Daniel Nubua from Ecuador wants us and Europe to join the battle against gangs

Ecuador President Daniel Nubua BBC told us, and European and Brazilian armies to join his “war” against criminal gangs.

He added that he wanted US President Donald Trump to appoint Ecuadorian gangs as terrorist groups, as he did for some Mexican and Venezuelan cartoons.

He also said that the Ecuadorian law would be respected when asked about his last partnership with Eric Prince, Trump’s ally and founder of the controversial private military company Blackoter.

Violence in Ecuador has increased in recent yearsWith gangs fighting to control drug trafficking methods. Most cocaine in the world is smuggled through Ecuador ports.

President Noboa has previously indicated that he wanted foreign military assistance to help treat drug gangs – but this is the first time that the United States, Brazil and Europe have defined.

Security – and how he deals with it – is a higher issue for voters before Current vote in Ecuador’s presidential elections On April 13.

Noboa has set 16 months in his position through a difficult campaign on gangs and the rationalization of streets and prisons-however he was fire from critics who see his tactics as very heavy.

During his term, the killing rate decreased by approximately 16 % from 2023 to 2024, but it is still much higher than previous years, and in January 2025 it reached a record in one month.

In an interview with BBC News, the current president said: “We need to get more soldiers to fight this war.”

“Seventy percent of cocaine in the world comes out across Ecuador. We need help from international forces.”

He said that what began as “criminal gangs” now “the” international “Narco terrorist groups from 14,000 armed people.

Donald Trump’s decision to appoint some cartridges in Latin America, where terrorist groups to enforce the law gave us more powers to fight them.

Nubua BBC told his American counterpart to do the same with the Ecuadorian gangs: “I will be happy if Los Lubus, Los Shuniros and Los Tigorin as terrorist groups because this is what they really are.”

Nuboa has already ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to search for cooperation agreements with “allied countries” to support the Ecuador police and army, and also seeks to obtain parliamentary approval to change the constitution to allow foreign military bases in Ecuador again.

In addition to constitutional changes, it will require that other countries be ready to provide this. The spread of armies abroad can be risky and expensive, but there is a precedent for them. The United States had a military base for its anti -drug operations in Ecuador until 2009, before it was banned by former President Rafael Korea.

President Noboa’s challenge will be convincing personalities like Donald Trump in the United States, or leaders in Europe where many medications are shipped, and that they are also in their interest to stop cartals and drug trafficking.

Regarding an alliance with Trump’s ally Eric Prince, who announced it a few days ago, he said: “We are fighting the unconventional urban guerrilla war. He has experience. He advises our armed forces, our police.”

Mr. Prince established the Blackwut Military Company, which provided security services to American governments, but was also involved in the controversy. He sold the company in 2010.

Four contractors were convicted of Blackwat and imprisoned for the killing of 14 ethnic citizens in Baghdad Square in 2007 and was later pardoned by Trump in 2020.

Does President Nobois want to bring the prince mercenaries to the country?

“It is not necessarily mercenaries,” he said. “We are talking about armies. We, European, Brazilian Special Forces. This can be a great help for us.”

While some supported this step, some Ecuadorians were martyred in the former Mr. Prince’s record and feared violations of rights in the country.

When asked about some of the previous differences of Eric Prince, Mr. Nubua said that Ecuador laws should be respected and that the war is being made legally.

But he added that the cartridges “violated every human right possible over the past five years.”

“They distorted people. They raped thousands of women. They traveled with human organs. They traded illegal gold. They moved more than 1,000 tons of cocaine annually.”

Last year, his iron approach was shot after that Four children were arrested by the soldiers on an alleged theft She later found distorted and burned.

Nubua said that these soldiers were in prison awaiting the investigation, but he would “fight to the end” to condemn the officials.

He maintained that the armed forces were acting proportional to the treatment of crime and noticed an imbalance between its 35,000 and 40,000 army members.

With the killing in January, prominent critics argue that his strict approach fails.

During a campaign gathering, his leftist rival Louisa Gonzalez said: “The campaign’s promises were supposed to be delivered in 2023 within a year and a half.

Nubua said it is natural to see the increasing violence before the elections in his country, but he repeated that Ecuador could not fight this problem alone: ​​”This is a crime across patriotism without a security policy across patriotism.”

He said that while the Albanian, Mexican and Colombian cartals worked together, there was no joint security policy between drugs affected by drugs.

He said that Ecuador needs help, because its economy is smaller than many in Europe or the United States where most medications are shipped.

He added that the smuggling of drug and illegal mining generated 30 billion dollars (23 billion pounds) – about 27 % of GDP – annually in Ecuador.

He urged countries where cocaine consumption is high, such as the United Kingdom, to make more effort to address this controversy: “The product that he consumes has a series of violence and misery.”

Violence and unemployment after birth prompted many Ecuadorians to flee north.

They are now one of the best nationalities that cross the Darren’s dangerous forest from the south to North America.

President Nuboa is ready to restore Ecuadorian immigrants from the United States, but not other nationalities, and said that the country was giving returnees technical training and minimum wage for three months.

For him, the solution is to improve “opportunities”.

“We need to develop, as an export economy, jobs in Ecuador for these people.”

While he said it was “100 %” sympathy for people fleeing violence, he blamed “the absence of a strong security policy.”

His message to Ecuadorians now? “Keep – you will see positive results. We reduce inflation. Companies are employing. The economy is recovering.”

Daniel Nubua Luisza Gonzalez will face voting next month.

He got only 0.5 % more voices in the first roundThe second round suggestion can be very close and attract.

With security, the supreme issue of voters may depend, or its success – or no – may depend on whether the Ecuadorians believe that progress was good enough.