cArlos Javier Vega, 19, asked to switch shifts at his father’s bakery in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city. However, a few blocks from the buyer’s location, after President Daniel Novore declared a “internal armed conflict” over organized crime, their cars stopped at checkpoints deployed on the streets by naval troopers.
Vega’s cousin attempted a U-turn and cut out the soldiers and military vehicles. The debate broke out and the troops fired. Vega was shot four times and died. His cousin survived the gunshot on his shoulder.
The government quickly classified the two unarmed victims as “terrorists” who allegedly attempted “attacks on military checkpoints.” The prosecutor’s office dismissed the claim and exempt them from fraud, but the government has never apologized.
“His death destroyed our family,” said Vega’s father, Carlos Vicente Vega Molina, 55.
“I don’t want my son to be punished like many others,” said his mother, Laura Ipanake, 43.
Vega’s case is the case of four black boys who died in December after being detained in the military, and since Novore introduced his Manodura (Tekken) policy a year ago, it has been a wave of serious human rights abuses. These are the two most obvious examples. Responding to a dramatic surge in violent crime.
This Sunday, its policy and Noboa’s short 14-month power will be tested as about 13 million Ecuadorians head to vote for the first round of the presidential election.
Novoa, 37, the heir to the banana estate, became Ecuador’s youngest president in 2023 after winning a surprising snap election. Novoa was one of three Latin American presidents who attended Donald Trump’s inauguration at the U.S. Capitol, along with Naive Buquere of El Salvador and Javier Mairi of Argentina.
“Nowbore’s presidency is more pronounced than anything due to the radicalisation of human rights,” said journalist Karolnona. She admitted that “human rights violations are not normally discussed in Ecuadorian households,” but Noronya could affect future elections, such as the energy crisis that caused power losses for up to 14 hours. He said there is.
For Guillaume Long, a senior researcher at the Center for Economic Policy Research, Noboa’s government “showed clear signs of authoritarianism and a disregard for the rule of law, constitutional practices and rights.”
He refusal to resign during the 30-day campaign required by the constitution, and Ecuadorian police and military broke into the Mexican embassy in Quito and arrested former deputy deputy Holgi Glass. This unprecedented diplomatic incident was highlighted. President of left-wing Rafael Correa.
“Novore also tends to be ruling by emergency orders in all sorts of ways,” said Long, who was the Foreign Minister for Correa in Ecuador. Last year, the country was in a state of emergency for 250 days, allowing measures such as unguaranteed housing attacks and banning parliamentary rights. Novore justified the measures necessary to fight the gang.
In April, the right-wing president won a referendum in support of his security plan, but Long doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll enjoy enough general support to easily ride in Sunday’s election .
“When I campaigned for a referendum, Novoa said he couldn’t reduce his crime because his hands were tied up. Almost a year later, he hasn’t delivered yet.” Long said.
Ecuador, once one of the safest countries in Latin America, saw violence soar after the port became what was called the “cocaine superhighway” in the United States and Europe. There was a first decline in murders when Novore imposed his “drug war,” but the rate quickly returned to its previous astonishing level, making it the second most violent year in 2024. Meanwhile, the temptation and terror continued to rise.
In Canaberal, a poor area northwest of Guayaquil, people pay local gangs a $2 vacuum cleaner (the scary tor fee) each week. “If you don’t pay, they break into your house and take yours. Sometimes, I have two dollars, so I have food and water for my kids. You won’t buy it,” one resident said.
While European authorities have praised Novoa’s crackdown on a massive drop in drug cargo, Spain’s biggest cocaine attack last November came from a banana-powered vessel from Guayaquil.
“How will the 13 tonnes shipment pass through the port? Ecuadorian maritime ports have zero control policies,” said former official Guayaquil defender, who has been working on hundreds of drug trafficking cases in recent years. Monica Rusallaga said.
“This balance of internal armed conflict is disastrous in terms of human rights and criminal restraint,” she said. “Now, citizens are not only victims of criminal groups, but also victims of abuse committed by the military.”
In Vega’s case, two naval soldiers and one await bail trial. “We’ve been taught about forgiveness, so I forgive those people, but that doesn’t mean they should not be judged for all the harm they caused us,” said the young man. said Laura Ipanake, the mother of the group.
“The truth is, the soldiers didn’t just kill my son – they killed us too,” she said.
