How Ecuador governor turned ‘no-go’ zone city around in just 26 days
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.
Heavily armed marines patrol the beach
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.
Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa. Pic: AP
‘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.
Javier Buitron talks to Stuart Ramsay as his bodyguard walks behind
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.”
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Inside a high security prison in Esmeraldas
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.
A bridge where bodies were hanged from
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.
Leonardo says he is happy things are changing
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.”
Andrea says ‘things have gotten a lot better’
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.
Mr Buitron hugs a woman
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.”
The bodies of three hostages have been recovered from Gaza, the IDF has confirmed.
Israel’s chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the remains were discovered in an overnight operation carried out by the military and Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet.
He named the hostages as Itzhak Gelerenter, 56, Amit Buskila, 28, and Shani Louk, 22, who he said were killed at the Nova music festival on 7 October, with their bodies then taken into Gaza by Hamas militants.
“They were celebrating life in the Nova music festival and they were murdered by Hamas,” said Mr Hagari.
He said their families have been notified.
“Our hearts go out to them, to the families at this difficult time. We will leave no stone unturned, we will do everything in our power to find our hostages and bring them home.”
Israel-Gaza war latest updates
The military did not give immediate details on where their bodies were found.
Ms Louk’s body was seen face-down in a pick-up truck travelling through Gaza in a video that was shared widely on social media after the hostages were taken.
Her father has said the return of his daughter’s body to her family has been a form of closure.
Nissim Louk told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz his daughter “radiated light, to her and those who surrounded her, and in her death she still does”.
He added: “She is a symbol of the people of Israel, between light and darkness. Her inner and outer beauty that shone for all the world to see is a special one.”
Read more:
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Hostage’s parents tell him ‘stay strong’
The Israeli military says it has recovered the body of Shani Louk from Gaza
In November, the brother of Ms Louk told Sky News of their last phone call as his sister tried to escape Hamas.
Speaking about the video that was circulated online after she was taken, Amit Louk said: “I never thought I was going to be in contact with this type of video, seeing my sister in that brutal position.
“And just in that moment, the whole family just crashed.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths “heartbreaking”, saying: “We will return all of our hostages, both the living and the dead.”
Meanwhile, Professor Hagai Levine, a member of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, has said the recovery of the bodies is a “painful reminder” of those who are still in captivity.
“We do not lose hope. We are preparing for the return of the hostages that are alive,” he added.
The body of Amit Buskila has been found by the Israeli military
Israel has been operating in the Gaza Strip’s southern city of Rafah, where it says it has intelligence that hostages are being held.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the 7 October attack.
Around half of those have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a ceasefire in November.
Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.
Itzhak Gelerenter was murdered by Hamas on 7 October
Israel’s campaign in Gaza since the attack has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
Mr Netanyahu has vowed to both eliminate Hamas and bring all the hostages back.
He faces pressure to resign, and the US has threatened to scale back its support over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Israelis are divided into two main camps: those who want the government to put the war on hold and free the hostages, and others who think the hostages are an unfortunate price to pay for eradicating Hamas.
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