Daniel Noboa announces an alliance with the Blackwater mercenary company for Ecuador’s security

The Government of Daniel Noboa has announced that an American private security group will collaborate in the security of Ecuador, a country with one of the highest homicide rates in the world and whose authorities have been infiltrated by drug trafficking. The president has revealed that he has sealed a “strategic alliance” with Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, the controversial mercenary firm, with the aim of strengthening the country’s capabilities in the fight against narcoterrorism and in the protection of maritime space against illegal fishing.

This decision is not an isolated act. The president had announced days before he was in search of international support for his battle against organized crime that has overwhelmed the borders of state control, with about 2,000 violent deaths in less than three months, massacres, kidnappings, extortion, a dozen crimes that have the population in suspense. Violence has reached alarming levels, and containing it has become an urgency, especially at the gates of presidential elections, in which Noboa plays re -election in a tight ballot with the candidate of the Citizen Revolution, Luisa González.

Erik Prince, known for having founded Blackwater, the largest American private security company during the war in Iraq, is a figure whose name is irremediably linked to the controversy. In 2007, several of his mercenaries were involved in the slaughter of 17 Iraqi civilians in the Plaza de Nisour, in Baghdad, during a diplomatic escort operation. After the suspicion of an insurgent attack, Blackwater contractors opened fire indiscriminately, killing several civilians. This episode, which unleashed the international sentence, led Prince to rename the company and sell it, but not to erase its past. Those responsible were convicted, although they later received the presidential pardon of Donald Trump, an act that has left a shadow of impunity on his name.

With the alliance between Noboa and Prince, Ecuador not only faces a dilemma of privatizing security, but also an ethical questioning about the cost of extreme measures. Sometimes, the young president seems willing to cross the ethical limits and international law, for the sake of «stability», as happened with the assault on the Mexico Embassy in Quito, or with his support for the military involved in a state crime for the forced disappearance and murder of four children.

Noboa says that the arrival of mercenaries does not necessarily implies

In a recent interview with the BBC, Daniel Noboa defended the alliance with Erik Prince, ensuring that the founder of Blackwater is advising, with his experience, the Armed Forces and the Police of Ecuador. Before the direct question about whether the presence of mercenaries in the country would be part of the agreement, Noboa responded with caution, stating that «not necessarily» would be the case. The president, on the other hand, stressed that his main expectation is to receive support from armies from the United States, Europe or Brazil. «This could be helpful for us,» he added.

Patricio Pazmiño, retired colonel from the Armed Forces and former intelligence director, considers that Blackwater «training» to Ecuador’s security institutions would be a monumental error. «What can a group of mercenaries advise the public force?» According to Pazmiño, this alliance would imply an implicit admission that the policies implemented by the Government during the last year have been a failure. In addition, the ex -official indicates that other strategies, such as the integral strengthening of the Armed Forces and the National Police to improve their operational capacity, remain a pending subject. For Pazmiño, depending on external actors with a controversial trajectory not only underlines the lack of results of internal policies, but also raises serious doubts about the future of security in the country, especially when national alternatives have not yet been effectively implemented.

Security analyst Luis Carlos Córdova warns that the Blackwater alliance could drag Ecuador to a «dirty war.» For him, the strategy behind this collaboration is an exhibition of power based on extreme violence: «To demonstrate that they are winning the war, the bodies will be shown,» he explains. The researcher argues that, by not operating conventional tactics, such as the capture of leaders or the increase in military presence in the streets, there is a risk of resorting to darker methods, such as «false positives.» This phenomenon, which became sadly famous during the war against the FARC in Colombia, implied the murder of peasants, who were later passed through guerrillas dead in combat. An episode that left a deep mark on collective memory and for which former president Álvaro Uribe is being judicially prosecuted.

Córdova also warns that, if Noboa gets re -election, it is likely to bet on this type of drastic measures. «These types of policies would guarantee great social approval, as with President Filipino Rodrigo Duterte, who, despite criticism and accusations of crimes against humanity in his war on drugs, reaped significant popular support,» says the analyst. For the analyst, this path could be tempting for a president who, in his attempt to consolidate power, resorts to high visibility strategies, but with serious ethical and humanitarian costs.