Drug Cartels Devastating Communities Across Latin America
Regional Cooperation Critical to Combating Cartel Violence, Public Health Crises
A couple of months ago, Argentina, in efforts to help Ecuador in dealing with a rise in violence due to gangs and drug traffickers in the country, deported relatives of an Ecuadorian gang leader known as ‘Fito’ who had recently escaped from prison.
His family had recently moved to the Cordoba province in Argentina, likely seeking a safe haven as the crackdown on Fito’s operations intensified in Ecuador as the gangs in the country became more unrestrained and heavy-handed in parts of the country such as the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, and the interruption of a live air television show with gang members holding guns and threatening broadcasters.
While the unfolding events in Ecuador and the government’s difficulties in attempting to address the influence and strengthen of drug traffickers is pretty serious and consequential for the future and direction of the country and region, the deportation of Fito’s family, leader of Los Choneros, underscores the transnational nature of the drug trade and the way cartels exploit open borders and family ties to evade law enforcement. At the same time, the connection of Argentina in this should be concerning to officials regarding the ties and extent to which operations in Ecuador expand to the backyards of Buenos Aires.
With increased modes of transportation and weaker border security, drug cartels in Latin America are able to increase trafficking routes to easily move products such as cocaine, heroin and other critical drugs for their enterprise. In doing so, cartels are able to strengthen their capacity to disrupt political power and upend economic society. Additional, their presence exacerbates inequality, causes pressure on society, and corrupts key leaders within countries and communities. These all should be concerning for all countries in Latin America which face the threat of facing the economic, political and social consequences and Argentina isn’t immune for it.
Personally, drug trafficking and its significant impact in global affairs, particularly in Latin America and the United States, stems from several compelling reasons. Firstly, the United States is facing a meteoric rise in opioid overdoses, primarily fueled by drugs like fentanyl, which are often smuggled across the southern border through such organizations causing havoc for thousands of families. Additionally, drug cartels and their extensive social networks profoundly affect state governance, local economies, and the quality of life for residents in affected areas. These networks hinder access to essential services such as education, health, and housing — services that many take for granted — compromising the ability of citizens to lead dignified lives.
For the case of Argentina, the issues of drug gangs and their fight for control and dominance of parts of the country for the growth of their operations is growing namely in Rosario. In an article written early this month titled “How Rosario Became Argentina’s Drug Violence Capital”, author Germán de Los Santos of a new book “Rosario: The Story Behind the Narco Mafia That Took Over the City,” explains the strong relationship between violence, gangs and violence. Additionally, the enablement and continuation of these dynamics require important entities such as gangs, politicians, and police cooperating and colluding to maintain these illegal and disasterous enterprises in the communities.
In this discussion, de Los Santos talks about the economic incentives and precursors of the activities of criminal gangs which play a role in the ecosystem. In the discussion, the rise of exhortion is due to “ it generates significant income at a very low risk. Unlike drug dealing, which requires greater logistics to purchase and distribute narcotics, extortion groups can recruit youths with motorcycles and guns to patrol the area and collect money.” This causes issues regarding the double problem of rise of drug usage in these communities which leds to many become addicted and reliant on drug use to survive at the same time turning to illicit activity for economic gain and survival.
All of these realities beg the question, is this due to Latin America being a country deluged with criminals and corrupt politicians or issues of hegemony from outside forms such as United States living people to retreat to these forms of activities due to lack of opportunities? All of these are important to address regarding the trans-border drug trafficking and criminal networks as well as the strain and impact on individual lives as an article released in 2016 states “La droga es una consecuencia de la falta de oportunidades” which means drugs are a consequence of lack of opportunities. In this light, the problem becomes more serious than simply imprisioning perpetrators.
Ecuador’s capacity to maintain public safety has been severely tested by the surge in gang activity vying for territorial control to carry out operations of gangs unchallenged and undeterred. The country, once known for its peaceful reputation in Latin America, has witnessed devastating assassinations of presidential candidates, kidnappings, and massacres over the past two years, leaving thousands of citizens fearing for their lives and livelihoods. The President recently sent citizens to the polls to vote on a referendum to increase the country’s power and force in confronting with military personell and extended prision sentences for co-conspirators.
These societal shifts wrought by powerful and well-resources the gangs in Ecuador demonstrates the ability of cartels and drug trafficking broaderly to upend political, economic, and social fronts. Namely, in driving borders crisises as more individuals want to immigrant to other countries and increasing inequalities and position people to forgo or underprioritize their health as their livlihoods become at danger.
Beyond the precarious situation caused by gang activity and cartel presence, the public health implications are also severe, as drug addiction rates soar due to the cartels’ appetite for expanding their customer bases throughout the region. Drug usage and reliance is an overlooked aspect of health as the continuation and operation of major drug cartels such as Sinola and its ability to continue to function is an indictation of the continued desire and reliance of drugs provided by these organizations.
While these events are primarily centered in Ecuador, they are crucial developments and factors affecting neighboring countries like Argentina, necessitating intervention and addressing the challenges the region faces regarding instability and disruption caused by drug cartels and gangs. While Argentina has made steps by supporting Ecuador in its security and legal efforts to crackdown on cartels damaging its neighbors, regional governance, engaging in political projects to relocate the governance of a particular issue or policy domain beyond the scope of national politics., are important in taming these problem
One of the major side effects of these events is increased levels of immigration within Latin America. With key factors such as poverty and inability to survive in their situations, gang cartels can influence and encourage youth to take up roles in serving the organization’s mission and objectives. This becomes a challenge in addressing the underlying roots contributing to the proliferation of gangs, such as lack of education, unemployment or underemployment, and bleak future prospects.
The rise of powerful drug cartels and gangs in countries like Ecuador poses a complex transnational challenge for the entire Latin American region. Their violence, illicit trafficking operations, and insidious impacts on public health, political stability, and economic inequality have created a precarious situation that individual nations cannot tackle alone. Regional cooperation, strengthening of borders, and addressing the underlying societal roots that allow these criminal organizations to flourish are all crucial steps.
Argentina as a country needs to focus on addressing critical questions such as how to best share intelligence and coordinate security efforts to combat the cross-border operations of these cartels and gangs, developing closer regional cooperation with countries facing these problems are important for containing contaigon, developing socioeconomic policies and community-based interventions to disincentivize at-risk youth from being recruited by gangs.
Daniel Nobos and his approach, which mirrors Nayib Bukele’s approach, towards the escalating cartel violence and drug traffickers thrist to destabilize the country in favor for their operations highlights the urgency and need of strong leadership and strategic partnership amongst institutions internal and cross broad levels to ensure the challenges of enabling these in communities doesn’t go beyond and further the crisis and issue it currently is at. With current domestic politics and the fears amongst people due to Javier Milei as president, this serves as a distraction towards effective and meaningful efforts.
