Ecuador’s Security Challenges and the Government’s Response

Article title: Ecuador’s Security Challenges and the Government’s Response
Website: Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, Florida International University
Date of Publication: 10 February 2025
Author: R. Evan Ellis, Senior Fellow at the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy and a Latin America research professor with the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute.

How to Cite:  Ellis, R. Evan. Ecuador’s Security Challenges and the Government’s Response. Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy - Policy Spotlight (online), 10 February 2025 https://gordoninstitute.fiu.edu/news-events/the-policy-spotlight/2025/ecuadors-security-challenges-and-the-governments-response.html

Ecuador is facing a severe security crisis fueled by surging cocaine flows from Colombia and Peru, the proliferation of violent gangs, illegal mining, and deep institutional corruption. In response to high-profile incidents such as the prison escape Of the leader of Ecuadoran gang Los Choneros, and the takeover of an Ecuadoran Television station during a live broadcast, the newly elected government of Daniel Noboa declared a “state of internal warfare” in the country, designating twenty-two criminal groups as terrorist organizations and deploying the military across prisons, borders, and mining zones. Despite these measures, Ecuador’s fragmented criminal networks, limited state resources, and entrenched corruption undermine progress. The crisis has also become central to the country’s 2025 elections, where public discontent threatens Noboa’s hold on power and may return Rafael Correa’s party, with implications for Ecuador’s ties to the U.S. and its vulnerability to becoming a narco-state.

The full text of the article is available on the website, here.