Ecuador’s Corporation of Exporting Organizations (CORDEX) – of which the Ecuadorian National Aquaculture Chamber (CNA) is a member – has released a statement condemning the wave of violence that has battered the country at the start of 2024.
“We repudiate the acts of violence that have been unleashed in the country, attacking the integrity of citizens and affecting various productive sectors and the media. In this regard, we express our full support for the forces of law and order, urging them to use the necessary force to neutralize those individuals who attempt to sow chaos and terror in our nation,” the trade association said. “Citizens deserve to live and prosper in an environment of peace, as do the productive export activities that sustain more than 900,000 families throughout the nation.”
In the early hours of Tuesday, 9 January, violence broke out after the presumed prison escape of criminal kingpin José Adolfo Macías, also known by his alias “Fito,” the leader of the Los Choneros gang, one of Ecuador’s primary drug-trafficking organizations. In response to that violence, Ecuador President Daniel Noboa, who assumed office in November 2023, declared a state of exception allowing the country’s armed forces to intervene in the prison system.
The move sparked the ire of criminal groups, which soon intensified their actions, unleashing a wave of violence in major cities throughout Ecuador that included looting; the murder of police officers; the seizure of prison facilities, a takeover of the TV channel TC de Televisión, and the occupation of a university. Much of the violence has been in Guayaquil, the port city around which most of Ecuador’s shrimp production takes place.
At least 10 people have died so far, according to the EFE news service, including two police officers shot dead in Nobol in the Ecuadorian province of Guayas.
In response, President Noboa issued an “Internal Armed Conflict" decree, naming 22 transnational organized crime groups identified “as terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors.”
“We will not negotiate with terrorists nor will we rest until we return peace to Ecuadorians,” Noboa said on national TV.
CNA President José Antonio Camposano expressed support for the move.
“All [my] support for your decision, Mr. President. The actions the president defined to confront organized crime must be supported by all of us who want peace for Ecuador,” Camposano said in a series of posts on X. “This is not the time for lukewarm positions like those in the past that aggravated the dangerous situation in which we find ourselves today.”
The CNA head has previously been outspoken about the need for collaborative government action to counter violence and growing insecurity rife throughout the country, which has led Ecuador’s shrimp industry to invest more than USD 80 million (EUR 73 million) annually in security measures.
The unstable situation in Ecuador will have an effect on the logistics and operations of shrimp trading, according to seafood trading firm Roda International.
“Short-term delays in container loading are likely, as the industry adapts to heightened security protocols amid the current uncertainty. Additionally, some producers might opt to delay shipments, waiting for a more stable security situation,” it said in a 10 January report.
The instability will also likely result in ...
Photo courtesy of Ecuador’s National Chamber of Aquaculture
