The security crisis
A violent intrusion and hostage-taking at the studio of the national TC Televisión in Guayaquil by members of the gang “Los Choneros” during a live broadcast on January 9th, 2024, briefly brought the current Ecuadorian security crisis to global attention. On the same day, bandits entered also the University of Guayaquil and numerous hospitals in the city. They were robbing, murdering and taking hostages. Just a few days earlier, “Fito”, the leader of Los Choneros, had managed to escape from prison. The attacks served primarily as a demonstration of power and represented a new low-point of a development that was in the making for years.
On the one hand, the attacks sparked a wave of violence across much of the country during the coming months; Bombings, attacks on government facilities and kidnappings of security forces by organized groups of criminals, as well as a huge increase of delinquency in general. By doing so, the gangs challenged the struggling Ecuadorian state in a direct confrontation. César Suarez, who was tasked with the prosecution of the hostage situation in the television station, was murdered in his vehicle on the way to a hearing in Guayaquil just a few days after his appointment by machine gun fire. Prison riots spread throughout the country, and enabled “Captain Pico” – leader of “Los Lobos” and Fito’s adversary – as well as numerous other high-ranking gang members to escape from the prison in Riobamba.
On the other hand, Daniel Noboa, who had been elected as president of Ecuador just a few weeks earlier, declared a state of emergency including night-time curfews. Changes to the law were initiated to give the military extensive powers to combat organized crime within the country. 22 criminal groups in Ecuador were classified as terrorist organizations in the process. The state’s ongoing efforts have since resulted in approximately 15,000 arrests as well as the confiscation of 100 tons of drugs, 4,000 firearms, 6,000 stabbing weapons, 25,000 explosives, hundreds of vehicles and substantial amounts of cash. Numerous gang members were killed in fights with security forces.
Until April, the situation had calmed down in most of the country, but the violence continued in the coastal towns of Esmeraldas, Manta and Guayaquil. They are of a particular importance to the gangs due to their harbors. The cities are in a state of emergency not only in a legal sense, but in a very practical one. Here, the security crisis primarily affects the everyday lives of ordinary people – around 3.6 million people live in the greater Guayaquil area alone. But how did we get here?
Cocaine as the fuel of the crisis
The local effects of the crisis are the result of a complex interplay of national and international circumstances. Organized crime is particularly attractive to poorer parts of the population in Ecuador because of massive unemployment among young people. The gangs declared as terrorist groups are: Águilas, ÁguilasKiller, Ak47, Caballeros Oscuros, ChoneKiller, Choneros, Covicheros, Cuartel de las Feas, Cubanos, Fatales, Gánster, Kater Piler, Lagartos, Latin Kings, Lobos, Los p.27, Los Tiburones, Mafia 18, Mafia Trébol, Cartridges, R7 and Tiguerones. Many of them have emerged as independent offshoots only within the last couple of years. Their recent prosperity is possible due to massively increased profits from the international cocaine trade. While still relatively little coca is grown and almost no cocaine is produced in Ecuador, the harbors have developed into the primary gateways to the world for cocaine from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. While the gangs have their origins in different parts of Ecuador, almost all of them are active in Guayaquil as the largest harbor.
With around 60% of the production Colombia remains the undisputed main source of cocaine worldwide. The production was increasing continuously within the last years. After the decline of the large cartels in the 1990s, the cocaine trade was primarily in the hands of the guerrillas (FARC-EP, ELN, etc.) and paramilitaries (AUC and associated organizations) and served to finance their respective activities. With the initiation of a peace process in 2016 and Gustavo Petro taking office as Colombian President in 2022 a policy of reconciliation was initiated. The combatants were promised amnesties in return for laying down their weapons and ceasing their activities. However, this by no means ended the distribution of cocaine, but instead shifted it to Ecuador in the hands of numerous breakaway splinter groups that rejected the peace process. The border between Ecuador and Colombia has been penetrable for years and serves as a retreat for the FARC. In the meantime, Peru has developed into the second largest producer of cocaine in the world.
With its location between Colombia and Peru, Ecuador not only provides one of the largest ports in South America at the Pacific Ocean in Guayaquil but also a weakened security apparatus due to austerity measures and unstable governments. There is also no presence of US security forces in Ecuador, while they are very active in the war on drugs in Colombia. The US dollar was introduced as national currency in Ecuador in 2000 due to inflation, thus making laundering drug money much easier for the gangs.
The most important sales markets for cocaine worldwide are the USA and Europe. The consumption of cocaine has always been the main source of funding for organized crime in Latin America. The cocaine is hidden on container ships and smuggled between legal products, while infiltrating the ships takes place at various points of the loading process. Corruption, violence and murder in the port of Guayaquil are regular occurrences. At their destination, the packages are recovered with the help of tracking devices. Important ports of destination in Europe are Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Valencia, while the Ecuadorian gangs are forming partnerships with the Albanian mafia, the Italian ‘Ndrangheta and others. They organize the sale in Europe and also use their power to destabilize the security situation in Ecuador. Most of the transport to the USA takes place via Mexico, while the Ecuadorian gangs are forming alliances with the local cartels there. Los Choneros work together with the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Lobos with Jalisco Nueva Generación, etc. While Guayaquil currently represents the main hub of the global cocaine trade, the market itself is becoming tougher, as the consumption of cocaine, especially in the USA, is increasingly being replaced by synthetic opioids (foremost fentanyl). The competition for revenue is becoming fiercer and the gangs more vicious.
The neglected prisons in Ecuador are considered the incubators of organized crime and violence. While Ecuador hardly had any problems with gangs in the last millennium, the concentration of criminals in the prisons enabled networks to form, which transformed loosely connected small groups into powerful and ambitious organizations. The harsh conditions in the overcrowded prisons and a widespread failure of rehabilitation are the crucial aspects in this regard. For most prisoners, the involvement in one of the gangs is considered as the best survival strategy during imprisonment as well as the only future prospect for a life afterwards. Regularly, there are fights between different factions in the prisons and uprisings that are bloodily suppressed. The already critical situation worsened in 2017, when Lenín Moreno took office as president of Ecuador and cut the already scarce resources of the prisons by a third. This proceeding has to be understood in the context of high national debt and corruption right up to the highest levels of the state apparatus. In 2021 alone, over 500 inmates died in violent clashes in Ecuadorian prisons.
In Guayaquil
On the one hand, Guayaquil is in a state of latent militarization. Posters depict soldiers, encourage the population to hold on and promise victory. The line between organized and regular crime is blurry at times, but without a doubt crime has increased significantly. In 2023 alone, around 3,600 people have been murdered in the greater Guayaquil area. The already high murder rate in the so-called Pearl of the Pacific rose therefore by 70% compared to the previous year. A similar tendency can also be observed in reference to thefts, burglaries, robberies, assaults, sexual offenses, etc. There are noticeably fewer interactions between strangers in the city – for example in parks or in public transport – and numerous people confirmed, that they tend to perceive them as threatening. Mistrust is omnipresent. Unnecessary routes are avoided. Anyone who has the opportunity to do so moves around in their own car. A simple walk around the neighborhood often is considered an unnecessary risk. Anyone who is able to do so, tries to get behind a locked door before dark.
Guayaquil has always been a city marked by fortification, but in recent years the fences of many houses have become higher or have been equipped with additional barbed wire. This applies to private property but also to public spaces. Parts of the city that were previously considered safe, now also are treated with caution; traditionally dangerous places now are considered no-go zones. While the periphery of the city appears to have been partially forfeited by the administration, security measures in the center – for example the river promenade Malecón 2000 – have been increased significantly in order to suggest security to the public. The effects of the state of emergency remain to be seen, but given the increased readiness to combat of the security forces, there is also an increased risk of collateral damage to the civilian population. In the (sensationalist) local news everyday there are detailed reports of murders in the city, for example a group of teenagers who were killed while playing football in their street or two men who were hanged from a footbridge overnight. The high crime rate is the dominant topic of conversation in the city. Studies confirm that the feeling of security is at an all-time low.
On the other hand, Guayaquil is still the most populous city in Ecuador and the economic center of the country, where everyday life inevitably claims its place. The adaptability of people is demonstrated in an impressing manner. Despite the extraordinary situation, they manage to establish normality in most places most of the time – both practically and mentally. They work, run their businesses and errands, take care of family members and friends, move from place to place, children are playing, etc. because they have to and because that’s what people do. Not only has Guayaquil always been a very busy city, but around 40% of the working population is self-employed in the informal economy. Their workplaces are the streets where they offer everyday goods and services (e.g. water bottles, snacks or shoe shine). They carry on under the circumstances that life offers them at the moment and make the best of it. They are aware of the fact that the urban space potentially can be the scene of attacks and fights between criminals and security forces at any time and individually take the measures that they are able to.
Despite all the tragedy, it is clear that the city will not be defeated. The neighborhoods are connected locally and exchange information about immanent sources of danger and current developments in real time. Despite the crime rates, there is a willingness to take care of each other. People ask about the well-being of their peers and help where they can. Gallows humor flourishes and frightening events are used to make each other laugh. It remains to be seen how exactly things will play out, but one thing remains certain. No matter how long and ugly the crisis gets and how many victims it might claim, Guayaquil will put it behind itself, just like all dark chapters in its history before.
