Ecuador - Drugs - 2023
In 2023 Ecuador witnessed violence destroying so many young lives. Citizens were denied the everyday security and tranquility that they once felt in their neighborhoods – in this island of peace. And the brazen assassinations of leaders like Manta Mayor Agustin Intriago and presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who were murdered as they stood up against corruption and crime.
The United States and Ecuador collaborate to address narcotrafficking and the activities of illegal armed groups, particularly along Ecuador’s northern border with Colombia. The countries have signed several instruments and established programs to enhance counternarcotics and law enforcement cooperation. US-Ecuadorian military relations remain strong, with U.S. offers of training, assistance, and the reestablishment of an Office of Security Cooperation at the US Embassy in Quito. Additionally, the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs provides counternarcotics and counter-transnational organized crime capacity building assistance, totaling more than $31 million in bilateral assistance since 2018.
On 12 April 2023 Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07) and four members of Congress sent a letter to President Biden expressing concern regarding recent troubling developments in Ecuador, including credible allegations of high-level corruption, deadly political violence, attacks against Indigenous organizations and their leaders, and verbal threats and attacks against journalists by Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso.
The letter applauds the Biden administration’s commitment to supporting anti-corruption efforts in Ecuador and other Latin American countries and urges President Biden to follow through with that commitment by requesting that the Department of Justice investigate the US-based business dealings of Danilo Carrera, a key Ecuadorian political operator who is under investigation in Ecuador for allegedly running a criminal enterprise within the country’s state energy sector.
In light of the many concerning recent developments in Ecuador, the letter also calls on the administration to consider reviewing its bilateral relations with the government of President Lasso.
“Ecuador is now in the midst of a political and social crisis that is driven, in large part, by credible allegations of corruption at the highest levels of government. Investigative journalists have uncovered what appears to be a web of corruption that ties key associates of Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso to organized crime figures. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that one of these individuals – Danilo Carrera – as well as President Lasso himself have been using U.S. jurisdictions to hide assets and avoid taxes, in violation of Ecuadorian law,” said the members of Congress. “Given your administration’s commitment to supporting anti-corruption efforts abroad, as detailed in the 2021 U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption, we urge you to engage in a prompt investigation into the origins of these assets, based primarily in holding companies in Florida. Additionally, in light of the aforementioned corruption allegations as well as other troubling developments that negatively impact human rights and press freedom in Ecuador, we believe that you should re-evaluate our government’s close relations with the Lasso government.”
Multiple assassins attacked Fernando Villavicencio, the Movimiento Construye party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, as he left a Quito campaign event on August 9. As a journalist, Villavicencio was one of Ecuador’s most critical voices against corruption and criminality. The Ecuadorian National Police arrested six Colombian nationals, believed to be part of a Colombian organized crime group, as part of the assassination plot. The investigation, supported by the FBI, continues to identify others involved in the assassination.
Following the assassination of Presidential candidate Villavicencio in Quito on August 09, 2023, President Lasso issued a decree declaring a two-month State of Emergency. The National Electoral Commission (CNE) has confirmed that the elections scheduled for August 20, 2023, will not be suspended. On 13 October 2023, six men arrested in connection with the August 9th assassination of Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio were killed while in jail; a seventh suspect was found dead in another jail the next morning.
This failure to protect people in custody, which could have provided critical information on this assassination is inexcusable. It raises more doubts and concerns about connections between government officials and organized crime in Ecuador, especially at a critical juncture of the Nation’s history,” said US Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva.
“Given the high-profile and sensitive nature of this case, these individuals were at greater risk of being harmed or killed in jail. Even journalists who try to cover the news of organized crime and their relations with authorities face attacks and death threats forcing them to flee the country. The situation could have been prevented by keeping the suspects in a safe location and providing them with protection. The decision by government officials to not do this raises many questions.”
US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met 19 December 2023 with President Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador at the White House to discuss deepening the economic and security partnership between the United States and Ecuador. The leaders agreed to deepen security cooperation focused on helping Ecuador combat gang violence by supporting the government’s efforts to strengthen its justice sector, prison system, and maritime security.
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