17
March 2025
Past Event
Can Ecuador Subdue Organized Crime?

Event will also air live on this page.

 

 

Inquiries: tmagnuson@hudson.org.
 

Can Ecuador Subdue Organized Crime?

Past Event
Hudson Institute
March 17, 2025
Getty Images
Caption
A soldier stands guard outside Canela Radio on January 10, 2024, in Quito, Ecuador. (Photo by Franklin Jacome/Getty Images)
17
March 2025
Past Event

Event will also air live on this page.

 

 

Inquiries: tmagnuson@hudson.org.
 

Speakers:
Mike Fitzpatrick
Amb. Mike Fitzpatrick

Former US Ambassador to Ecuador

John Polga-Hecimovich
John Polga-Hecimovich

Associate Professor, US Naval Academy

Isabel Chiriboga
Isabel Chiriboga

Assistant Director, Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, Atlantic Council

Moderator:
batlle
Daniel Batlle

Adjunct Fellow

Listen to Event Audio

Ecuador, once among the most peaceful countries in Latin America, faces an existential threat from an array of criminal groups. These organizations have committed unprecedented violence, infiltrated political structures, and challenged the government’s authority. Meanwhile, the country is going through an economic contraction and an energy crisis triggered by severe drought.

In a repeat of snap presidential elections held in 2023, Ecuadorians will vote on April 13 in a runoff pitting incumbent Daniel Noboa against Luisa Gonzalez, a protégé of former leftist president Rafael Correa.  

Former United States Ambassador to Ecuador Mike Fitzpatrick, Atlantic Council scholar Isabel Chiriboga, and US Naval Academy Professor John Polga-Hecimovich will join Hudson’s Daniel Batlle to examine Ecuador’s fight against organized crime and how the election results will shape the country’s security strategy.
 

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