Front Burner - Chaos, gang war erupts in Ecuador

Episode Date: January 16, 2024

For over a week, Ecuador has been in a state of emergency. Armed gang members have set cars on fire, taken people hostage, and attacked staff at a major TV station during a live broadcast. These acts of violence came after the disappearance of a notorious gang leader with ties to the illegal drug trade. Today, freelance journalist Carolina Loza León, based in Manta, Ecuador, on what’s been happening on the ground, the gangs at the heart of escalating violence, and whether the government’s approach is likely to quell the chaos. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Damon Fairless. Last week, a group of masked gunmen broke into a major TV station in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. They waved pistols and explosives in the air, pointed their weapons at their captives, and forced about 50 staff members onto the floor. One of the journalists who was taken captive said, quote,

they hunted us, they looked for us everywhere, they took us to the set with intention. During the confrontation, a cameraman was shot in the leg, another employee had their arm broken, and at one point the news anchor holds his hands as if in prayer and pleads for the attackers to stop. And this was all broadcast live. It's an incredibly brazen act of violence, but it was hardly an exception. For over a week now, Ecuador has been in a state of emergency. This footage shows armed gang members setting fire to cars in the country's north in broad daylight. And the gang's terror tactics appear to be working.

Sadness and fear is something we all have right now, but we don't know what to do. Because in reality, we can't do anything. Today, I'm speaking with Carolina Lozaleon. She's a freelance journalist based in Manta, Ecuador, and she's going to take us through what's been happening on the ground. She'll help us understand the gangs at the heart of the escalating violence and whether the government's approach is likely to quell the chaos. Carolina, thanks so much for coming on FrontBurner. Thank you for having me.

So there's been widespread violence and chaos over the last little while there. But this attack at the TV station last week in Yayakil, this brought this to the world's attention and really seems to be a turning point. Hostages were taken. There's also been bombings and lootings. So I guess I'm curious, what's life like been for folks where you are? Well, for the past two years, Ecuadorians have had somewhat of a peak of violence, especially when there were transfers of leaders of gangs from one prison to the other, but nothing like this. I am speaking out from manta which is a coastal city here in ecuador and i had friends in the cities of uh guayaquil and quito telling

me this like there there seems to be something going on at the station traffic uh is it a standstill fake bomb threat and it just kept escalating throughout the day so it meant that many people had just to walk home they couldn't find a way to get back home and a general panic i understand that like some of the things that are happening in the streets of that like you know cars are being set on fire and then tell me about the university of gaya also it was stormed wasn't it yes there was a general panic. And then it was also of uncertainty of what was going on. Many people were just starting running to get out of the place.

They were scared of getting robbed or a potential of getting kidnapped, but not knowing what was happening as well. Places that are crowded are mostly avoided by people because of things like this, of what we saw in the university in Guayaquil. And how pervasive is this? Like, are we talking the major cities in Ecuador? Folks are feeling like this, or is it just a few places? It has been spread throughout the country. That's another thing that made this different from previous peaks of violence. So I am based in a city that has seen its fair share of violence, where we had bomb threats.

And this was not common in the rest of the country. However, this now happened in the capital city, especially. This is fairly new. So now there's a sense of, even in cities in the Amazon region, which has been the calmest throughout this period of violence in the past couple of years. We've even seen that there. So there's an uncertainty of not knowing what could happen next. Ecuador has had political turmoil and protests. And usually Ecuadorians, we have this uncanny ability of just sleeping it off and then walking out the next day and not even mentioning much about it. It's like life goes on as normal. This has not happened.

And you can see that this sense of fear is lingering. It's not like anything that has happened before in the country. So do you mean when you go out on the streets, their folks are staying at home? So businesses have closed. There are very reluctant to open businesses again. We've seen some people going out, but with a bit of fear, especially in public. It feels like when the pandemic, when they were lifting the restrictions from the pandemic

and people were venturing out, but with that sense of fear, it's that feeling all over again here. But now it's because of the violence. So this current state of emergency, it was declared shortly after the disappearance of this quite notorious criminal, Adolfo Macias Fito. Ecuador is on full alert. Its army will be patrolling the streets for at least the next 60 days after the country declared a state of emergency. They're searching for Adolfo Macias, known by his alias Fito. He's the leader of this powerful gang called Los Choneros. And I understand he vanished shortly before a scheduled transfer to a maximum security prison. And that sparked a huge manhunt.

And then there were prison riots. And then we had this latest outbreak of violence. So it seems that this has a lot to do with this gangster Fito. Can you tell me more about him? He was basically this, on this gang that is known for extortion. They started out in extortion for ranchers and people working in agriculture in different parts of the country. After that, they basically just kept getting more and more control of different parts of the country. And so. Oh, so and then they diversified their business, so to speak. Yes, they diversify their business.

So they would usually what they would work with was vaccines, which is an arbitrary tax, as they call it. It's an arbitrary tax charged weekly or monthly, and it's collected from businesses or families. So a vaccine you mean like protection money? Yes, basically protection money from themselves. Because if you didn't pay, you would get threatening calls and kidnappings, ransom, things like that. So basically, he rose through the ranks and is this leading figure. He is one of the main gang. The leader of the country's most powerful drug syndicate, the Chornetos, is serving a 32-year sentence for murder

and was taken to a nearby maximum security prison on the orders of President Guillermo Lazo. Authorities say they suspect Fito's involvement in murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who had recently received death threats from him. And he has been a prominent figure because he has kept operating from inside the prison. Los Chineros has kept this control over the prisons and they carry out extortions for inmates inside the prisons. So they have control in and out of the prisons and they have infiltrated government officials, the police. And he had this very flamboyant figure of, he had a production company

to film a video for him last year. He gave a couple of, that looked like press releases from prison. He had a lot of perks within the prison that would be considered luxuries, such as running water, hot water, Wi-Fi within his cell. So, I mean, you've mentioned that his gang and I assume others are able to enforce these vaccines. You mentioned this extortion money from within prisons. And then also, it sounds like the prison system is also corrupt. So can you tell me about, like, what, I just want to know about the prison system in also corrupt. So can you tell me about, like, I just want to know about the prison system in Ecuador in general.

Oof. The prison system in Ecuador is, it's very different than what someone can picture in North America, where there's more of a function in the judiciary system. Basically, the prison system is described as hell by many of them. and it's not just because the person has to serve a sentence but they can the living conditions there

or they have to pay for everything for every single thing so that means having a mattress a space they're usually overcrowded um there have been some reforms so there are some new prisons that have been built but there's um uh the food they have to pay for it uh every little thing uh unsanitary conditions and not any access to treatment to uh health treatment if they have some condition that they have to treat it and and they need medicine so there's a uh ongoing series of of series of violations in this prison system. Usually I spoke to inmates over the past year and they were saying that even things like if they have served their sentence and they're eligible for living in prison and going to having to serve time at home and then having to present themselves once a month at the prison, their folders would be held for months.

So they had to pay a bribe for their case to go up in the queue, as if we can put it that way. So basically every step of the way is corruption. It's laden by corruption. And what's the source of the corruption? I mean, clearly, if someone like Fito is able to basically run a prison from the inside, that's, you know, it's in the hands of criminals. But is this also endemic in the government who's running the system as well? It is. It is.

Sadly, it is. So basically, the reason why the violence has peaked as it has is because the levels of impunity in the judicial system in Ecuador have reached such an extent that it doesn't seem like it's possible to have any sense of justice in the country. People have to pay, even if they're innocent. There have been cases of people getting into a car accident and they can prove they're innocent, but they will have to pay thousands of dollars to a judge. So while people and politicians that have been charged with corruption are able to leave the country before they're charged. they are charged. So all of these things make it such a dysfunctional system that it's a breeding ground for these can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix.

I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income? That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. So we've been talking about one of these groups, Los Choneros, that's run by Fito, who we've been talking about. But there are other Los Choneros, that's run by Fito, who we've been talking about. But there are other gangs too, right?

And a lot of those have links to illegal drug trade. Can we just take the 10,000-foot view here and give me an overview of how these gangs work within the country? Yes, yes. So basically, these gangs, as I mentioned before, they do extortion. They started out that way. But then you have a key location in Ecuador, a key location for the drug trade. So you have a very lucrative business to get involved and you have people with the know-how of illegal activities. So it's just been like a snowball snowball effect right over the past few years and you need someone on the ground to carry out these operations so los chaneles was one of them they

started some of these bans have started out in in the province where i'm now in manabe because it's the main fishing port in the country and it has been a key route to getting uh drugs all the way to the U.S. And then these groups have been fighting for control over the past few years for the drug trade routes to link up with other groups. Los Chaneros has some links with Mexican cartels. It is widely believed. Los Chaneros is involved in much of the country's cocaine trade, acting as a broker between the Colombian and Mexican drug cartels. And just to point out too, for people who aren't as familiar with the geography, but

Ecuador borders Colombia and Peru, right? Both cocaine producing countries, right? So just as a major shipping point to areas like Mexico, and even I think to the Balkans too, right? It's kind of a valued territory for these groups. Exactly. It's valued territory also because of the ports like Manta where I'm in, it's easier to get out. And also, especially from Colombia, from the border with Colombia, we border with an area where there's a lot of coca fields, coca productions.

So all of these plays a key role. And it is a country that has been fairly peaceful before. So the controls weren't as extensive as they would have been, let's say, in Peru or Colombia. So all of that has contributed and has been the breeding ground. And especially in the past few years with the pandemic and an earthquake that hit the Ecuadorian coast in 2016, the need for jobs, the lack of jobs has also allowed these groups to gain control in pockets in areas of the country, in rural areas first, in areas where there are fishermen and recruit them to send them with drugs. So all of that has been taking place in the past eight years, if not for longer.

Okay, so I want to talk about President Noboa now. I guess I'm curious, what kind of pressure has all this put on him? Well, it's definitely a big test as a president to have to face this wave of violence. He did come to office with promises of ending the violence as soon as he could. Tomorrow, we start work for this new Ecuador. We start working to rebuild a country seriously battered by violence, by corruption, and by hate. From tomorrow, hope will start working. He had a brief career in politics before,

but he also comes from a family, a rich family, the richest family in the country. In fact, some people on social media would compare him and dub him to Kendall Roy, call him Ecuadorian Kendall Roy. And many were concerned that he had the expertise, but also many people were happy to have a fresh face in politics. So what he has done in the past, in the last few days, it has been the toughest response. Restoring order inside the country's dangerous prisons is a priority for President Daniel Noboa after he declared a state of internal conflict in the country earlier last week.

It gave the military sweeping powers to confront criminal gangs responsible for an unprecedented wave of violence that shocked the country. And there has been support for him, even from the opposition, but we'll see how long this support lasts. He's calling what's happened in Ecuador a, quote, internal armed conflict.

And he's using the language of war against the gangs, calling them terrorists. What do you think that language tells us armed conflict. And he's using the language of war against the gangs, calling them terrorists. Yes. What do you think that language tells us about his plan to deal with this kind of violence? Well, that language just shows how he's going to provide a lot of power to the military. The idea that the military will have this much power, although it is a military that's professional, that's been trained. And it does raise some questions on how much power they're going to have and the abuses that might take place.

There's over a thousand people that have been detained. Now, with the judiciary system that I mentioned before, how do we spec them? What about innocent people that might be detained? We got to see how this is going to play in different fronts. As I mentioned, the causes for this violence are not just gangs that came out of nowhere. This comes from neglect of communities, the low-income communities that have been the most affected by years before we saw this nationwide violence. So how are they going to tackle that in a country that in economic terms is not doing so well?

And in the long term, we still have to see that. How is it going to be carried out? The other thing that strikes me is, I mean, so it sounds like the current president's, you know, approach has been the strongest, but it's not unique in invoking a state of emergency. So his predecessor, Guillermo Lasso, he, I think he imposed roughly 20 states of emergencies over the last few years.

So I guess I'm curious, even if this is stronger, how likely is it to succeed? Yes, that's what everyone in Ecuador is also wondering how, but it seems different. It seems different. Even as the news of the state of emergency came out, people were first joking. It's like, oh, OK, here we go again. Here we go again.

This is, you know, this is we're going to have a curfew. Businesses are worried of what's going to happen for them, changing schedules, changing our routines, and then the violence that we saw happen. It was very new to Ecuadorians and shocking and the terror that it caused. So for many of them, it seems like it's a tougher stand that Daniel Novoa has on crime, but we have to see how effective it is. For many people, effectiveness has translated into more detentions. And this is the sense that we have now, but it's been a week. We have to see. I think the other question, you know, given how the gangs have responded, you know, to politicians who have taken a tough stance too, you know, what kind of

position has Novoa put himself in by declaring this? Presumably he's at risk of receiving, you know, payback from the gangs too. Yes, yes. And he, before all of this happened, he was at his beach home in the southern part of the country and there was a heavy military presence that you wouldn't see in precedence before. It strikes me that this last week is kind of a tipping point in your country.

It sounds like violence has been slowly growing. But, you know, for a very long time, Ecuador was, you know, it was this island of peace in South America. It was a model of stability in the region and had a reputation of being a lot safer than Colombia, for instance, that's been ravaged by drug violence. So I guess, you know, your country has changed and it sounds like you're entering a period of instability and uncertainty. So I guess I'm curious how you and your fellow Ecuadorians are feeling about this. It is quite frustrating, I have to admit. It is worrying, it is concerning, it is frustrating as well. I lived in Colombia, covering the peace process there and i remember having colleagues especially from mexico and colombia and the first impressions they

would get of ecuador is like it's so calm even walking down the street it feels very very safe that that has completely changed so it is it is quite concerning we have for the past few months i've had friends who the ones who are dual passport holders and whose parents are encouraging them to leave the country. So that talk of migration is not only done in economic terms now. We're speaking about if you can leave, you should consider that, what it's life like. It is also that pressure on our mental health too, that we think it doesn't have much of an effect, but then we realize it does. And especially for colleagues in local news outlets, I've seen that the toll that that has had on them, and many of them had to go in exile. This was unthinkable three years ago in Ecuador for doing their job. So it is a frustrating situation.

It is scary, but it's also that ability of saying, how do we deal with what I have in front of me? And how do I adapt to this? All right, Carolina, thank you so much for taking time to talk to us about that. Thank you. All right, that's all for today. I'm Damon Fairless. Thanks for listening to FrontBurner. I'll talk to you tomorrow. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.