As Ecuadorians wage war against almost two dozen gangs that are brazenly turning their once peaceful country into one of the region\u2019s most violent, experts warn that the South American nation\u2019s drug-financed criminal organizations pose one of the gravest security threats Latin America in years.<\/p>\n
The cure for the violence, some security and political analysts say, may have to come at the expense of democratic rule and human rights.<\/p>\n
In the last month, Ecuador has seen an escalation in violence fueled by gangs\u2019 push to find new drug trafficking routes to the United States and Europe. Police officers have been killed, cars have been bombed and more than 100 guards held hostage as prison riots broke out. One of the most brazen acts was the armed takeover last week of a public television station in Guayaquil during a live broadcast.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the prosecutor investigating the attack was killed, shot to death while driving his car, the country\u2019s attorney general confirmed. The region is already dealing with extreme inequality, weak institutions and high levels of corruption.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur American democracies are not prepared to face this type of situation,\u201d former Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos told the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald. \u201dWhat we are seeing in Ecuador is a huge wake up call for the whole region. Similar explosions of violence in other countries cannot be ruled out if serious measures are not taken against this criminal phenomenon.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response to the violence, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa took the unusual step of declaring a state of internal armed conflict and directing the military to pursue 22 criminal gangs he defined as terrorists organizations. Since then, the government has made 15,461 arrests, charging 158 individuals as terrorists and announcing that five gang members have been killed during the police raids.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Noboa told CNN that Ecuador was the latest frontline of a global problem and that his country needs international help.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would gladly accept the cooperation of the United States. We need equipment, we need weapons, we need intelligence and I think this is a global problem. It is not just in Ecuador,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Experts agree with him.<\/p>\n
Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, underpaid police and and security forces are spread thin. What is happening in Ecuador is also taking place, though to a lesser degree, in neighboring Peru, Chile, Honduras and Colombia, Santos said. \u201cOur societies are approaching crucial crossroads where they must decide if they cover the fiscal and political costs of combating these criminal organizations head on,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The violence is being sparked by drug trafficking and the need for traffickers to find new routes to get cocaine to Europe and the United States. Still, Ecuador stands out, says Ivan Briscoe with the International Crisis Group, because it bucks the previous trend in Latin America.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe entire trend of organized crime over the last 40 years in Latin America has been to reduce the level of exposure of criminal organizations to a crackdown\u201d by governments, said Briscoe, program director for Latin America and the Caribbean. \u201cEcuador is moving in the other direction and that\u2019s the mystery here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until a few years ago, crime and violence in the country paled in comparison to what was happening next door in Colombia and Peru.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo history of drug production until quite recently along the Colombian border. No major guerrilla movement. Occasional increases in the murder rate as crime ebbs and flows but nothing too substantial. Ecuador was not a violent country,\u201d Briscoe said. \u201cPolitical misrule in Ecuador paled in comparison to what you saw next door in Peru, and now Ecuador seems far worse off than Peru and Colombia in terms of basic human security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alberto Ray, director of the Florida-based Risk Awareness Council, said one reason for the crisis is that some of the organized criminal groups in Ecuador hold more power than the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have become very powerful, and because of this, they manage to control spaces within the national territory, which leaves law enforcement agencies unable to interrupt their operations or even prevent them from expanding,\u201d Ray said.<\/p>\n
Because of this, the gangs are able to run lucrative operations, the main one being drug trafficking, while at the same time establishing alliances with other international criminal organizations.<\/p>\n
State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller announced last week that senior U.S. officials will travel to Ecuador in coming weeks to explore ways the U.S. can help. He described the level of violence as \u201cappalling.\u201d The officials Todd Robinson, assistant secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement; Kevin Sullivan, deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Gen. Laura Richardson, head of the Pentagon\u2019s U.S. Southern Command.<\/p>\n
In addition to the visit, the U.S. will also provide other assistance, Miller said, including increased intelligence sharing.<\/p>\n