high representative of European Union For (EU) Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, He warned this Monday that political violence in Ecuador, including the killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, makes it urgent to “restore public confidence in the country’s institutions and democratic system”.
In a text published on his blog, Borrell pointed out that this will be “the task of the new Government and the National Assembly” and that “more than in recent years, it needs to learn to work together for its interests beyond their differences”. country.” .
The head of community diplomacy pointed out that the first step for this is citizens to trust the electoral processes, so The EU has mandated an independent mission of election experts to monitor next Sunday’s elections and to contribute to the training of local observers.
Borrell also noted that several leaders of the organizationa European Union and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States – held its first summit in eight years in July – to strengthen cooperation in the fight. organized crime It should be an important part of the bi-zonal agenda in the coming months.
“In that sense, their fight is our war. The same international gangs and their local connections operate on both sides and produce the same forms of crime. Record seizures of cocaine by Ecuadorian authorities in recent years have matched record seizures in European ports,” he recalled. borrell
According to the former Spanish Foreign Minister, HE drug trafficking It is a threat to both Latin American and European societies. stressed that the corruption they feed undermines democracy everywhere.
“We need to tackle drug trafficking more effectively to improve the lives of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic and to defend democracy in Europe and Latin America. Ecuador may seem far from Europe, but part of our future lies in Ecuador. “It’s the fight to defend democracy against crime,” he said.