Ecuadorians are in the midst of trying to get back to normal the war that was unleashed between his government and organized crime This has taken root in the country, but the events of the last few days have made it clear that it will not be easy for them. The almost two weeks that have passed since the escape from prison of the capo Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito”, leader of the Los Choneros gang, and the attack by a group of criminals on state television, which could be broadcast live throughout the year The country has made it clear that Daniel Noboa's consistent policies will not be easy to implement.
The president declared the existence of an “internal armed conflict” in the country, declared a state of emergency and ordered the deployment of the army to bring the situation back under control. But there are no magic cures for a cancer as widespread as that of the underworld in Ecuador. On Thursday, just hours after the government reported that 1,975 people had already been arrested on terrorism charges and five suspects had been killed by public forces, the country was shocked by the news that prosecutor César Suárez was murdered in broad daylight on a street in Guayaquil became .
Suárez was in charge of investigating the attack on the television headquarters attributed to the Los Tiguerones gang and had recently stated that he had not been assigned an escort, another example of the Ecuadorian state's inability to defend some of its key figures despite Noboa's efforts.
However, The government's offensive is bearing fruit. The heavy military presence has brought back some of the peace on the streets of the port city of Guayaquil that had been lost in recent years due to a rise in coca exports from that country and clashes between gangs vying for control. The authorities have multiplied their actions to reassure the population and the army is deployed with particular zeal and presence in prisons throughout the country to dismantle the 22 gangs classified as terrorist groups by Noboa. In the Guayas regional prison from which “Fito” escaped, more than a thousand police and military personnel took control of facilities that until recently served as a fiefdom for criminals.
The images of the prisoners, reduced in size and bound in their underwear, lying next to each other, facing the floor in the prison facilities, They remembered those seen in Nayib Bukele's El Salvador after declaring total war on the gangs. Noboa appears determined to emulate the example of his Salvadoran counterpart, who has managed to drastically reduce crime. Although he did so despite complaints about human rights abuses, polls show his recipe is popular in a region as plagued by violence and insecurity as Latin America.
Noboa, who was elected on a promise to eliminate crime to complete the year and a half of his predecessor's remaining presidency, dreams that his security policies will boost him in the polls like Bukele in El Salvador, but episodes like the death of prosecutor Suárez It is questionable whether he will succeed.
The prosecutor's list of enemies is long, as is the list of suspects. In addition to being in charge of the television headquarters attack case, Suárez also led several high-level investigations against various criminal organizations. He also led investigations into corruption among the country's judges, a particularly sensitive issue. It is unclear at this point whether Suárez's death was retaliation by the gang that broke into the TC studios or by one of the others harmed by their investigation. Police reported the arrest of two hitmen accused of ending Suárez's life, allegedly members of the Chone Killers gang. At least two other suspects are being sought.
The government's struggle on the streets and in prisons was echoed on social media. Over the course of the week, a large number of users spread messages of outrage against the criminals., a sign of the weariness of public opinion towards the phenomenon of crime. Many joined calls to report criminals to the authorities and support them in their work. There were numerous messages under the hashtag #ExposedTerroristsEcuador in which suspected members of the gangs were pointed out and identified. Other users showed their support with videos of agents beating detainees.