Ecuador’s War on Drug Gangs: A Mixed Picture So Far
President Noboa has deployed more than 30,000 soldiers and policemen to contain the chaos. While homicides have fallen, kidnappings and extortion remain high.
QUITO — Two months have passed since Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa declared a “state of internal conflict” and deployed more than 30,000 security forces to deal with scenes of drug-related violence that shocked the country and, indeed, the world. The emerging picture is of a very popular president, boasting an 80% approval rating as Ecuadorians rally behind his crackdown; an apparent decline in homicides, but persistent levels of other criminality, including kidnappings and extortion; and a great deal of information we simply don’t know, as the government seeks to control the...
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