The Latin American Report # 265

Ecuador: game of thrones?

Although violence and drug trafficking have grown so much to be considered the main problem of this South American nation, corruption is a historical sin that has fueled them in recent years. The Ecuadorian Public Prosecutor's Office works on a humongous case called "Metastasis", which reflects how much organized crime has penetrated all levels of power in the nation. The problem I see in this regard is lawfare, which vitiates the battle against corruption giving it political overtones and abuse of power.

This seems to be happening in the case of the current Vice President Verónica Abad, ostracized by Daniel Noboa since the presidential campaign itself, and now included in an influence-peddling case that initially only included her son. The Prosecutor's Office sustains that Francisco Sebastián Barreiro Abad offered a high position to a former official of the Vice-Presidency in exchange for giving him half of his salary, valued at 3,200 dollars.

_{Verónica Abad. Several reports suggest that Noboa does not want her as vice president when he runs for reelection (source).}

In addition, Barreiro Abad allegedly made the former official sign a promissory note for more than US$30,000. The point is that now prosecutors are targeting the vice president herself after referring to the discovery of "telephone information through which [her] alleged participation [...] in [the] case was determined". The legislative branch refused yesterday to include her in the case, showing the fight of powers against Noboa.

Abad presents herself as a "persecuted" from Israel, where she was sent very early so that she would not take a liking to the Palace of Carondelet. I do not rule out that the influence-peddling case could be real. But it is clear that, fabricated or not, they appeal to it to push the vice president to the limit. They started imprisoning her son—who sure is not a saint but neither a consummate hitman—in a maximum security prison, which is the same as being in a maximum danger prison. By the way, Barreiro Abad was released from prison after posting $20,000 bail, which tells much about Ecuadorian society.

Crime sucks

At least until Thursday the scratchy feeling in the throat was intense for those who live or travel near the Guayaquil morgue, following the breakdown in the services of two refrigerated corpse containers more than two weeks ago. The problem could be due to the unhappy mix of a (new) increase in crime in the capital of the bloody province of Guayas and irregular electricity service. Disinfection tasks employ products that vitiate the environment and compromise people's health.

"The itching in the throat becomes unbearable", said a shopkeeper who leaves his work earlier because his eyes also start to water. In Guayaquil, there is a shortage of space in the cemeteries for the many unidentified or unclaimed bodies. One woman was told that her son's body was rotting. Last week authorities collected 40 bodies from a city whose province "contributed" almost half of the violent deaths last year in the whole country.

_{The autopsies to be performed exceed the human capacity of the four doctors dedicated to these tasks in the Guayaquil morgue, which even causes the loss of identities (source).}

Comprehensive health crisis

Finally there, the Minister of Public Health presented his resignation this Friday without revealing the reasons why he abandoned the ship captained by Noboa. The former official was facing many questions due to the shortage of medicines and medical supplies, and also due to the insecurity of health facilities, after a shooting outside a hospital in the same capital during the transfer of prisoners. Last January there was an assault on a health institution in Guayas to recover a gang member who was wounded there, which resulted in the arrest of more than 60 individuals.

Chiapas is a disturbing red chronicle

As this edition of The Latin American Report was "ready for printing", news of another deadly violence event in southern Mexico came in. There is not yet a complete toll, but in principle, there is talk of at least ten dead in the border state of Chiapas. When I looked for more information in the local newspaper "El Heraldo de Chiapas" I noticed that the front page of it is an authentic and sad red chronicle.

Authorities initiated ex officio the investigation for the homicide of five people in La Concordia, who were ambushed by armed men when they were traveling in a Ranger-style van. Some reportedly tried to escape but were hunted by their attackers, who left their bodies lying in the bushes (images below, source). Also in Chiapas, in the violent municipality of Pantelhó, long bathed in blood due to internal disputes between criminal groups, a massacre was reported on Friday against a family that left at least five dead, most of them presumably minors.

And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.

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