Murder of prosecutor alarms Ecuador’s government in midst of war on crime
EL PAÍS EnglishJan 18
César Suárez, the public prosecutor in charge of the criminal investigation into the storming of an Ecuadorian television station by gang members last week, was killed Wednesday in an ambush as he was driving to court in the city of Guayaquil.
At the time of his assassination, Suárez had detained at least 13 people in connection with the TV station attack. Suárez, the country's top anti-corruption prosecutor, was traveling without a security detail, and his death shows gangs are now targeting state institutions.
Just when it seemed Noboa had made Ecuador safer, the gangs have stepped up their efforts to dismantle the state by exacting violence on top officials. But the government can't give up. It's time to make sure every official has a security detail and that double the effort is made to combat these terrorists. The future of Ecuador is at stake, but it's salvageable.
Corruption is deeply rooted in Ecuadorian society and the campaign against it has been lost. Numerous neighborhoods have been overtaken by violent gangs operating on behalf of foreign drug cartels, and the authorities are powerless to stop them. Suarez's murder seems to be the final nail in the coffin for a country that's now seeing citizens flee in droves to the United States.
There is a 20% chance that there will be a successful coup d'etat in Ecuador before 2040, according to the Metaculus prediction community.