Because I had briefly worked in El Salvador during the State of Emergency and the war on gangs, this has me wondering if Ecuador’s President Noboa is trying to emulate President Bukele’s success. Bukele crushed the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs, quickly turning El Salvador from a murder capital of the Western Hemisphere to the safest country in the Western Hemisphere. But Bukele managed to do that without hiring PMSCs or foreign help. RE:
“In his post announcing the partnership with Prince, Ecuador’s president wrote: “Organized crime has sown fear and believed it can operate with impunity. Their time is up. International aid begins in Ecuador.””
Quick fun fact: Naguib Bukele of El Salvador is “ethnic” Palestinian, a Catholic. (There is a large Palestinian community in El Salvador.) Ironically, during the war on gangs, he was sourcing security and defence equipment from an Israeli arms dealer. Much of the equipment being procured was Israeli. –RdM
CNN — ‘Ecuador partnering with Blackwater founder in divisive nationwide crackdown on crime’
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has announced a “strategic alliance” to fight organized crime with Erik Prince, the founder of the controversial private defense contractor formerly known as Blackwater.
Noboa, who launched a divisive military operation against criminal groups last year, posted a photo on X and Instagram showing him chatting with Prince at an office with an Ecuadorian flag in the background.
“We have established a strategic alliance to strengthen our capabilities in the fight against narcoterrorism and the protection of our waters from illegal fishing,” Noboa wrote on Tuesday. “There is no truce. There is no retreat. We are moving forward,” he added.
The president did not provide details on the partnership.CNN has reached out to the Ecuadorian presidency for more information. CNN has also asked the Ministry of Defense for information about the partnership and whether the Armed Forces are aware of or support the move.
CNN also contacted Prince’s office for details about the meeting with Noboa.Noboa’s announcement has raised eyebrows in Ecuador. Former Army commander Luis Altamirano criticized the partnership, calling it “deplorable” that “they seek to hire the services of a mercenary army.”
“It’s truly deplorable that, under the guise of ‘international cooperation,’ they seek to hire the services of a mercenary army. In the end, the announced ‘special forces’ were a dubious private company. Is this announcement just another smokescreen?” the retired general said on X.
To read more, see CNN report, ‘Ecuador partnering with Blackwater founder in divisive nationwide crackdown on crime’: https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/12/americas/ecuador-noboa-blackwater-erik-prince-latam-intl/index.html
Ecuador needs all the help it can get in dealing with the current narcoterrorist problems . The threat has constantly increased since 1980s, but bringing in Prince also shows that there are trust issues within the security and intelligence organizations.
Good point about trust issues, John.