How Ecuador governor turned ‘no-go’ zone city around in just 26 days

Published

9 months ago

February 28, 2024

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The mile-long strip in Ecuador’s port city of Esmeraldas is rocking to the sound of Latin beats and laughter.

The main road on the beachfront is bordered by the blue sea and white sands of the Pacific Ocean on one side, and packed bars and restaurants on the other. It’s summertime, it’s carnival, and it’s party time.

The hotels have somewhere over 70% occupancy and in the best restaurants one has to queue for a table, albeit while nursing an ice-cold cocktail as you wait.

This could be any hot tourist destination, from Rio de Janeiro to the Caribbean, to Florida, to Spain. I’m fortunate enough to have visited all of them.

There is a difference here though.

As one crosses the road to get an ice cream, for example, you have to make sure you aren’t in the way of a patrol of heavily armed, balaclava-wearing, body-armoured marines who are a constant presence – sometimes patrolling in their vehicles, sometimes on foot.

It looks normal, it feels normal, but it isn’t.

The city of Esmeraldas, and Ecuador as a whole, is at war with the drug gangs, and while the security forces are winning at the moment, the war is anything but over.

Just a few weeks ago Esmeraldas was a no-go zone, indeed even now very few international journalists or foreigners have visited this coastal city.

The beaches and streets were empty then, and hotels had near zero occupancy.

Restaurants were shut and bars were open to just a few regulars.

Violence and insurrection spread across Ecuador

The drug gangs and their Mexican cartel bosses were murdering people, exploding car bombs, and promising insurrection after the president of Ecuador put in place a nationwide crackdown on their business interests and their complete disregard for the rule of law – even democracy.

Daniel Noboa, the 36-year-old president of Ecuador, launched the crackdown after notorious drug gangster Adolfo “Fito” Macias escaped from prison in Guayaquil.

Violence and insurrection spread across the country after his escape, and Esmeraldas quickly became a big problem. Its murder rate spiked, making it one of the most dangerous cities in the world at the time.

‘They aren’t afraid anymore, they are free’

President Noboa needed someone to sort it out. He made the call one morning.

The man who answered was the retired former police chief of Esmeraldas, now living in the United States.

The president said he needed help. The man he rang nodded his agreement, hung up, told his wife, and took the next flight home to Ecuador.

I met Javier Buitron beside the sea in Esmeraldas, his bodyguards a constant presence.

He is now the governor of Esmeraldas.

“People didn’t leave their houses, they were scared they would be killed,” he told me.

“Now I am happy because they aren’t afraid anymore, they are free, the people are free and are now enjoying this place, in the bars, enjoying the streets, and now enjoying the beach.”

Authorities regain control

Working alongside the police and the military, Mr Buitron is credited with turning this whole place around in just 26 days.

The authorities now have control of the streets. They have also regained control of the local prison, and officers and soldiers can enter neighbourhoods they couldn’t go into before including an area where the gangs had aligned themselves to the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels from Mexico.

Before, Mr Buitron said, for a few grim weeks, bodies were hanging from bridges in that part of Esmeraldas, a tell-tale sign of the presence of Mexico’s most powerful cartels in these very neighbourhoods.

Residents celebrate changes

I visited the area and spoke to the residents, who said it was a nightmare, and that they were happy things were changing.

“I feel very grateful personally, because here before, at this time of the day, you couldn’t even be out here, bullets would rain down from the other side, from side to side, but now you see, we are calm, we are at peace,” a man named Leonardo told me, speaking from his front door.

His neighbour Andrea agreed: “Things have gotten a lot better, it has changed a lot,” she said. “Now you can go around, you no longer hear shootings like before, you don’t hear that anymore, it has changed a lot.”

Governor makes sure he is visible among public

Even though the gangs want the governor dead, he makes sure he is present and visible, day and night – with permanent security at his side.

People here in Esmeraldas treat him like a rockstar.

At the beachfront we can’t walk for more than 10 minutes or so at a time on the main promenade without someone stopping him to talk, ask for a selfie, or simply say thanks.

I have never seen a politician treated with so much reverence before.

He said seeing people this happy makes him happy, and it encourages him to keep going.

“We need to recover people’s faith, we need to recover the economy, and we need good things for people, opportunities,” he said.

“Every day we are working, we don’t have time to rest, we have to work hard every day, because I am here to solve problems.”

World

China’s premier air show wows spectators – but the West won’t have liked seeing Russia’s jets

Published

6 hours ago

November 16, 2024

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China's premier air show wows spectators - but the West won't have liked seeing Russia's jets

Outgoing US President Joe Biden is set to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping today for what is likely to be his last time as US president.

The two leaders are expected to hold talks on the sidelines of a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in the Peruvian capital, Lima.

It comes against the backdrop of increasing tension in the US-China relationship with a potential trade war looming under a Trump presidency, several China hawks tapped for US cabinet positions and China’s growing status among global south countries as an emerging leader of an alternative world order.

This week China was focused on events in the southern city of Zhuhai.

First there was a car ramming attack at Zhuhai’s sports stadium which left 25 people dead. A shocking event that was heavily censored in China.

Less than an hour’s drive away the country was holding its premier air show.

It was a military enthusiast’s dream, and not even intermittent rain could keep the crowds of tens of thousands of people away from relishing in the roar of jets in the skies above Zhuhai.

China’s fighter jet fleet

One of the main drawcards was China’s newest stealth fighter the J-35A. It will join the country’s J-20 in service for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

The J-10C was China’s aerobatics star of the show. There were daily displays of its prowess in sky-high manoeuvres and formations that impressed onlookers, leaving a streak of colours across the cloudy rain-clogged sky.

China’s military modernsiation programme is continuing apace

It boasts the largest navy in the world and the largest armed forces by active-duty personnel.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Airforce is developing fast too.

Dr Nicole Leveringhaus, a China security expert from King’s College London, says: “China started with very little. It was devastated by wars on many fronts in the 30s and 40s. Its defence industry was depleted. In 70-plus years it’s built itself up and now we’re seeing the results.

“It’s an impressive feat to go from a bloated land-based peasant guerrilla army to what it has to today.”

Chinese pride and nationalism on display

Enjoying the air show spectacle, military fan Liu Liansong said: “I think the air show is great. It is a firm manifestation of the air force’s development from scratch. We as Chinese people feel very proud.”

The air show included massive exhibition halls of military hardware, from drones to robotics, firearms and mock missiles. Merely getting from one end of the venue to the other through densely packed crowds was a mission.

Russia in the air

The other crowd puller this week was Russia’s aerobatic air force unit, performing daily theatrics at dizzying speeds.

It is another sign of the deepening ties between China and Russia.

One Russian tourist and recreational pilot, Yulia, told Sky News: “Both sides are looking for good communication in business, aviation and in many spheres including tourism.”

The secretary of Russia’s security council and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu also visited the air show, viewing both Chinese and Russian-made jets.

In Beijing, secretary Shoigu was quoted by Russian state media as saying: “I see the most important task as countering the policy of ‘dual containment’ of Russia and China pursued by the United States and its satellites.”

The West is increasingly frustrated by China’s support of Russia. The US has sanctioned two Chinese companies, accusing them of being involved in the production of Russian aerial drones used on the battlefield.

China insists it is not supplying weapons to Russia.

One of the companies, Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Co, had a small stand in one of the exhibition halls. Its representatives declined Sky News’ request for an interview.

Tariff war brewing

Despite the raw military might on display in Zhuhai, in China there is uncertainty and unease about what an impending Donald Trump presidency will mean for global trade.

President-elect Trump has threatened blanket tariffs of up to 60% on Chinese products exported to the US.

This would be a serious blow to China’s target GDP growth and comes at a time when the country’s economy faces deep-set challenges.

At the other end of the country, in Beijing analysts are weighing up the impact of possible tariffs and the Chinese government’s options to respond.

Senior Asia analyst Chim Lee, from The Economist Intelligence Unit, is not optimistic that a US-China agreement to minimise the damage can be reached.

“I think both sides have recognised that the era of making deals is passed,” Mr Lee said.

“We’re going to see China starting with some targeted measures, tariffs it feels more comfortable to impose,” he explained. “But there are also areas where China is starting to be a bit more aggressive.”

This action could include export controls on China’s production of critical minerals and retaliatory tariffs on US agriculture exports.

Trade competition, military posturing and complicated geo-political alliances have set the stage for a challenging next phase in US-China relations.

World

Pictures show moment Israeli bomb exploded at Beirut apartment block

Published

13 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Pictures show moment Israeli bomb exploded at Beirut apartment block

New pictures show the moment of impact as an Israeli missile hit a Beirut apartment block and exploded.

The block was one of five buildings destroyed by airstrikes on Friday alone.

Israel launched airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut in a fourth consecutive day of intense attacks.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

An Associated Press photographer captured a sequence of images showing an Israeli bomb approaching and hitting a multi-storey apartment building in Beirut’s Tayouneh area.

Richard Weir, a senior crisis, conflict and arms researcher at Human Rights Watch, reviewed the close-up photos to determine what type of weapon was used.

“The bomb and components visible in the photographs, including the strake, wire harness cover, and tail fin section, are consistent with a Mk-84 series 2,000-pound class general purpose bomb equipped with Boeing’s joint directed attack munition tail kit,” he told AP.

Deadly strikes as bombardment stepped up

Israel stepped up its bombardment this week – an escalation that has coincided with signs of movement in US-led diplomacy towards a ceasefire.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets attacked munitions warehouses, a headquarters and other Hezbollah infrastructure. It issued a warning on social media identifying buildings ahead of the strikes.

Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike killed five members of the same family in a home in Ain Qana in the southern province of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon’s state media said.

The report said a mother, father and their three children were killed but didn’t provide their ages.

Three other Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded 32 in different parts of Tyre province on Friday, also in south Lebanon, the report said.

Video footage also showed a building being struck and turning into a cloud of rubble and debris that billowed into Horsh Beirut, the city’s main park.

More than 3,200 people have been killed in Lebanon during 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah – most of them since mid-September.

About 27% of those killed were women and children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

Israel dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon from September, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel.

Friday’s strikes come as Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has asked Iran to help secure a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The prime minister appeared to urge Ali Larijani, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to convince the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border.

Iran is a main backer of Hezbollah and for decades has been funding and arming the Lebanese militant group.

On Thursday, Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister and a member of its security cabinet, said that prospects for a ceasefire with Lebanon were the most promising since the conflict began.

The Washington Post reported Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was rushing to advance a Lebanon ceasefire to deliver an early foreign policy win to his ally, US President-elect Donald Trump.

World

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for ‘high-IQ revolutionaries’ will be unpaid

Published

18 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for 'high-IQ revolutionaries' will be unpaid

“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.

The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.

The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.

“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.

“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.

“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”

In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.

“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.

“What a great deal!”

When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.

Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”