Just became a paid subscriber due to this article although I've been a silent supporter for a while now.
I have personal interest in this story as I am the spouse of an Ecuadorian, father to children born in Ecuador and recently had to divest from the country as it is no doubt, crumbling. My first time in the country was back in the Corre…
Just became a paid subscriber due to this article although I've been a silent supporter for a while now.
I have personal interest in this story as I am the spouse of an Ecuadorian, father to children born in Ecuador and recently had to divest from the country as it is no doubt, crumbling. My first time in the country was back in the Correa days.
"Social spending was slashed and power distributed to an oligarch faction linked to drug trafficking..."
- Can you provide more specifics here or point me to where I can drill down on these details? As you mentioned, Correa booted out the US military base and at the time I applauded that decision as it seemed unfair to the Ecuadorians. However, Correa also "legalized" gangs which had some benefits to the community but also had some negative affects. It strengthened those gangs as a normal part of the community and then later when Mexican and Albanian narco-gangs came to play it was pretty easy to establish the narco-network, locally. And as InsightCrime shows in their handy maps, tons of the trafficking is in and around the Manta area where the US military base used to be! So I just can't shake the thought that regardless of anything else, the strengthening of gangs and loss of the military base primed Ecuador for the absolute onslaught of organized narco crime that came next.
My family is fleeing Ecuador one by one, and is suffering greatly from Ecuadors downfall so I am personally invested in this story and look forward to your reply. I am in no way a blind supporter of the US agenda and meddling in LatAm but as a pragmatist I can't help but feel that Correa kinda effed things up too.
Just became a paid subscriber due to this article although I've been a silent supporter for a while now.
I have personal interest in this story as I am the spouse of an Ecuadorian, father to children born in Ecuador and recently had to divest from the country as it is no doubt, crumbling. My first time in the country was back in the Correa days.
"Social spending was slashed and power distributed to an oligarch faction linked to drug trafficking..."
- Can you provide more specifics here or point me to where I can drill down on these details? As you mentioned, Correa booted out the US military base and at the time I applauded that decision as it seemed unfair to the Ecuadorians. However, Correa also "legalized" gangs which had some benefits to the community but also had some negative affects. It strengthened those gangs as a normal part of the community and then later when Mexican and Albanian narco-gangs came to play it was pretty easy to establish the narco-network, locally. And as InsightCrime shows in their handy maps, tons of the trafficking is in and around the Manta area where the US military base used to be! So I just can't shake the thought that regardless of anything else, the strengthening of gangs and loss of the military base primed Ecuador for the absolute onslaught of organized narco crime that came next.
My family is fleeing Ecuador one by one, and is suffering greatly from Ecuadors downfall so I am personally invested in this story and look forward to your reply. I am in no way a blind supporter of the US agenda and meddling in LatAm but as a pragmatist I can't help but feel that Correa kinda effed things up too.