, particularly from Colombia and Peru, for which he said he is in contact with the governments of these countries. He also confirmed that he is sticking to the proposal to build two new prisons.
To address the conflict situation, the president said he was preparing $1 billion in cuts in the state structure, particularly in administrative and personnel costs, “because the state needs to tighten its belt and make a significant sacrifice.”
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SPRING: AP