Ecuador is a small South American country roughly the size of Colorado. Although Ecuadorian military or civilian personal compose only 5% of the western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation’s (the School of the America’s new name, or WHINSEC), WHINSEC graduates have influenced the country. General Guillermo Rodriguez, a graduate, led a military coup d’etat and became the dictator of Ecuador from 1972 to 1976.
In recent years, Ecuador has suffered political instability that is not related to the activities of WHINSEC graduates. Colombian drug cartels and terrorist organizations have established bases in northern and northeastern Ecuador. Organized crime, weapons trafficking and drug smuggling have become major problems. Nonviolent crime permeates all of Ecuador and violent crime such as murder, armed robbery and rape are on the rise. The State Department has issued warnings to American tourists and government workers not to travel on public transportation and to be very careful when traveling in the countryside and in poorer cities.
These problems have led to the impeachment of eight presidents in ten years, the most recent occurring in 2006. Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s current president, has been battling the factious Ecuadorian legislature for years. Ecuador’s political, social and economic future is dim. Terrorism, crime and corruption are on the rise. Unless other nations come to aid Ecuador, conditions will deteriorate, giving dangerous demagogues a pathway to power.
