Drug Cartels Unleash Wave of Violence in Ecuador | DW News

Jan 10, 2024 | Ecuador's president has declared a state of emergency and warned that the country has entered an “internal armed conflict” due to the drug gang violence. Violence in Ecuador has unleashed a wave of terror among the population.

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National Emergency after Jailed Drug Lord 'Fito' Vanishes in Ecuador | DW News

Jan 9, 2024

The Guardian View on Murder in Ecuador: A Tide of Violence Reaches New Heights

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: The killing of a presidential candidate has highlighted soaring homicide levels, as the cocaine trade booms in Latin America

The assassination of the Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio on Wednesday marked a frightening new moment, even in a country where homicide levels are rocketing. Rising violence and crime are the central issue of the election in which the former journalist fought. The 59-year-old, shot dead as he left an event in Quito, was a courageous whistleblower who campaigned on the slogan: “It’s time for the brave”. » | Editorial | Friday, August 11, 2023

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Presidential Candidate in Ecuador Is Assassinated During Rally

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, had been vocal about ties between the state and organized crime, in a country roiled by violence tied to drug trafficking.


A presidential candidate in Ecuador who had been outspoken about the link between organized crime and government officials was assassinated Wednesday evening at a political rally in the capital, just days before voting begins in an election that has been dominated by concerns over drug-related violence.

The candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, a former journalist, was gunned down outside a high school in Quito after speaking to young supporters. A suspect was killed in the melee that followed, and nine other people were shot, officials said. » | José María León Cabrera, Julie Turkewitz and Genevieve Glatsky, Reporting from Quito, Ecuador, and Bogotá, Colombia | Wednesday, August 9, 2023

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How a Peaceful Country Became a Gold Rush State for Drug Cartels

Men detained during a police raid in suburb of Guayaquil.
THE NEW YORK TIMES: In Ecuador, an intelligence official said: “People consume abroad, but they don’t understand the consequences that take place here.”

A total of 210 tons of drugs seized in a single year, a record. At least 4,500 killings last year, also a record. Children recruited by gangs. Prisons as hubs for crime. Neighborhoods consumed by criminal feuds. And all this chaos financed by powerful outsiders with deep pockets and lots of experience in the global drug business.

Ecuador, on South America’s western edge, has in just a few years become the drug trade’s gold rush state, with major cartels from as far as Mexico and Albania joining forces with prison and street gangs, unleashing a wave of violence unlike anything in the country’s recent history.

Fueling this turmoil is the world’s growing demand for cocaine. While many policymakers have been focused on an epidemic of opioids, like fentanyl, that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year, cocaine production has soared to record levels, a phenomenon that is now ravaging Ecuador society, turning a once peaceful nation into a battleground.

“People consume abroad,” said Maj. Edison Núñez, an intelligence official with the Ecuadorean national police, “but they don’t understand the consequences that take place here.”

It’s not that Ecuador is new to the drug business. Squeezed between the world’s biggest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, it has long served as an exit point for illicit products bound for North America and Europe. » | Julie Turkewitz | Photographs by Victor Moriyama | Reporting from Guayaquil, Ecuador | Wednesday, July 12, 2023

BBC HARDtalk (2016): Julian Assange 4th Year in Ecuador Embassy Highlighted by Foreign Minister (Guillaume Long) Interview

BBC HARDtalk interview with the Ecuador Foreign Minister Guillaume Long.

John Pilger: Julian Assange Exposed US' 'Kill Them All' Mentality!

We speak to legendary journalist and film-maker John Pilger who discusses the arrest of Julian Assange after his asylum status was revoked by Lenin Moreno of Ecuador and subsequent removal from the Ecuadorian Embassy. He discusses the importance of Wikileaks’ work, why it is a threat to the United States, the danger the arrest poses to journalists everywhere and the possibility of extradition to the US.

Nazi Rhetoric? Ecuador Slams Obama's Exceptionalism Stance

In a recent speech, Barack Obama expressed his belief in America's exceptional role in world's affairs, something that gives it the right to get involved in conflicts around the globe. But, in an exclusive interview with RT, Ecuador's President says Obama's rhetoric resembles that of the Nazi leadership during the second world war. It's not only Ecuador that has been left unimpressed by Obama's exceptionalism rhetoric, his claims were met with bewilderment all across the globe. George Galloway, British MP for the Respect Party believes such ideas won't bode well for the United States.

Exclusive: Ecuador’s Foreign Minister on Snowden, Assange & Latin American Resistance to U.S. Spying

Snowden Asylum: Ecuador FM Slams Morales’ Jet Fiasco, Urges More Nations to Aid Leaker

Edward Snowden reportedly leans toward Venezuela for asylum, while RT speaks to Ecuador's foreign minister on the reasons behind Latin America's backing for whistleblowers on the run. Three Latin American states have offered asylum but Edward Snowden is has yet to pick which one he'll accept. Reports say he's leaning towards Venezuela, whose offer came in early on a wave of South American support. Speaking exclusively to RT, Ecuador's foreign minister explained the continent-wide backing for whistleblowers and why he believes it's necessary. RT's Marina Portnaya reports.

Talk to Al Jazeera: Rafael Correa: 'Our Right to Grant Asylum'

The president of Ecuador discusses whistleblower Edward Snowden's attempt to seek political asylum in his country.

Read the Al Jazeera article here | Talk to Al Jazeera | Sunday, July 07, 2013

Snowdens Asylantrag: Ecuador schiebt Verantwortung auf Russland ab

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Was passiert mit Edward Snowden? Ecuadors Präsident sagt jetzt: Die Entscheidung über das Schicksal des NSA-Whistleblowers liegt in russischer Hand. Erst wenn er sich auf ecuadorianischem Boden befinde, werde über den Asylantrag entschieden.

Moskau/Quito - Ecuadors Präsident Rafael Correa hat die Verantwortung über das weitere Schicksal des flüchtigen früheren US-Geheimdienstmitarbeiters Edward Snowden Russland zugewiesen. Um Snowdens Asylantrag bearbeiten zu können, müsse er sich auf ecuadorianischem Boden befinden, sagte Correa am Samstagabend dem Privatsender Oromar. "Derzeit aber liegt die Lösung, sein weiteres Reiseziel, in den Händen der russischen Behörden."

Nach Meinung von Experten könnte ecuadorianischer Boden auch die Botschaft des südamerikanischen Landes in Moskau sein.

Der Präsident bekräftigte, sein Land könne nichts für die derzeitige Situation. Snowden stehe in Kontakt mit WikiLeaks-Gründer Julian Assange, der ihm zu dem Asylantrag geraten habe. » | fab/AFP/dpa | Sonntag, 30. Juni 2013

US and Ecuador Discuss Snowden's Bid for Asylum
BBC: The US vice-president has talked to Ecuador's leader by phone about fugitive ex-CIA analyst Edward Snowden's bid for asylum.

Joe Biden held talks with President Rafael Correa on Friday, the two countries confirmed.

According to Mr Correa, Mr Biden asked him to reject the request but Washington gave no details.

In a new development, a German magazine says a document leaked by Mr Snowden shows the US bugged EU offices.

Spiegel magazine says a September 2010 "top secret" document of the US National Security Agency outlines how the agency bugged offices and spied on EU internal computer networks in Washington and at the UN. The document explicitly referred to the EU as a "target", the magazine reports.

Mr Snowden is believed to be staying at a Moscow airport, having arrived nearly a week ago from Hong Kong, where he had been staying since he revealed details of top secret US surveillance programmes.

The US has charged him with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence.

Each charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence. » | Saturday, June 29, 2013

Ecuador Cools on Edward Snowden Asylum as Assange Frustration Grows

THE GUARDIAN: President Correa revokes Snowden's temporary travel document amid concerns WikiLeaks founder is 'running the show'

The plan to spirit the surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden to sanctuary in Latin America appeared to be unravelling on Friday, amid tension between Ecuador's government and Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.

President Rafael Correa halted an effort to help Snowden leave Russia amid concern Assange was usurping the role of the Ecuadoran government, according to leaked diplomatic correspondence published on Friday.

Amid signs Quito was cooling with Snowden and irritated with Assange, Correa declared invalid a temporary travel document which could have helped extract Snowden from his reported location in Moscow.

Correa declared that the safe conduct pass issued by Ecuador's London consul – in collaboration with Assange – was unauthorised, after other Ecuadorean diplomats privately said the WikiLeaks founder could be perceived as "running the show".

According to the correspondence, which was obtained by the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision and shared with the Wall Street Journal, divisions over Assange have roiled Ecuador's government. » | Rory Carroll in Quito and Amanda Holpuch in New York | Friday, June 28, 2013

Snowden Scrap: Ecuador Thumbs Nose at Washington

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: In the latest tit for tat in the controversy over Edward Snowden's asylum application, Ecuador has terminated a trade agreement with Washington. President Rafael Correa will score points for standing up to the US, but some worry sanctions could follow.

Tensions continue to simmer between Washington and Quito over the Edward Snowden affair. After the United States threatened to eliminate special trade benefits with Ecuador, the South American country unilaterally moved on Thursday to terminate a trade benefits deal with the country. A short time later, the US said it would also review trade advantages given to Ecuador.

For Washington, the latest developments are a further setback in the diplomatic nightmare surrounding whistleblower Snowden, who has been on the run since leaking documents about collossal American and British Internet spying programs to Britain'sGuardian newspaper. Washington's threatening gestures come at an opportune time for politicians in Quito.

In Ecuador, few believe that a trade deal in place with the US since 1991 will be extended. Numerous conflicts already existed between the two countries even before the Snowden affair. » | Johannes Schneider in Quito, Ecuador | Friday, June 28, 2013

Ecuador Turns Away US Trade Benefits, Makes Defiant Offer amid Snowden Asylum Request

Read the article here | FoxNews.com | Thursday, June 27, 2013

Ecuador Can't Grant Snowden Asylum As He's Not On Its Soil
Ecuador says there are obstacles in granting asylum to whistleblower Edward Snowden. The development was revealed in a press conference by the country's government in the Ecuadorian capital. Snowden himself remains somewhere in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. RT's Lucy Kafanov outside the airport brings the latest.

Edward Snowden: Shooting the Messenger?
Mainstream media in the US seems to be more interested in the character of the leaker than in the content of the leak.

U.S. Urges Russia to Hand Over Snowden
THE NEW YORK TIMES: WASHINGTON — An increasingly frustrated Obama administration escalated its criticism on Monday of Russia, China and Ecuador, the countries that appeared to be protecting Edward J. Snowden, the fugitive former government contractor wanted for leaking classified documents, who has eluded what has become a global American manhunt.

The White House spokesman, Jay Carney, told reporters that relations with China had suffered a setback over its apparent role in approving a decision on Sunday by Hong Kong to let Mr. Snowden board a flight to Moscow and avoid arrest — even though his passport had been revoked. Mr. Carney also warned the Russian authorities that they should expel Mr. Snowden into American custody. » | Peter Baker and Rick Gladstone | Monday, June 24, 2013

NSA Leaker Edward Snowden Seeks Asylum in Ecuador

US News | Weird News | More ABC News Videos

Read the article here | James Gordon Meek, Kirt Radia, Leezel Tanglao and Dean Schabner | | Sunday, June 23, 2013