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1 1 (January 24, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveocq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CongressionaJ informing the legisliti Rse rch Service I dbate sin'e1914 Updated January 24, 2024 Ecuador: Country Overview and U.S. Relations Ecuador is an ethnically and geographically diverse country of 18.3 million people encompassing portions of South America's Pacific coast, Amazon Basin, and Andean highlands. Ecuador's strategic port city of Guayaquil has become a major hub for trafficking cocaine from neighboring Colombia and Peru, the world's largest cocaine producers (see map, Figure 1). Ecuador faces an acute security crisis, as gangs have increasingly fought for control of drug trafficking routes and prisons and have assassinated politicians. Some Members of Congress have expressed concern about the deteriorating security climate in Ecuador, a key U.S. regional partner. Congress enacted a framework to deepen economic and other bilateral ties with Ecuador in 2022 and may consider legislation to provide additional trade preferences for Ecuador. Current Pohticai Conditions President Daniel Noboa took office on November 23, 2023, to complete the term of his predecessor, Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023), who had called Ecuador's first-ever snap general elections. Lasso had pushed for market-friendly political and economic reforms but faced opposition from the country's powerful Indigenous movements and a divided legislature dominated by leftist parties that had repeatedly tried to impeach him. The 2023 elections were marred by the assassination of one of the presidential candidates and other political figures, allegedly by organized crime groups. In mid-October 2023, Noboa won a second-round runoff with 52% of the vote, defeating Luisa Gonzales, an ally of former leftist populist president Rafael Correa (2007-2017). Noboa is the head of a center-right, pro-business party, National Democratic Action (ADN by its Spanish acronym). He is a 36-year-old former corporate executive and scion to a banana fortune. Voters also reelected about 30% of National Assembly members and approved by large margins national and regional referenda to halt oil and mineral extraction in two ecologically sensitive regions. President Noboa and the newly elected legislators are to serve until May 2025. The new 137-member unicameral National Assembly was seated on November 17. The Correa-linked Citizens Revolution party (RC by its Spanish acronym) won the most seats (51), followed by the anti-corruption Build Ecuador Movement (26), the conservative Social Christian Party and allies (18), and the ADN (14). Indigenous party representation, which had been significant, declined. (Party affiliation is fluid, so seat allocation may change over time.) Unlike President Lasso, whose minority government was challenged by highly disruptive protests and impeachment attempts, President Noboa quickly forged a large legislative majority. His loose coalition includes the left-wing RC, Noboa's center-right ADN, and the right-wing Social Christian party. This legislative alliance may enable Noboa to enact policies intended to restore public security and continue Ecuador's post-pandemic recovery. Figure I . Ecuador at a Glance Sources: World I-actbook (CIA), International Monetary Fund (Imi-); Ecuador's National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (NISC); Trade Data Monitor (TDM). Security Crisis Ecuador has seen a sharp rise in violence over the past four years, attributable primarily to power struggles among gangs affiliated with transnational criminal organizations, including Mexican cartels and the Albanian mafia, battling for control of drug trafficking routes and infrastructure, such as ports. The homicide rate nearly doubled from 2021 to 2022, reaching almost 26 per 100,000 persons, a rate on par with Colombia and Mexico. Some observers estimate that the rate exceeded 44 per 100,000 in 2023, which would be among the highest rates in Latin America. In response, President Lasso declared multiple states of emergency but failed to quell the violence. High-fatality prison riots due to gang rivalries plagued Lasso's years in office. Criminal organizations are alleged to have widely corrupted public officials, judges, police, military, and corrections personnel. In early 2024, President Noboa began to unveil his anti- crime strategy, known as Plan Phoenix. On January 7, the leader of Ecuador's largest gang, Los Choneros, escaped before the government could move him to a more secure prison. The next day, President Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency and national curfew. Rivals to Los Choneros coordinated lethal uprisings in seven prisons in which some 200 prison guards were taken hostage. Armed men occupied a major television network during a live broadcast. This was followed by a wave of car bombs, police kidnappings, and other violence across the country, which appeared to be a politically motivated effort by

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