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Ecuador's president enlists ex-Blackwater chief Erik Prince in controversial crime crackdown
Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, has announced a “strategic alliance” with the Donald Trump-supporting founder of the private military firm Blackwater to supposedly reinforce his controversial “war” on crime.
Noboa, the rightwing heir to a South American banana empire, announced the partnership with Erik Prince on social media on Tuesday night.
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“Organized crime has sown fear and believed it can operate with impunity. Their time is running out. International aid is beginning to flow to Ecuador,” added the president, who is seeking re-election in the second round of the country’s presidential election next month.
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The news that Blackwater’s former CEO would join Noboa’s campaign prompted outrage and trepidation given the military contractor’s track record of involvement in abuses, including the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians in 2007, after the US invasion.
“Does he intend to do the same here?” Ecuadorian lawyer Marlon Martínez Molina asked on X, accusing Noboa of planning to introduce paramilitarism to the South American country by importing foreign mercenaries.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/12/ecuador-president-blackwater-alliance
Noboa, the rightwing heir to a South American banana empire, announced the partnership with Erik Prince on social media on Tuesday night.
...
“Organized crime has sown fear and believed it can operate with impunity. Their time is running out. International aid is beginning to flow to Ecuador,” added the president, who is seeking re-election in the second round of the country’s presidential election next month.
...
The news that Blackwater’s former CEO would join Noboa’s campaign prompted outrage and trepidation given the military contractor’s track record of involvement in abuses, including the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians in 2007, after the US invasion.
“Does he intend to do the same here?” Ecuadorian lawyer Marlon Martínez Molina asked on X, accusing Noboa of planning to introduce paramilitarism to the South American country by importing foreign mercenaries.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/12/ecuador-president-blackwater-alliance
More urgent than ever that they elect Luisa González.