Either it does not suit them, or they play dumb. There is no other way to explain the indifference and inertia of political forces regarding the mail problem facing Ecuador today. Engrossed in a parliamentary dispute whose goal is the distribution of state agencies, they do not think or say anything about the offensive of criminal gangs against society and institutions.
The placement of explosives in a judicial office in Guayaquil is evidence of the level of confrontation we are reaching. Had they succeeded, the perpetrators of the attack would have succeeded to introduce us into a maelstrom of criminal violence similar to what shook Colombia for several years. In that country, car bombs were the main strategy used by drug traffickers to solve political problems and judicial decisions.
The problem is that this threat is not defused by simple preventive action by the police. Arresting two or three suspects ends up being a mere detail. The attacks are sure to be repeated. It seems than the decision of the criminal gangs is to escalate their pressure on the state, in order to consolidate their power.
Meanwhile, the Government ant the parties that attended the meeting with minister Jimenez focused on issues of an immediacy than causes anguish. As if the eventual changes in the authorities of the Nacional Assembly would serve to solve a problem that threatens the very viability of the Ecuadorian state. And the concrete issue of insecurity was assumed from the superficiality of police actions, as if more guns were enough to solve a risk of geopolitical dimensions.
What is going through the minds of these clueless political leaders? Are they aware of the complexity of the problem, or are they simply contributing to its aggravation? Do they expect that chaos will generate some political or electoral benefit for them?
Some calculations are totally misguided. For example, the revenues supposedly generated by the release of ex-vice president Jorge Glas. The public indignation with this scandal is such that it will end passing the electoral bill to those who are considered the main responsible for that decision: correismo ant Government. If UNES (ex-president Correa’s party) thinks that with this judicial trickery it will increase its popular adhesions, it is mistaken from beginning to end. Dynamiting justice administration to free a corrupt functionary has mores costs than benefits.
In practice, the electoral panorama is open to informality, a terrain where, in addition to the improvised politicians, criminal gangs make their business. The phenomenon is well known in other latitudes. The control of local administrations is the best guarantee for certain illegal businesses, such as drug trafficking. In Mexico, more than 70 percent of municipalities are victims of this power scheme. An in Ecuador we still do not know how far we have come.
Thus, the 2023 sectional elections may consolidate a new scheme of political power. An infernal scheme.
April 22nd, 2022
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