Senator Renan Calheiros, who chairs the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, asked the government to repatriate Brazilians who are in Ecuador, a country that has been engulfed by a violence spree and whose government recently declared war on drug cartels.
In a decree that, according to analysts, puts Ecuador on the brink of civil war, recently inaugurated President Daniel Noboa ordered security forces to “neutralize” criminal groups wreaking havoc across the country, giving them freedom to deploy military operations and use combat tactics instead of operating as law enforcement.
In a phone call with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Mr. Calheiros argued that the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration should start planning a rescue operation if the situation spirals out of control.
Lula, Mr. Vieira, and Celso Amorim — the president’s top foreign affairs advisor — met on Wednesday to discuss the effects of the crisis on Brazil.
In a statement, the government says that it “follows with concern and condemns the acts of violence carried out by organized criminal groups in several cities in Ecuador,” and that it “remains attentive, in particular, to the situation of Brazilian citizens in the country.”
One Brazilian national was kidnapped by criminals this week. His family reported that they received photos of the victim blindfolded and held at gunpoint. The family began to raise money on social media to obtain USD 3,000, as requested by the kidnappers. The Brazilian government confirmed the case and said it is providing support.
The kidnapped Brazilian lives in Guayaquil, where one of the leaders of a criminal organization escaped prison earlier this week. Guayaquil is also home to the port that has become the heart of the country’s drug conflict. Multiple police officers were kidnapped, while authorities reported a total of ten violent deaths on Tuesday alone.
Senator Calheiros had also asked the Brazilian government to repatriate citizens who were at the site of conflict between Israel and Hamas since October last year. More than 1,500 people have been brought back to the country on Brazilian Air Force flights.
Ecuador is situated between the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, and offers an attractive commercial hub for the drug business.
The Peruvian government placed the country’s northern border with Ecuador under “emergency status” on Tuesday night, with Prime Minister Alberto Otárola promising to deploy troops to the area amid fears of regional contagion.
Almost all governments across the continent declared support for Mr. Noboa’s actions, and the same was true within the country’s borders.
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