Ecuador and the U.S. sign a new counternarcotics agreement
During the last week of August, Ecuador signed a counternarcotics and organized crime agreement with the United States, renewing cooperation between the two countries after it was suspended last February. The new agreement includes the exchange of information between the two governments and training for special police units, which will be carried out by the government of Ecuador and in accordance with its laws, in addition to $7 million in U.S. aid to help combat narcotrafficking and organized crime. The agreement also places emphasis on the prevention of drug consumption. The signing of this agreement came seven months after Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa kicked U.S. Embassy officials out of the country for "meddling" with counter-drug police units after four officials of the Ecuadorian National Police were accused of turning over classified computers and information to the United States. As a result, Correa immediately suspended any counternarcotics agreements Ecuador had with the United States. The timing of the new agreements is also viewed as significant since it came only a few days before the UNASUR summit in Argentina, where President Correa criticized the pending U.S.-Colombia military base agreement. President Correa perhaps used the reestablishment of cooperation with the United States' counternarcotics strategy to demonstrate that his dislike of the new U.S.-Colombia military deal was not linked to any sort of support for narcotrafficking or guerrilla groups. According to Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Fander Falconí, the previous agreements with the United States included "informal agreements" that should have been "transparent and on the table." The new agreement with the United States is an effort to "make the information transparent so the public knows what we are doing." Below is a translation of an article, "A turn in the counternarcotics agreement with the United States," from Ecuador's El Comercio, which outlines the details of Ecuador's prior counternarcotics agreement with the United States in comparison to the newly signed agreement.
Ecuador and the United States reoriented the goal of its collaboration in the fight against drugs. Prior to August 25th, the goal was the guarantee the annual rate of detained and confiscated drugs in exchange for resources. This policy became official in an agreement that was signed in 2003 during the government of Lucio Gutierrez and was an update of an agreement signed in 2002. In this document, Ecuador agreed to increase drug seizures by 10% each year; arms, ammunition, and illegal chemical seizures by 15%; and people detained for narcotrafficking and linked crimes by 12%. The consequences were positive and negative. On the one hand, Ecuador is one of the countries with the best results in counternarcotics control. For example, from 2005 to September of this year 178.9 tons of drugs were confiscated. However, Ecuadorian prisons were full of people accused of trafficking drugs. According to the Office of the Ombudsman, they made up 60% of people detained in the country. "The police were excessive and captured small dealers and consumers to justify the agreements," said Ernesto Pazmiño, the Ombudsman. Since his arrival to power, Rafael Correa made announcements that would change the counternarcotics strategy of the United States. For example, he suspended all of the agreements last February, after denouncing CIA interference in the Intelligence and Anti-narcotics units of the police. This decision brought Ecuadorian and U.S. representatives to the negotiating table. Ecuador went with the mission of not losing the aid, but to make all of the agreements transparent and to reorient them. Last week, three agreements were signed and they are public: the Program of Anti-contraband Investigation Units, another program of Sensitive Investigations and, the most important, an amendment to the Cooperation Agreement to Control the Production of Illegal Drugs that was signed in 2003. The new agreement places emphasis in the prevention of the consumption of drugs and in the control of money laundering. Martha Youth, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy, assured that money laundering was taken into account because it is a worldwide concern. Also, they took into account other crimes such as the trafficking and smuggling of persons, which have increased in recent years in the country. Youth said that the negotiation formed a part of the normal process, because whenever an amendment is carried out, each party proposes reforms and evaluation systems. Therefore in this agreement, although rates are not specifically discussed, the improvement of counterdrug control, money laundering, and trafficking and smuggling of persons is mentioned. This evaluation will occur annually and each party "will define the parameters and methodology used to carry out the projects." Domingo Paredes, of the National Council on Drugs and Pyschotropic Substances (Consejo Nacional de Sustancias Psicotropicas y Estupefacientes), agrees with the changes. Before these agreements they were given "through frames, under the principle that it had to do with a sensitive subject for security... But this gives attention to the faults in the control of resources and objectives." Now, adds Paredes, everyone can access the documents and review them. "Although you have to understand that there will be information, like the names of agents, that cannot be revealed in order to not give them away." Within the new agreements, the United States agrees to offer economic assistance to the police units of the Police and the Armed Forces. Additionally, they will collaborate in the formation and training of personnel with instructors and resources. "This is very important, because the resources that are given to the Ecuadorian police are limited," says Joel Loaiza, the director of the National Police Counternarcotics division. As the other party, Ecuador has to guarantee that the personnel who make up these units are vetted. In this plan they also agreed to create two new elite teams of the Police: the Anti-contraband and -trafficking unit; and the Sensitive Investigations Unit. They must be made up of trained personnel. One requirement is a polygraph test that demonstrates the competence and trustworthiness of the candidate for secure management of information. Also, there will be an analysis of drug consumption and a study and verification of its causes; it will also demand that all applications are voluntary and its candidates sign a legal declaration of their goods and financial situation. The police will be in charge of identifying and qualifying the candidates that will be a part of the special investigation units. Loaiza believes that these definitions are a good indication for fighting narcotrafficking, since "it proves that both governments want to avoid that bad elements make up the ranks and involve themselves in corrupt acts."