Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was tired of repeating, “All they can do is kill me,” referring to the constant threats from drug traffickers in the US. Sinaloa cartel. And they killed him. A result that, as he himself argues, is a reflection of the accuracy of his diagnosis when he confirms that the country is on its way to becoming a country. drug state. shots And car bomb they are the order of the day.
Under the presidency of Guillermo Lasso, who will seek to reaffirm his mandate in the elections on August 20, Ecuador is plunged into an unprecedented scenario of crime and insecurity that culminates in 2022. emergency, prescriptive curfewsin three provinces after multiple murders related to drug trafficking.
The question is why drug trafficking It is taking over and destabilizing the Latin American country. The answer is polyhedral and Carlos Espinosa Fernandez de Cordoba, International Relations Coordinator With geographic proximity to Colombia and Peru, both of which are cocaine producers, the University of San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) is Ecuador’s main vulnerability in relation to drug trafficking.
Corruption
“Other vulnerabilities, internal corruptionA dollarized financial system and an extensive road network connecting Colombia’s processing regions to Ecuador’s ports and airports,” confirms the expert. “The state’s extensive presence in a compact region is a force that helps prevent expansion. Coca cultivation, though it cannot stop drug trafficking and money laundering”.
for university professor QuitoThe effects of drug trafficking are felt in the unstable economy (excess liquidity, increase in the informal economy, use of fraudulent mechanisms such as over-billing of exports for money laundering), threatening life, peace, institutions and democracy. “. HE cocaine pass He says that’s why drug trafficking in Ecuador exists.
campaign killings
This election campaign It clearly reflects the drift into which the country has descended. HE Murder of Fernando Villacencio This is not the only display of extreme violence. HE applicant for Assembly Rider Sanchez assassinated in the coastal province of Esmeraldas. Days later, the mayor Blanket, Augustine IntriagoHe died in an armed attack in that town that killed a young football player and injured four others.
OAS Election Observation Mission Following the publication of the news that Villavicencio had been killed, he urged all candidates to strengthen security measures and support the authorities to ensure this.
HE murdered candidateDespite being far from victory, rising one by one in the polls, journalist at an earlier stage of his professional career. already did then harsh speech against criminal groups one of its main features.
“The time of threats has passed, we will prevent drug trafficking in a year and a half. i’m not afraid of them […] The only thing they can do is kill me,” said the presidential candidate recently. They killed him too.