Noboa: With a hard hand against drugs and violence in Ecuador!

Noboa: With a hard hand against drugs and violence in Ecuador!

Quito, Ecuador - On May 24, 2025, Daniel Noboa was sworn in as the youngest President Ecuadors in Quito after winning the election in April. He continued his term by completing the last 18 months of the previous presidency of Guillermo Lasso. Noboa, the legacy of a significant banana export business, confronts not only the challenges of the domestic economy, but also a dramatic increase in violence and crime in the country.

Noboa faces a severe political crisis that is exacerbated by the progressive increase in organized crime and drug gangs. In fact, Ecuador - strategically located on coca producers Colombia and Peru - has experienced a significant escalation of crime since 2016. The drug gangs, especially Los Choneros and Los Lobos, benefit from the unstable situation and have a common goal: to undermine the Ecuadorian state. This dynamic is fueled by the geographical location of Ecuador and the use of seaports for drug export, often hidden between bananas.

Noboas security strategy

Noboa promised to make the fight against drug gangs more intensely and to confiscate illegal weapons and explosives. During his tenure, he took military measures and sent the armed forces to the streets to increase security at important infrastructure locations. His strategy has already been compared to the controversial anti-gang measures in El Salvador. In addition, Noboa described the progressive reduction of murder cases as a non -negotiable goal of its government.

Although it is officially reported that there was a decline in violent deaths by 15 percent in 2024, official figures show an increase in killings by 58 percent in the first four months of 2025 compared to the previous year, with 3,094 deaths registered. This worrying development illustrates the challenges that the government faces.

international partnerships and domestic political tensions

Noboa as a strategic partner for security reform and Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, has hired as a consultant for the Ecuadorian security forces. This decision caused concern among opposition politicians and human rights activists. The debate about the role of the military in domestic politics will certainly continue to be discussed controversially.

With a clear focus on security and urgency to combat organized crime, Noboa has started to change the image of his country characterized by drug cartels and to offer Ecuador a more hopeful future.

The location in Ecuador remains tense and it remains to be seen whether President Noboa's plans will be fertile to improve the security situation and economic stability. According to ZDF , the country is affected by a growing spiral of violence, which makes the government's actions appear all the more urgent.