Evan Ellis: Ecuador's Security Challenges - The Sky Isn't Falling
Dear Colleague,
Last week the grave security situation in Ecuador was elevated to international headlines when members of one of the narco-funded violent gangs operating there briefly took over a well-known Guayaquil TV station during a news broadcast.
As Ecuador’s new President Daniel Noboa moves forward with important new measures to address the country’s security challenges, international news coverage has rightly focused on the gravity of the problem. In the process, it has mistakenly given the impression of Ecuador as a near-failed state, giving little context about the relative strength of the country’s institutions and the capabilities of its security forces. These, despite years of underfunding, are taking sensible steps in the context of new legal authorities and U.S. support, that will likely produce key successes and improvements in the coming months, even if there are risks of long-term increases in violence as occurred in Mexico, and even if the necessary actions of the Ecuadoran government do not (and cannot) address the principal underlying cause: the flood of illicit drugs from neighboring Colombia and the growing power of criminal groups there and in Mexico, with the situation made worse by the security policies of both.
In that context, I am proud to share my work on Ecuador, emphasizing that “The Sky Isn’t Falling”:
In Spanish, published by InfoBae:
And an extended, modestly updated version in English, published by Global Americans:
The Spanish-language version is available on the InfoBAE website:
https://revanellis.com/el-reto-de-la-seguridad-en-ecuador-el-cielo-no-se-esta-cayendo
The English-language article is also available from the Global Americans website:
https://theglobalamericans.org/perspectives-on-ecuador-the-sky-isnt-falling/
Podcast and Radio Shows:
As always, I would also like to share with you the links to my latest podcasts. These include a new video program I did on January 11th for the U.S. Homeland Defense Information Analysis Center (HDIAC) on the Homeland Defense implications of PRC activities in Latin America and the Caribbean:
My audiovisual productions also include segments on the John Batchelor Show, in his special ongoing series on Latin America, The New World Report. You may find these weekly podcasts, which we have been doing regularly for well over a year now, as a useful analysis of key events in the region. The full list is available on my website:
https://www.revanellis.com
The latest episodes are:
Ecuador (Part I): January 17: https://audioboom.com/posts/8434150-1-2-newworldreport-the-ecuador-security-challenge-the-sky-is-not-falling-latin-american-re
Ecuador (Part II): January 17: https://audioboom.com/posts/8434151-2-2-newworldreport-the-ecuador-security-challenge-the-sky-is-not-falling-latin-american-re
Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua: January 17: https://audioboom.com/posts/8434152-newworldreport-troubled-central-american-democracy-guatemala-el-salvador-nicaragua-latin-a
Brazil and Argentina: January 17: https://audioboom.com/posts/8434153-newworldreport-brazil-tries-state-capitalism-again-latin-american-research-professor-evan-elli
Website for all Publications:
As always, at my professional website you can access the present, and all of my past publications, as well as select webinars and podcasts:
https://revanellis.com/
I am pleased to announce that the website now has its own search engine and improved functionality for browsing and accessing my older articles, thanks to a gift by my brilliant son and Information Technology professional, Brandon Ellis.
Book on China-Latin America:
My latest book, China Engages Latin America: Distorting Development and Democracy, is available through my publisher Palgrave-Macmillan, at:
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-96049-0
Please feel free to share this post with a friend or colleague. If you would like to be included in my (always free) distribution list, I welcome the opportunity to include you:
Thank you, as always, for your interest in my work.
Respectfully,
R. Evan Ellis, PhD
Latin America Research Professor
U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute
@REvanEllis
Website: https://revanellis.com