By The newspaper
25 Feb 2024, 06:30 AM EST
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa and CNN in Spanish “Face to Face”
The president talks with journalist Juan Carlos López about drug trafficking, insecurity and sports
In one of the main rooms of the Carondelet palace in Quito, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa offered an interview to CNN in Spanish in which he touched on various security issues and the future of the Andean nation.
Juan Carlos López interviewed the Latin American leader about the insecurity situation, the Government’s effort to improve the country’s image, how the search for the escaped drug trafficker alias Fito is progressing and the decision not to deliver military equipment to the United States that could later be used by Ukraine in its war with Russia, among other topics.
Three months after winning the elections after the departure of former president Guillermo Lasso, Noboa has faced a wave of insecurity never seen before that reached its limit with the takeover of a canal by criminal groups. One of the leaders of the violent gangs is Adolfo Macías alias ‘Fito’ who is a fugitive from justice and about whom the head of state spoke.
“I think the press glorifies him too much. There are several bosses, some are called leaders of narco-terrorist groups. He is being tracked, but not only him. It is an organization and we have been very strong against the narcoterrorist organization Los Choneros, as well as Los Lobos or Los Tiguerones. This is not a situation like Pablo Escobar or Chapo Guzmán. They are quite structured organizations and do not have a head that determines absolutely everything. Sometimes they have visible faces, but it doesn’t work like it did before with drug trafficking bosses,” he mentions during the interview that airs this Sunday, February 25.
Russian weaponry
Noboa explained that he gave up his initial intention to send Russian weapons to Washington, which he came to describe as “scrap,” after learning, from statements by Kevin Sullivan, deputy assistant secretary of the State Department’s Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs, that The United States Government would deliver that material to Ukraine for the war with the Eurasian country.
“Originally I was going to give scrap metal that the United States could legally obtain and after that, without violating any international agreement, I was going to redistribute it. To our very surprise, the United States publicly communicates that this is going to be carried out for an armed conflict in Ukraine, we do not want to be part of it, we do not want to triangulate weapons either and we do not want to go around violating any international treaty. So what did we say at that moment? If that is the idea, we cannot go ahead with it. Russia is also our third trading partner and in that particular case they would be right, since we would be triangulating weapons and we are not going to do that,” explained Noboa.
An example
Regarding the future of the country and giving his opinion on the king of sports, Noboa plans for Ecuador to host one of the most important tournaments at the national team level.
“I am looking for Ecuador to be an example, not a case of failure. And that it will be a venue for a Copa América in the same year that the country is going to host the Ibero-American Summit. May I invite the world to be there, to visit Ecuador. Not only visit it, but also give investment and opportunities to Ecuadorians. I will always be in favor of that. “I will always be in favor of Ecuador being an example.”
The interview can be seen in its entirety on Sunday, February 25 in a special “Face to Face” at 7 pm Eastern time.